Ridgefield Homeowner Pleads Guilty In Car Theft Shooting Case

RIDGEFIELD, CT — A Ridgefield man accused of shooting a 15-year-old girl in the back when she attempted to steal his car, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor third-degree assault on Tuesday, the News-Times is reporting.

Mauro Tropeano, owner of Stanziato's Wood Fired Pizza in Danbury, is due back in court June 9 for sentencing.

Tropeano, 35, was originally charged with second-degree assault and illegal discharge of a firearm, after he opened fire on a group of Waterbury teens who were trying to steal his Range Rover from his driveway around 3 a.m. on June 5, 2017. He initially denied the shooting, but later said he had pulled the trigger in self-defense, according to court documents

Tropeano is still facing two drug-dealing charges. During their investigation of the shooting, police found a variety of drugs, including seven pounds of marijuana wrapped in one-pound packages, over 200 unmarked yellow pills, five boxes of hypodermic needles, several different kinds of anabolic steroids, and over $26,300 in cash in Tropeano's Hulda Lane home.

Tropeano is due back in court on the drug charges March 30.

For more, see the News-Times.