East Haven police arrest 2 Hartford men in attempted armed home invasion where one posed as delivery driver

East Haven police arrested two suspects in an incident during which a man posed as a package delivery driver and attempted to get into an East Haven resident's home on Friday.

The East Haven Police Department said the incident was reported at a Maple Street home at about 9:45 a.m. A video of the incident captured on a Ring camera shows the suspect, who was wearing a reflective vest and holding a package in his hand, tell the resident "I don't know if this is for you" before pulling out a gun and saying something inaudible.

The suspect then tried to get into the home before he was immediately pushed by the victim, who slammed the door shut, the video shows.

The suspect then ran to what appeared to be a waiting silver and black Dodge Ram or similar vehicle with a bed cover and drove off, police said.

Police said that since Friday, "investigators uncovered an alleged plot to take part in a home invasion where the occupants of the residence were going to be restrained with zip ties and robbed," and that there may have been a plot for a second home invasion planned in Manchester.

On Friday night, East Haven police announced that they located the suspect and took him into custody. Police Saturday identified the man suspected of posing as the delivery person as Xavier Otero, 37, of Hartford. The East Haven Police Investigative Services Division found Otero as a result of following up on leads, police said.

"It was quickly confirmed that Otero was in fact the suspect shown in the still photos and video disseminated to the media and social media," police said in a statement Saturday evening. Otero was found at a family member's house in Hartford and was taken into custody, police said.

The Dodge Ram pickup truck that had been seen in the East Haven homeowner's video then was seen outside a home on New Britain Avenue in Hartford, and investigators sought a search and seizure warrant for that home, police said.

While investigators watched the house, a second male suspect was seen getting into the Dodge Ram and was taken into custody, police said. He was identified as Jean Carrasquillo-Torres, 26, of New Britain Avenue, Hartford, police said.

While executing the search and seizure warrant at the New Britain Avenue home, investigators allegedly found about 1.1 kilograms of suspected fentanyl and "items commonly used in the operation of a drug factory including a hydraulic press," and a bag full of heavy duty zip ties, "consistent with the information they obtained related to the planned home invasions and weapons related items."

Otero and Carrasquillo-Torres were taken to the East Haven Police Department. Otero is charged with: home invasion, first-degree threatening, criminal possession of a firearm, and criminal attempt to commit unlawful restraint in the first degree, police said.

Carrasquillo-Torres is charged with: conspiracy to commit home invasion, first-degree conspiracy to commit unlawful restraint, and narcotics and weapons-related charges due to evidence found in execution of the search and seizure warrant at the New Britain Avenue home, police said.

Otero and Carrasquillo-Torres were held at the East Haven Police Department in lieu of $250,000.00 bail each and are scheduled to appear at Superior Court in New Haven on April 26, police said.

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