2 charged with burglarizing Hartford nonprofit

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Two men were arrested after a Hartford nonprofit was burglarized twice within days earlier this year.

One of the suspects, 54-year-old Arthur Gunn, appeared in court on Wednesday. Gunn is accused of breaking into and burglarizing items worth thousands of dollars from Angel of Edgewood on Franklin Avenue.

“We just had our fourth annual back-to-school extravaganza on Friday, and even though the event was successful, we were still heavily impacted by the burglaries, because there was a lot of things we weren’t able to distribute to families,” said Jendayi Scott-Miller, the founder of Angel of Edgewood.

Angel of Edgewood provides food, clothing and resources to families in need. Scott-Miller believes the breaks-in was not the first time Gunn was at the facility. One of the volunteers, Yasmine Rodriguez, said a neighbor recommended Gunn to help her clean the facility for two days last December.

“He cleaned out with me, there was clean up to do,” she said. “And we cleaned the area, organizing, restocking.”

Rodriguez said she hasn’t seen Gunn since then, and was shocked to hear he was suspected of burglarizing the place about six months later.

Gunn’s daughter, Sharmain Dunn, said her father is innocent.

“He came into work, he did a couple jobs for them and I feel like they’re pinning it on my dad,” she said.

Scott-Miller said the thieves exited through a trash chute the day of the burglaries. Dunn said her father wouldn’t have been able to do that.

“He’s 50-something years old. There’s no way,” said. “You look at him, there’s no way. In the video, they say they are jumping down stuff. Look at my dad, jumping where?”

She added, “I’m going to keep pursing until my dad is free.”

The other man accused is 37-year-old Angel Gonzalez. He was also charged with burglary and larceny.

Gunn is being held on bond. His next court date is Oct. 9.

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