'Grease Thieves' Arrested in Stamford

In the latest example of an unusual crime that’s already hit at least four other Fairfield County towns, before dawn Sunday arrested a pair of Manhattan residents for stealing grease from a city restaurant.

Madeline Garcia, 38, and Terry Bernard Webb, 49, both of 55 West 110th Street, each were charged with sixth-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny.

According to police, Webb was operating a van that ran a red light at Grove and Main Streets downtown. Officers Rhett Connelly and Troy Judge stopped the van and noticed that Webb looked strange, as though he had been sweating and that his forehead was coated in grease, police said.

Suspicious, police said they searched the van’s trunk and found grease-stealing equipment that included headgear with flashlights, portable gas-powered pump, two large containers with grease, large house whose end was fitted with a metal siphon strainer.

When questioned by police, the Garcia and Webb confessed that they’d stolen the grease from two outdoor containers at the back of Sergio’s Restaurant on East Main Street, police said.

Recently, a New York man named Andrew Carnegie was arrested on multiple charges in Fairfield County for allegedly stealing used cooking grease from restaurants. The so-called “” is accused of siphoning the mucky stuff from restaurants in towns that include Westport, , and .

Webb and Garcia each were assessed $500 bond and scheduled to appear March 16 in state Superior Court in Stamford.

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Alan Timothy Britt, 25, of 33 Fairgate Ave., Stamford, was arrested at 2:32 a.m. on March 4 and charged with disorderly conduct.

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Police arrested Steven Coca, 37, of 27 Van Rensselaer Ave., Stamford, at 3:44 p.m. on March 3 and charged him with disorderly conduct.

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Mariusz Czoch, 39, of 72 Soundview Drive, Stamford, was arrested at 1:59 p.m. on March 4 and charged with third-degree assault and violation of a protective order.

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Police arrested Marcos Antonio Garcia, 29, of 597 Pacific St., Stamford, at 2:50 p.m. on March 4 and charged him with improper use of a marker plate, failure to insure a private motor vehicle, opearting a motor vehicle without a license and operating an unregistered motor vehicle.

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Brian Hahn, 29, and Manuel Moran, 50, both of 110B Blachley Road, Stamford, were arrested at about 6:45 p.m. on March 3 and charged with second-degree breach of peace.

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Police arrested Wioletta Krahel, 37, of 72 Soundview Drive, Stamford, at 3:30 p.m. on March 4 and charged her with violation of a protective order.

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Frederic G. Sibley II, 58, of 37 Putnam Park, Greenwich, was arrested at 4:07 p.m. on March 3 and charged with second-degree breach of peace.

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Police arrested Jeanette Smith, 45, of 14 Glen Terrace, Stamford, at 12 a.m. on March 5 and chargd her with interfering with an officer.