Amber Belade climbed into an unmarked police truck with Derby and Shelton police officers this month, and took them on a tour of her recent burglaries.
The route included Silver Hill Road in Derby, and the Huntington section of Shelton, where Belade told police she stole from four homes on three different days.
And, it included the spot near Derby High School, where Belade allegedly knocked over a 91-year-old woman while stealing her purse.
The burglary tour happened on June 13, the day Shelton and Derby police officers searched Belade’s home and the home of her boyfriend in their investigation into a string of burglaries in the two towns.
The details are outlined in arrest warrants used to charge Belade, 23, with three counts of third-degree larceny, four counts of third-degree burglary and one count of fifth-degree larceny.
Belade was arraigned at Superior Court in Derby Monday afternoon. Shelton police arrested her boyfriend and alleged accomplice, Collin McCarthy, Monday for conspiracy charges.
McCarthy is scheduled to be arraigned at Superior Court in Derby Tuesday.
Police have been investigating the pair since a string of burglaries was reported in Shelton in April. Police believe the couple was stealing jewelry and selling it in Stratford to pay for heroin and cocaine.
The Burglaries
Shelton police received reports of a burglary on Theodore Road in Shelton on April 26. The homeowners had noticed items missing, and found a broken window in their basement. The family reported about $6,280 in jewelry missing from the home.
Two days later, another family — this time on nearby Valley Road — complained of a burglary, with an additional $6,000 worth of jewelry stolen, along with about $50 in cash.
On May 3, Belade ran up to a 91-year-old woman walking along Chatfield Street and grabbed her purse, police said.
The woman was knocked to the ground in the process, cutting her right arm.
Belade got away with about $3 in cash, and later threw the purse by the Route 8 on-ramp at Emmett Avenue in Derby, she told police.
For that incident, Derby police charged Belade with second-degree robbery, second-degree larceny and second-degree assault on an elderly person.
On May 13, two homes on Florence Drive and Walnut Avenue were burglarized between 3 and 5 p.m.
The Chase
A neighbor on Walnut Avenue had seen a gray car with tinted windows parked outside the burglarized home. The neighbor told police she saw a white female leave the house and get into the car, holding items in her hands.
Police tracked down McCarthy and Belade using the description of the car — and by tracing one of the stolen computers with an anti-theft tracking system installed.
The car was found parked at McCarthy’s home on Bridgeport Avenue.
The computer was tracked to a computer repair shop across the street. The shop owner identified Belade’s photograph as the woman who had dropped off the stolen computer.
Police got search warrants for the Belade and McCarthy’s homes.
The Search
At about 10 a.m. June 13, officers showed up at McCarthy’s door. He let them in.
Police officers found several items that appeared to be used for cocaine and heroin, including several plastic bags with a white powdery substance in them.
McCarthy told police they were heroin and cocaine, according to the arrest warrant.
Police also found several pieces of women’s jewelry, including diamond earrings. They also found a purse appearing to belong to Belade’s mother and a laptop computer, the warrant says.
McCarthy told police his friend had given him those items, and he didn’t know where they came from. He later told police that Belade would ask for rides to relatives’ houses, and would pick items up.
Police arrested McCarthy on drug charges, and applied for a more thorough search warrant for the suspected burglaries.
Then they went to Belade’s Derby home, on Hawthorne Avenue.
The Tour
Shelton and Derby police arrived at there at 4:20 p.m.
Police officers told Belade what they were looking for, and she admitted to breaking into the homes and taking the items, the arrest warrant says.
She told police she would show them the homes, and they piled into a police sport utility vehicle.
After police drove with Belade through Derby and Shelton, she directed them to the Stratford jewelry shop where she allegedly sold the jewelry, according to the warrant.
Then police took Belade to Shelton Police Department to give a statement.
Court
Belade appeared at Superior Court in Derby Monday afternoon.
Judge Burton Kaplan lowered her bond from $200,000 to $150,000 — citing her lack of any previous convictions.
Kaplan also recommended medical treatment, including detox, for Belade.
Her case was continued until July 11, when it will be reviewed for possible transfer to Superior Court in Milford, where more serious cases are heard.
