Thomas MacMillan Photo
Sciulli (left) and Levey.
After showing up Wednesday to find her non-profit environmental youth program’s office ransacked, Joanne Sciulli resolved to “send a message to not mess with Solar Youth.”
While Solar Youth is beloved in the West Rock housing project it works out of, there are still “elements” in the neighborhood that “will take advantage of my weakness,” Sciulli said.
She made those comments Wednesday morning as she surveyed the aftermath of a break-in at Solar Youth’s office on Wayfarer Street in West Rock. Two laptops and a digital projector, valued at $1,700 together, were stolen.
Sometime overnight, one or more burglars opened a front window and pushed in the bars behind it. Once inside, they searched the office, pulling boxes and files out of closets and drawers. In the back of an upstairs closet, the burglars found the laptops and projector, which seemed to be the only things they stole.
This isn’t the first time Solar Youth has been burglarized. Just three weeks ago, someone reached in a window and snatched some cellphones from a desk. But this is the worst burglary in recent memory, Sciulli said.
“We haven’t been ransacked like this in a couple of years,” she said.
Sciulli said she has the office insured, but probably won’t report the incident. It’s not worth it, she said. After a burglary in 2003, she made claims but then saw her insurance rates go up 300 percent, Sciulli said.
Sciulli said she’s hoping to get the footage off nearby security cameras. She said she’s looking to put the word out that Solar Youth is not to be messed with. “Somebody has to get caught some time.”
Ironically, some of the teens at Solar Youth were recently working on a “community service action project” targeting burglaries in the housing project. They went door to door with alarms and quickly sold out due to a high demand. “There are tons of burglaries out here,” Sciulli said.
When Solar Youth has been hit in the past, it’s usually been obvious that kids were the culprits. “This, to me, doesn’t feel like kids,” Sciulli said. If it had been kids who broke in, they would have taken objects like binoculars and bus passes, Sciulli said.
She pointed out where the burglars had gone through mailboxes and ripped open envelopes. They left behind donation checks made out to Solar Youth. Kia Levey, Solar Youth’s interim program director, speculated that the thieves were looking for cash.
As a precautionary measure, all Solar Youth desktop computers are cabled to desks so they can’t be stolen. By the front door is a lock-up checklist with closing procedures. Sciulli said she and her staff will just have to be even more careful. The break-in is a reminder, she said. “you have to be constantly vigilant at all times.”
Sciulli and Solar Youth staffer Meredith Cowart. The burglars entered from a freshly planted flower bed.
Courthouse Battle
A fight broke out outside state Superior Court on Elm Street at around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. At 11:45, a half-dozen police cars were pulled over near the building, along with a prisoner conveyance van.
John Gehm, a hot dog vendor, said he saw it happen from across the street at the southeast corner of Church and Elm streets.
“Two guys coming out of court started arguing with each other,” Gehm said. Then they started throwing punches, he said. A crowd swarmed on them and the police pulled them apart.
Aaron Husinisky, who was selling Italian ice on the same corner, said he had been working the hot dog cart in front of the court house when the fight happened. “One guy tried to hit the other guy’s pregnant wife,” he said. When the cops came up, the guy started swinging at them, Husinsky said.
Attempted Robbery
A Yale graduate student was the victim of an attempted robbery Tuesday at 9 p.m. at Elm and Howe streets, according to Yale police Chief Ronnell Higgins. The grad student reported the incident at 1:15 a.m. Wednesday. He told police he was walking alone when three young men pushed him to the ground and tried to take his backpack, Higgins said. The student suffered minor injuries.
Crime Map
Click here for a list of major crimes for July 12. Click on the image below to see those incidents placed on a citywide map.
NHPD
For block-by-block year-to-date crime information, plus daily crime maps, check out the Independent’s Crime Log.