An attentive witness aided the Branford Police in capturing a suspected burglar because of a message sent through the B-Informed notification system, alerting residents in the area of recent thefts from vehicles. The resident called the Branford Police Department at 9:48 a.m. today after noticing a suspicious person with a tire iron standing near a car on Gilbert Lane. The caller approached the person, a black male, who said he was changing a tire. Branford Police officers responded to the area and located the vehicle in question and conducted a neighborhood canvass. While doing the canvass, an officer found the rear door of 10 Gilbert Lane pried open and household items stacked up at the back door. www.branfordpolice.com and follow the B-Informed link. There they will be able to tailor the information they would like to receive in the future and register different ways to be notified including cell phones, pagers, and email address.

A perimeter was put in place around the house and a Connecticut State Police K-9 officer responded to assist with searching the residence for suspects. Simultaneously, other officers continued to search the area and located a person matching the description of the suspicious person on Gilbert Lane a short distance from the house. The house was searched and a crow bar was found in a bedroom. The State Police K-9 tracked from the tire iron directly to the location where the other officers had the suspicious person detained.

The witness later identified the detained person as the person who had the tire iron. The suspect was identified as Gary Anthony Oliver, 40, of 33 Gilbert Lane, Branford. Oliver was arrested without incident and charged with burglary in the third degree, possession of burglary tools, and sixth-degree larceny. Oliver has an extensive record and is a convicted felon for robbery and is currently being held on a $25,000 bond.

Police Chief John DeCarlo said, "An empowered community is a key element in crime reduction and the police cannot do their job effectively without community participation. B-Informed offers us an open channel of communication between the police and the public."

Residents who want more information about the notification system can go the Branford Police website