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3 men arrested, charged with attempting to steal wire from hardware store, payment fraud

Police said the men were dressed as construction workers as they tried to steal the spools of wire from the store.

SOUTHINGTON, Conn. — Three men from Texas were arrested in Southington, attempting to steal large spools of wire from a Lowes Home Improvement store, police said. 

The incident happened around 1:45 p.m. at the Loews on Executive Boulevard South Wednesday afternoon.

Police said three men wearing reflective construction vests had selected spools of 12/2 cu nm-b wg.250ft, Romex wire and tried to pay for it with a fraudulent Loews Account Receivable account. The Lowes Loss Prevention team contacted police. 

When officers arrived, they found two suspect vehicles that were involved in the theft. One of the vehicles was a U-Haul box truck used to transport the wire.

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The other vehicle, a black Honda with Texas plates, drove off from the area after seeing police.

While driving erratically, the Honda suffered a flat tire, according to police. The driver fled on foot but was apprehended by Southington officers a short distance away. A second suspect also ran from the area heading toward Target. He too was eventually apprehended by police. A third suspect was taken into custody at the Lowe's store, police said. 

During the investigation, it was learned that the three suspects were involved in similar incidents in Wallingford and New Haven earlier in the day, according to police. 

Arrested was Daniel Thomas, 22, from Ft. Worth, Texas. He was charged with interfering with a police officer, larceny in the third degree, conspiracy to commit larceny in the third degree, and larceny in the sixth degree. 

Thomas was also a fugitive from justice, according to police. He had a Secret Service Extraditable Federal Warrant for his arrest regarding a fraudulent payment scheme being used during the thefts. 

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It was learned during the investigation that Thomas was a suspect in similar thefts throughout the country, police said. 

Also arrested was 22-year-old Clarence Davis, from Burleson, Texas. He was charged with conspiracy to commit larceny in the third degree. 

Marchest Hunder, 23, from Ft. Worth as well, was charged with conspiracy to commit larceny in the third degree, interfering with a police officer, failure to obey officer's signal, and reckless driving. 

All three men were held on a $150,000 bond each. 

Residents in town reacted to the frequent thefts that have taken place across the state such as the thieves at BJ's stealing a cart of flat screen TV's and a cart full of detergent at Market 32 in Oxford

"I think it's really crazy that there's a lot of pent-up aggression in rage since COVID," said Shannan Colon of Plantsville. 

Southington police said they will continue to work with investigators from Wallingford and New Haven. The items attempted to be stolen were recovered in the store. The total value was nearly $7,000, police said. 

Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.  

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