FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Milford, CT) – Margaret E. Kelley, Ansonia/Milford State’s Attorney, announced today that a Milford Superior Court jury on October 17, 2023, found Anthony Villano, age 64, of Orange, guilty of the crime of Larceny in the First Degree by Conversion of a Motor Vehicle, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § § 53a-119(10) and 53a-122. The Honorable H. Gordon Hall presided over the trial.
Evidence at trial showed that on January 30, 2020, Orange police were dispatched to a U-Haul truck rental business on Boston Post Road for a complaint about an overdue truck rental that had not been returned. U-Haul told police the business had sent the defendant a certified demand letter for the truck return by January 23, 2020 but U-Haul had not yet received the truck back and had not heard from Villano. Two days before, U-Haul had attempted to retrieve the truck, a Chevrolet Silverado valued at about $28,000, by sending a tow truck to a residence on Derby Milford Road.
When police on January 30, 2020, went to the Derby Milford Road residence, a relative of the defendant told police that Villano was not at home but that Villano had been driving the U-Haul truck over the past couple of weeks. When police were able to reach the defendant by telephone, he told officers that a towing company took the truck from his residence two days prior. The relative later contacted Orange police and stated that the truck was parked on Park Avenue in Bridgeport. There was no license plate on the pickup and the U-Haul decals had been removed.
Villano is scheduled for sentencing on January 8, 2024.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Marc R. Durso, with assistance from Inspector Patrick Dooling.