Newark – On Saturday January 6, 2018 at 10:47 a.m. Newark Police Officers responded to a residence in the unit block of Choate Street for a burglary in progress, according to Lt. Fred Nelson.
Nelson said while en route to the residence, officers received additional information from the victim, a 23-year-old male University of Delaware student, and his roommate, who advised that they were following the suspect eastbound in the 200 block of E. Main Street. The victim also provided a clothing description of the suspect.
An officer subsequently located the suspect, Shawn Colpo, 42, and arrested him without incident. Officers learned that the two residents and a relative entered the residence and immediately detected an odor of cigarette smoke.
They searched the residence for the source of the smoke and found Colpo in the basement, according to Nelson. The residents and their relative fled the home through the back door and Colpo fled through the front door, said Nelson.
The residents told police that they began following Colpo as he fled and that he threw a can of beer over his shoulder at them. The residents later found a case of beer that had been kept in the refrigerator, now in the basement and several open beer cans were found on the basement floor. A review of area surveillance footage also showed Colpo discarding an item in a parking lot after he fled the residence, said Nelson. Police later recovered the victim’s student identification card from the parking lot. The suspect’s point of entry into the residence is believed to be an unlocked door. Colpo was charged with Burglary 2nd Degree and video arraigned in front of Justice of the Peace Court 11. He was committed to Howard Young Correctional Institution in lieu of $2,500 secured bond.