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Laundromat owner foils burglary from home
Posted on 10/28/2009
By CHASE WRIGHT Times Staff Writer NORWALK -- A Norwalk Laundromat owner foiled an attempted burglary early Sunday morning after he observed several men, one a Stamford resident, raiding his change machines from a video feed inside his home. Yasser Eldemerdash, owner of Y & S Laundromat & Dry Cleaning on Westport Avenue, rolled out of bed at about 2:30 a.m. on Sunday to check on his business, only to find three men ransacking his shop. While one man stood guard at the door, two others -- wearing hooded sweatshirts and sunglasses -- were working on the laundromat's change machines, each using a crowbar and a saw in a desperate attempt to pry open the cover, he said. "I don't know what they were thinking," Eldemerdash said, shaking his head. Noting that their tools left only minor scratches on the outside of the steel boxes, he added, "the only way you're going to get these open is by using a key or maybe a bomb." Witnessing the burglary in progress, Eldemerdash called police and within minutes officers arrived, but the blaring sirens and flashing lights of their police cruisers had by that time scared off all but one of the suspects. Officers found 20-year-old Neil Scott, of 2535 Long Ridge Road in Stamford, sitting in his vehicle, which was parked in a lot adjacent to the Laundromat, said Sgt. Nelson Alicea, of the Norwalk Police Department. Surveillance footage helped police positively identify Scott as the man keeping lookout by the door, Alicea said. Officers also matched a footprint on the office door to Scott's shoe, Eldemerdash said. He noted that the surveillance footage shows Scott abandoned his lookout post to break into the main office in the Laundromat, where he likely assumed there were more valuables. Scott never gained entrance, but a footprint on the outside of the door -- still visible Sunday afternoon -- is evidence of his attempt. Scott was charged with criminal attempt, third-degree larceny, criminal mischief and conspiracy. He was released after posting a bond of $2,500 and given a court date of Nov. 3. Scott did not return messages left by The Stamford Times. Eldemerdash said he is confident police will nab the other two who got away. He noted that his expensive, high-tech surveillance system, which allows him to see inside the store from any location that has Internet access, is paying for itself. "It really is worth the money because I can't be at the Laundromat all the time," Eldemerdash said. "With this (technology), I always know what's going on." The surveillance system is especially useful on the weekends, when the Laundromat is open 24-hours, he said. This is the second burglary to be foiled in Norwalk by an alert business owner in the last month. In late September, police arrested three men after the owner of David Harvey Jewelers spotted them burglarizing his Wall Street store from a video feed inside his home. Alicea said the technology is an asset that benefits both the business owner and the police department. "It aids the owner by protecting the business and it aids us by helping lead to arrests," he said. While he is happy the surveillance system helped, Eldemerdash said, he is especially grateful that no one walked into the Laundromat during the burglary. "I hate to think what these guys might of done then," he said.
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