Three New Haven youths -- one as young as 12 -- were allegedly caught by a project manager inside the offices of the Newhall Remediation Project at the old Hamden Middle School Saturday stealing cash and electronic equipment, according to police.
At about 12:15 p.m. police got a report of a burglary in progress, police spokesman Capt. Ronald Smith said.
Officers found that when a senior project manager for the town project arrived at the building, they found the three teens burglarizing an office area, Smith said.
"The project manager was able to detain the juveniles until the arrival of Hamden Police," Smith said. "Further investigation revealed that the juveniles ransacked the office and allegedly stole money and electronic equipment."
The three teens, all from New Haven and ages 15, 14 and 12, were all charged with third-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit third-degree burglary, sixth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny, second-degree criminal mischief and conspiracy to commit second-degree criminal mischief.
All three were released to the custody of their families and are due to appear in New Haven Juvenile Court on Nov. 20.
Detective Mark Consorte conducted the investigation, Smith said.
The Newhall neighborhood is in the process of a massive remediation project that is cleaning up decades of contamination left behind when the area was used as a dumping ground by the nearby Winchester Repeating Arms Factory in New Haven, among others.
