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Stamford Man Charged With Swiping SUV From Gas Station

STAMFORD, Conn. -- The suspect in a stolen car case made the work of police really easy as he tossed his license plates in a garbage can at a gas station and then stole an SUV parked beside the garbage can, Stamford Police said. 

Jefferson Maldonado

Jefferson Maldonado

Photo Credit: Stamford police

Jefferson Maldonado, 26, of 10 Revere Drive, was charged with second-degree larceny. 

Police said a motorist went to the gas station at 1125 E. Main St. late Thursday, parked his 2011 gray Honda Pilot by a pump and went inside the convenience store. When the driver came out shortly afterward, his Pilot was gone, police said. He alerted the clerk and police were called.

A witness told police that he saw a Hispanic male with tattoos on his neck  throw license plates into the nearby garbage can before jumping in the Pilot and driving away. The witness said he believed the suspect worked at a local barbershop, police said. 

Officers retrieved the license plates from the garbage can and found they belonged to Maldonado and also discovered where he lived, Sgt. Kelly Connelly said.

Soon after, an officer found the SUV abandoned nearby at 1110 E. Main St., but without its keys, police said. 

Officers went to Maldonado's residence and he said he had been asleep since 10 p.m. and had nothing to do with any theft, police said. 

He was told officers were reviewing surveillance video and that they also had his license plates, police said. Maldonado soon relented and cooperated with officers, even going back to where the SUV was and retrieving the keys from nearby bushes, police said.

His bond was set at $25,000, and he was given a court date of Sept. 9. 

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