Influx of Solicitors Could Spell Trouble

With the advent of the internet, door-to-door sales have largely become a thing of the past save for in Wilton and New Canaan, where a recent influx of solicitors could pose a threat to neighborhood safety.

Last week, five people from areas as far away as Detroit and Milwaukee were arrested throughout Wilton and charged with soliciting without a permit. In New Canaan, six infractions summonses have been issued to three individuals hailing from New York City, St. Louis and Little Rock since April 23 of this year for similar offenses. Both towns have ordinances that require companies to obtain permits before going door-to-door.

"As soon as the weather gets warmer, it gets lighter out, these companies start to do their canvassing in this town and other towns," said Wilton Police Lt. Don Wakeman. "They drop people off by the van load, they have certain neighborhoods and they tell them, 'We'll pick you up at 8 or 9 in the evening.' It becomes a real problem if they haven't come through [the police department] first."

"We do get magazine solicitors every year around springtime," said New Canaan Police Sgt. Carol Ogrinc. "Most are from out of state and don't have a permit when they go door to door. We find that some do have criminal histories."

Case in point: Michael Carruthers, 29, of Memphis, Tenn. was . When police ran a background check, they discovered Carruthers had "a lengthy criminal history from five different states." Police couldn't confirm that Carruthers was with the solicitation group from the previous week but that he was soliciting in town without a permit at all, and had a criminal background, is disconcerting to both police and residents.

An even more serious scenario unfolded in New Canaan recently when New Yorker Gordon Waldron, 24, and another man were cited by New Canaan Police on May 6 for soliciting without a permit. Just a day later, according to a Stamford Advocate report, Stamford Police arrested Waldron and Paul Keller in relation to an alleged burglary after they were seen soliciting in a neighborhood there. Waldron is now in jail on $90,000 bond after being charged with one count of second-degree conspiracy to commit burglary and once count of third-degree conspiracy to commit burglary in the Stamford case.

"That's part of the reason we have an ordinance," Wakeman said. "We're doing a background check before they're going out door to door around the neighborhood - so we know who they are. Some of these people get dropped off and avoid coming in here because they wouldn't be able to get a solicitor's permit because they have extensive criminal histories."

The five individuals charged last week in Wilton were said to be from "New Beginnings," a company that sells Christian literature, magazines and educational materials. So far, only Wilton and New Canaan have reported solicitors this year, but other area police departments said they were aware of them.

"We haven't had any this year but we have in the past," said Capt. Cliff Scharf of the Ridgefield Police Department. "We usually respond to them very quickly when we get complaints."

Scharf said that in Ridgefield anyone but a nonprofit group must get a permit to go door-to-door. He also asked for details about the individuals arrested in Wilton last week.

"Yup, sounds like the same group that comes every year," he said.