Off-duty cop stops break-in suspect

An off-duty Westport police officer helped catch a man breaking into a car in the Pepe's Pizza parking lot Friday evening, police said.

Officer Samuel Sabin was eating dinner with his family around 5:45 p.m. Friday when he spotted Carlos Santos, 38, of Freemont Street, Bridgeport, break into a car. Sabin went into the parking lot, where he confronted Santos and identified himself as a police officer. The pair struggled and Sabin was able to grab the bag of items taken from the vehicle before Santos ran onto Brentwood Avenue, where Sabin and Fairfield police apprehended him.

Police said Santos smashed the window of a parked car and took a CD player, iPod and assorted CDs totaling $350 in value. The damage to the window and to the passenger door handle was estimated at $2,000.

Santos was charged with third-degree robbery, third-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief, sixth-degree larceny and possession of burglary tools. He was held on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear July 2 in Bridgeport Superior Court.