A juvenile has been arrested in connection with a series of purse thefts that occurred Wednesday morning in Wallingford.
The police department said they reported three incidents of bag theft involving multiple juveniles wearing masks and driving a stolen car.
The first robbery happened on South Whittlesey Avenue at around 10.25am. Officers said three juveniles in dark clothing attempted to steal cars in the parking lot. One of the cars was damaged in the process, police said.
About five minutes later, a second robbery occurred at Sunoco on North Colony Road. Police said three juveniles took a bag from an unoccupied car and fled.
A third robbery happened around 11:20 a.m. at the Pit Stop gas station on Woodhouse Road. Police said juveniles matching the same description tried to steal someone’s purse from their car, dragged the victim about 20 feet and fled.
According to police, the juveniles were driving a stolen silver Hyundai sedan, which was used to steal another vehicle in North Haven after the robberies.
The Connecticut State Police Violent Crimes Task Force located and tracked the two stolen cars to New Haven. Stop poles were deployed after locating the Hyundai and one of the juveniles fled from officers but was eventually apprehended.
The other stolen vehicle was found unoccupied nearby. The other two minors were not located.
The juvenile faces charges including robbery, interfering with an officer, theft, reckless endangerment and more. He was issued a juvenile summons with an April 27 court date.
The incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Wallingford police at 203-294-2800.
