Local police are linking a Middletown man to the burglary and theft of serveral handguns, electronics and other valuables from homes in both Portland and Cromwell in September.
On Dec. 4, Portland police arrested Michael Aletta, 27, 42 Evergreen Circle, on a list of charges, including burglary, larceny, criminal mischief and seven felony counts of stealing a firearm.
Aletta was already incarcerated on a separate charge of violating his parole when he was brought in to Middletown Superior Court on Dec. 4 to answer to the new arrest warrant. Aletta pleaded not guilty and remains in jail while all of his cases are pending.
According to court files, police said Aletta broke in to his grandfather’s home on Williams Street in Portland on Sept. 27 and stole a 32” Sony flat screen TV, a computer monitor, an old computer tower and four gift cards to Lowes. The total value amounted to just over $900 and the suspect later told police he sold the TV and monitor to a Middletown pawn shop for $60, court files said.
Two days later, on Sept. 29, Aletta broke into a home on Strickland Street in Portland where he stole multiple Smith and Wesson handguns, as well as rifles and revolvers. In total, police said the value of the missing items amounted to $5,574, court files detailed.
In addition, Cromwell police said Aletta broke into a home in that town where he stole jewelry and other electronics, officials said.
The day of the break-in on Strickland Street, Portland police were notified by the Middletown Police Department that Aletta had been arrested there on a charge of violating his parole — as Aletta had just recently been released from prison convictions of burglary.
The suspect admitted to stealing the valuables from his grandfather’s home and using them toward the purchase of crack cocaine, court files detailed. He told police that, after his release from prison on Aug. 1, he was getting his life back together by enrolling in a nursing program at UConn and becoming involved with a girlfriend.
But after his grandmother’s death in September he had a hard time dealing with his situation and ended up buying crack cocaine, court files said. Unable to cease this, he resorted back to breaking in to homes to find items to steal and pawn for drugs, court files said.
Aletta is due back in Middletown court on Dec. 18. He is a convicted felon.
