The police have arrested three men they say robbed three Southern Connecticut State University students and made off with one of the victims’ cars.
The mid-afternoon car-jacking, which took place on Oct. 24, “sent cops rushing toward the west Rock Ridge State Park Nature Center,” according to department spokesman Officer David Hartman
The crime was called in by a Wintergreen Avenue resident, who reported three people had come to his home asking him to call for help. The people, three SCSU students, told the man they’d been robbed and their car had been taken, according to Hartman.
A 21-year-old woman was behind the wheel of her father’s 2006 Ford Explorer. Her friends, a 19-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man, were her passengers. The three drove to the Nature Center Parking lot to talk, according to Hartman.
Three young men approached the vehicle. One reached through the open driver’s window and grabbed the victim by the
neck and held a knife to her throat, according to Hartman. The two other men confronted the driver’s two passengers and demanded they hand over their cash and valuables. They complied and were led into the woods adjacent to the lot. The men also demanded one person’s watch and another’s ring. They told them to stay quiet or they’d be killed, according to Hartman.
Last to be removed from the SUV was the driver, according to Hartman. When asked, the driver showed the three men where her valuables were inside the car. She then was taken into the wooded area to join her friends. The three carjackers took off in the victim’s SUV headed toward Hamden.
The victims provided detectives with detailed accounts. The following Wednesday, SCSU cops found the stolen SUV in an off-campus parking lot on Springside Avenue.
On Nov. 11, Officer Jason Bandi, Yale University Police Officer Eric Baily and city Detective Thomas Glynn, assigned to the department’s Shooting Task Force, spotted a 19-year-old suspected to be one of the carjackers. Police had a warrant for his arrest. The man, who is from New Haven, cooperated and was taken into custody, according to Hartman. The man was served with two other unrelated warrants on the same day.
Two days later, Detective Raul Pereira received a call from Detective Carlos Conceicao, according to Hartman. Conceicao told Pereira he’d gotten word of another suspect coming to headquarters to turn himself in. The suspect is a 16-year-old who resides in New Haven. He was charged and was placed in custody at the Bridgeport Juvenile Detention Center.
On Nov. 17, Detective Conceicao solicited the assistance of Officers John Sklenka and Gary Gamara, according to Hartman. They were informed that the last suspect, a 20-year-old New Haven man, was at an apartment on Hamilton Street. The cops found him hiding in a bedroom closet and arrested him, according to Hartman.
All three arrestees were charged with robbery in the first degree, larceny in the second degree, robbery involving an occupied vehicle, and conspiracy to commit all three crimes. The 20-year-old man was additionally charged with possession of a dangerous instrument and sexual assault in the fourth degree. The juvenile was additionally charged with carrying a dangerous weapon.
Robbery-Burglary Unit boss, Sgt. Gary Hammill praised his crew, in particular, Detective Conceicao, for a job well done.
“This was an involved case and Carlos [Conceicao] didn’t rest until all three were brought in,” he said, according to a press release.
Great work. Frightening though that the 16 year old committed an very adult crime and will be given a pat on the wrist by the State of Connecticut.