Bridgeport man charged with home invasion, robbery of store owner

BRIDGEPORT — A local man was charged Friday with allegedly breaking into the home of a store owner and robbing him at gunpoint.

Brandon Crummer, 33, of Orchard Street, was charged with home invasion and first-degree robbery.

During his arraignment Friday afternoon, Superior Court Judge Kevin Doyle ordered Crummer held in lieu of $1 million bond because of the seriousness of the allegations.

The judge continued the case to Jan. 5.

Police said on Oct. 24, a local store owner had closed up his small grocery store for the evening and gone home.

But when he turned on the light in his home, a man allegedly stuck a gun to the back of his head and demanded money, police said.

Police said the store owner handed over $2,000 in cash he had with him from the day’s receipts, but the man then allegedly stuck the gun again in the back of the victim’s head and demanded, “Where’s the box?”

The store owner allegedly feigned ignorance of what the man was de

manding initially but when the gunman persisted, the store owner reached under a bed and pulled out a box containing $8,000, police said.

The gunman allegedly knocked the victim on the floor, grabbed the box and the store owner’s cell phone and fled, police said.

Police said the store owner later identified the gunman from a police photo array, recalling that a man he identified as Crummer had come into the store a number of times prior to the robbery.

“I love this country. I have a master’s degree and played soccer at Cornell,” police said the store owner told them. “I like movies and Spiderman. In my country, you have money but not freedom. I swear this is the guy 100 percent.”