East Lyme — Local police, with the help of pawn shop records, a voluntary confession and several other departments, have charged two men in connection with a spree of residential burglaries in southeastern Connecticut.

Benjamin Huntley, 36, of 42 Jay St., New London, and Michael Nicholas Rousseau, 21, of 4 Morton Ave., Pawcatuck, were each charged Thursday on warrants from both the East Lyme and Ledyard police departments, according to police records.

Huntley was charged with third-degree larceny, third-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief and fifth-degree larceny.

Police charged Rousseau with third-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit third-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit first-degree criminal mischief and conspiracy to commit fifth-degree larceny.

For both Huntley and Rousseau, the third-degree larceny charge is the result of a Dec. 18 daytime burglary that occurred in Ledyard.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the victim told police she'd come home to a house that had been rummaged through, with a kicked-in front door and several items missing, including a $250 Fender mandolin, a $500 Washburn acoustic guitar, jewelry and prescription medications.

By Jan. 4, the detective investigating the case had made two key discoveries.

Fall River Pawn Brokers, at 595 Bank St., New London, still had in its inventory a mandolin with a serial number matching that of the one missing from the victim's home.

Working with the shop's manager, police said they were able to determine Huntley had pawned the mandolin, as well as the guitar in question on Dec. 18 at 5:04 p.m. The shop had since sold the guitar, but police seized the mandolin.

The detective also learned on Jan. 4  that New London police had pulled over a car occupied by Huntley and Rousseau on Dec. 20, charging both with drug-related offenses and seizing almost 60 pieces of jewelry. Both Huntley and Rousseau allegedly said the jewelry did not belong to them.

The Ledyard burglary victim would later claim each of the items — which have values ranging from $5 to $1,000 and are worth almost $3,200 total — as her own, police said.

The remaining charges — third-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief and fifth-degree larceny for Huntley, and conspiracy to commit each of those for Rousseau — stemmed from an incident in East Lyme Dec. 15.

In that case, an arrest warrant affidavit details, a detective responded just before 5 p.m. to a Grassy Hill Road home, where a resident noticed a badly damaged front door, then a smashed sliding glass back door before discovering several missing and out-of-place items.

The burglar, the residents reported, got away with almost $600 in valuables, including a TV, and caused more than $3,000 in damage to their property.

Police from several departments — already working together because of stark similarities among multiple area burglaries — got a break on Dec. 23 when Rousseau decided to talk to them.

According to East Lyme police, Rousseau that day admitted to driving Huntley to the scenes of four or five burglaries in the past three weeks, but said he generally is "too scared to do burglaries."

Rousseau said he came to police in part because Huntley, who had been "talking bad about him," allegedly would give Rousseau $20 to $40 from the burglaries while keeping $400 for himself.

During his visit, Rousseau rode along with police, allegedly pointing out the homes he recognized as ones Huntley had burglarized, including the one on Grassy Hill Road.

Rousseau explained criteria the two were using — rob during the daytime, find homes in rural areas with out-of-sight neighbors and have a "general good feeling about the home" — and it fit with the modus operandi used in several local burglaries, police said.

In addition, police said, he gave details that he likely wouldn't know if he hadn't been at the scene.

In a Jan. 6 meeting at the East Lyme Police Department — where representatives of Clinton, East Lyme, Groton, Lyme, Montville, North Stonington, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Stonington, Waterford and the state police were present — police learned Huntley had pawned items identified as being stolen in three different residential burglaries.

Police also noted that footwear prints from DC-brand shoes — which Rousseau allegedly told police Huntley always wears — have been discovered at several of the burglaries.

Police said more arrests are anticipated.

Court records show both men have six pending criminal cases each from multiple agencies for larcenies, burglaries and drug-related crimes. The men remain in custody in lieu of bond with court dates in New London Superior Court later this month.

l.boyle@theday.com

Twitter: @LindsayABoyle