Police Reports: A Scuffle with Officers, Fraud, Missing Woman Found and Arrested

Identity Theft

Milford officers arrested a Shay Avenue woman on a Monroe warrant for identity theft Wednesday morning.

Melanie Walsh, 27, was charged with fifth-degree larceny, illegal use of a credit card, receiving goods obtained by illegal use of a credit card, third-degree identity theft and third-degree forgery. She was released on $5,000 bond for a July 8 court date.

On Oct. 29,2010, a Monroe woman living on Shelton Road reported credit card fraud. She believed she lost her card while shopping at B.J.'s Wholesale in Ansonia and a total of $967.62 in fraudulent charges were made on it, according to police.

The ensuing investigation led to the warrant for Walsh's arrest.

Resisting Arrest

On June 26, the owner of a Barn Hill Road nursery saw a black pick up truck drive on his property after hours at 2:09 a.m., jotted down the license plate and called police. He was unsure if anything was missing, according to the report.

An officer went to Shelter Rock Road in Shelton, the address obtained from the plate, and found two men beside a black pick up. When he questioned the older one, who was sitting in the truck, the man began to curse at him and his son refused orders to walk away, police said.

The man was Jose Reis, 51, and his son was Joseph Reis, 22.

Jose became increasingly aggressive and when back up officers arrived Joseph was still combative and stood with his fists clenched, according to police.

Police got Jose out of the truck, but he tried to avoid being cuffed and had to be restrained while his son ignored orders to stand back and ran to his father's aid, police said.

A third male was also at the scene and officers used police K-9 Gunner for crowd control, according to the report.

Jose and Joseph Reis were both arrested and charged with interfering with an officer. Jose was also charged with breach of peace. Bond was set at $500 each for a July 5 court date.

Missing Woman Arrested

Patricia Aversa, who had been reported missing in Torrington since June 24, was found by Waterbury police Wednesday, then arrested on a Monroe warrant.

Aversa, 39, whose last known address was Pulaski Street in Torrington, was charged with second-degree forgery and third-degree larceny. The court also filed a warrant for violation of probation.

Monroe police had applied for its warrant on May 4,2010.

According to a Register Citizen article, Torrington police said “substance abuse issues were involved during Aversa’s disappearance.”