Charged Car Thief Caught Hiding in Store
- South Windsor police say Roger J. Czupryna, 25, of East Longmeadow, was arrested Wednesday after officers found a stolen vehicle and then found him hiding inside Target. - Police say Czupryna ran a red light, ditched the car near Buckland Road, and was carrying 12 stolen debit cards plus property tied to burglaries. - The twist is timing — South Windsor police say they had charged him about a month earlier in another stolen-vehicle case in town.
A stolen-car case in South Windsor turned into something bigger than a routine traffic stop. Police say they found a Massachusetts man hiding inside Target after he ditched a stolen vehicle in a shopping-center lot and tried to disappear on foot. The part that makes the story stick is the timing — investigators say the same man had already been charged in South Windsor about a month earlier in a similar case. Now the new arrest is pulling in possible burglary evidence from both Connecticut and Massachusetts. ### Who got arrested? Police identified the suspect as Roger J. Czupryna, 25, of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. He was arrested on Wednesday, May 7, after officers tracked him down in South Windsor. The charges listed so far include reckless driving, running a traffic signal, larceny of a motor vehicle, several lower-level larceny counts, interfering with police, and criminal trespass. (newportdispatch.com) ### What kicked this off? Officers say they located a stolen vehicle in a shopping-center parking lot near Buckland Road. When police tried to move in, Czupryna allegedly drove off, ran a red light, and then abandoned the vehicle nearby. That turned the case from “found stolen car” into a short chase followed by a search on foot through nearby businesses. (newportdispatch.com) ### Why were police looking inside Target? Because that is where the trail led. South Windsor police say officers developed information that pointed them to the Target store in town, searched the building, and found Czupryna hiding inside. WFSB’s version of the story also points to Target as the place where officers caught up with him after the st(newportdispatch.com)work. (msn.com) ### What did police say they found? This is where the case gets heavier. Police say Czupryna had 12 stolen debit cards on him. Investigators also say a search of the stolen vehicle turned up property tied to burglaries in Connecticut and Massachusetts. So the arrest is not just about one allegedly stolen car — it may connect to a wider run of thefts. (msn.com) ### Why does the “charged a month ago” detail matter? Because it suggests this was not an isolated stop. Police say Czupryna had been charged roughly a month earlier in another South Windsor stolen-vehicle case. That earlier contact is the backdrop for why this arrest drew quick local attention — it looks less like a one-off and more like a repeat visit to the same town with the same kind of allegation hanging over him. (msn.com) ### Is this part of a bigger South Windsor pattern? At least locally, yes. South Windsor has dealt with repeated stolen-vehicle pursuits involving suspects coming from Massachusetts, including other cases over the past year. That does not prove a single ring here, but it does show why police in town move fast on these alerts and why a shopping-center parking lot can become an active search scene in minutes. (fox61.com) ### What happens next? The investigation appears to be expanding beyond the initial arrest. If the property recovered from the vehicle is matched to specific burglaries, more charges could follow, and possibly in more than one state. The immediate case is already serious, but the burglary evidence is the piece that could widen it. (courant.com) ### Bottom line The headline is a man caught hiding in a store after abandoning a stolen car. But the real story is the pileup around it — repeat allegations, 12 stolen debit cards, and items police believe may link him to burglaries across state lines. (stamfordadvocate.com)
