SECOND BODY FOUND
GRISWOLD, Conn. (AP) – State police say they’ve found the body of a second person following an early morning house fire in Griswold that is apparently connected to a car fire in another Connecticut town.
Firefighters responded to a fire at Kenwood Estates shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday and found one person dead. Late Wednesday night, state police announced that they had found a second body inside the home. Autopsies will be conducted to determine cause and manner of death. State police say detectives also were called to an abandoned car fire in Glastonbury Wednesday morning. They say an initial investigation found that the vehicle is associated with the house fire in Griswold. No other details were immediately available.
State police say the investigation is ongoing.
JEWELER IS A THIEF
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A local man has pleaded guilty to what federal authorities described as a $5 million fraud scheme using his Rhode Island jewelry store. The U.S. attorney’s office in Rhode Island says 52-year-old Gerald Kent, of Groton, made a plea deal Wednesday with prosecutors. Kent owned Kent Jewelry, which sold jewelry online primarily to Groupon and Zulily. He pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The identity theft charge has a mandatory minimum two-year sentence, which will be consecutive to his sentence for wire fraud. Prosecutors say Kent made a deal with a firm in Chicago that buys unpaid invoices. Prosecutors say he sold approximately $5 million in fraudulent invoices and made about $3.6 million through the scheme. Kent is scheduled to be sentenced March 9.
THAT’S GARBAGE
Part of Great Neck Road in Waterford was closed for about four hours Wednesday after a town garbage truck took down some overhead wires just before 8:30 a.m., and affected about a ¾-mile stretch of Great Neck Road between Deerfield and Goshen roads. Police said power, cable and telephone services were affected. Two residences were damaged from the wires ripping away. Police reopened the road about 12:45 p.m.
WREATHS REDO
Due to a system failure, there were no wreaths locally on “Wreaths Across America Day” on Dec. 16th. Now, more than 500 wreaths are being delivered to correct the error for placement at Sacred Heart Cemetery. The Norwich community will now be able to gather on Saturday to honor veterans as part of the annual Wreaths Across America initiative. The tradition began more than 20 years ago.
PRESTON REVERSES ITSELF ON ADDING TROOPER
The Preston Board of Finance has reversed itself about sending a request to add a second resident state trooper for the remainder of the current fiscal year. The board voted 4-2 Wednesday to recommend appropriating $61,000 to hire a second resident trooper. The board voted against the appropriation earlier this year. With the Board of Finance approval of the allocation, the request will be presented to residents at a town meeting.
FIXED EARLY
A water main break at Williams Park Apartments in New London, reported about 7 a.m. Wednesday, was repaired around 8 p.m., earlier than had been expected. Crews began working on the break around 10 a.m. There was no water to the building while it was being repaired, but no residents were displaced. The Red Cross provided 500 bottles of water. The apartments house seniors and disabled residents at 127 Hempstead St. The cause of the break is unknown.
