BRISTOL, Conn. — Two Bristol homeowners were threatened by suspects with a gun when they interrupted a catalytic converter theft overnight into Sunday morning, according to police. A third homeowner also interrupted the crime.
During the late hours of Saturday into early Sunday, the Bristol police said they responded to three separate catalytic converter thefts. The incidents were all interrupted by the property owners. During two of the three encounters, one of the suspects displayed a firearm and threatened to harm the respective property owners. No one was harmed during the separate incidents.
FOX61 spoke to one of the victims who did not want to be identified.
"Very traumatizing. You know the fact that it happened in our driveway is kind of scary. You don’t think that something like this could happen but it did," she said.
She said one of the suspects pointed a gun at her husband.
"My husband then said he heard the saw and that’s when he peeked out the window right there and realized he’s like oh my God and ran outside," she said. "My husband screamed and they screamed back profanities, pointed the gun at him and then just sped off," she said.
The woman said the thieves were brazen and didn't seem to even try to be quiet, blasting loud music as they drove up to her home.
"Didn’t care. Had a ski mask on but very loud and obnoxious and they had no care in the world," she said. "Our car was in the driveway, they pulled up in front of the driveway, jacked up the car and then sawed off the cat converter," she said.
The three incidents occurred on Buckley Avenue, Carol Drive, and Emmett Street. The streets are within several miles of each other.
All the witnesses described three or four suspects, wearing ski masks or hoodies, and operating a grey or silver sedan. No further descriptions were available by police, and no one was harmed during these three separate incidents.
People in those neighborhoods said it was a scary situation nonetheless, for everyone involved.
"t’s been happening a lot more," said Christopher Santiago of Bristol. "The fact that somebody would come in during the middle of the night come into somebody’s property not knowing what they might have at home it’s kind of scary," he said.
Police said property owners should prioritize their own safety and contact emergency 911 as soon as possible and safely provide as much identifying suspect information as possible.
Neighbors said they will also be looking out for one another.
"More cameras around, for the neighbors within the neighborhood everybody to just kind of stay vigilant," Santiago said.
Any homeowners in the area with video surveillance equipment are asked to review their video and contact the Bristol police department.
Doug Stewart is the Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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