Stamford man, New Canaan woman charged in robbery spree
STAMFORD — A Stamford man, 29, and a 27-year-old New Canaan woman have been charged with a string of armed sidewalk robberies in the city
Police said camera footage taken by a Tesla parked near one of the robberies helped them crack the case.
After being charged with one of the alleged hold-ups in early September, Francisco Olivencia, of Pacific Street, was charged with three others last week, for a total of four, and is currently being held at the Bridgeport Correctional Center, unable to post $1 million bond.
As well as four firstdegree robbery charges, he is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, conspiracy to
commit robbery and attempted first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and illegal discharge of a firearm.
Hadiya Bowles, of Lakeview Avenue in New Canaan, turned herself over to Stamford police Tuesday morning and was charged with three counts of firstdegree robbery. The mother of five is accused of helping Olivencia commit three sidewalk hold-ups in Stamford at the end of August and beginning of September.
Bowles was brought to the Stamford courthouse later Tuesday morning for arraignment.
Ajudge refused to drop a $750,000 court-set bond and she was transported to the York Correctional Institution in Niantic.
Her attorney Matthew Maddox declined comment on the allegations.
Police on Aug. 31 at 10 p.m. were called to East Walnut Street in Stamford’s South End, where they were told by a man that a skinny man had jumped out of a silver SUV and robbed him at gunpoint.
Afew minutes later police were called around the corner to Woodland Place, where two people said they had just been robbed by a skinny man with a gun, wearing the same clothes that the alleged robber in the first incident was described as wearing.
Police said an important element in their investigation was discovering that a Tesla parked on Woodland Place had its cameras activated, even though the car was turned off.
Pictures from the car showed the suspect as well as images of the the license plate on a silver Ford Explorer that police determined was involved in the robbery, police said. When police ran the plate, they found that the 2011 silver Explorer was registered to Bowles, her arrest warrant states.
AMilford police license plate scanner spotted the plate at a Motel 6 in that town early in the morning of Sept. 1, the warrant states. When investigators responded, they found that the room had been registered in Olivencia’s name and they also found found video of he and Bowles checking in together, according to her arrest warrant.
Lt. Tom Scanlon, who heads up the Stamford Bureau of Criminal Investigations, said investigators quickly established an extensive canvas that led them to suspects.
“We were able to take the first suspect (Olivencia) off quickly, while continuing to pursue the investigation in regard to the other involved persons,” he said. “This isn’t the end of this investigation. There is still more work to be done and investigators are still pursuing the case in regards to other people who were involved.”
Police say Bowes also helped Olivencia rob a man who was unloading tools from his vehicle in front of his home on Rose Park Avenue on Aug. 29 at 8:30 p.m. The man said he had been robbed of $1,300 in cash from his wallet, by the people who got out of a silver SUV. They took pity on him and returned his wallet containing his identification papers and his cell phone, the man told police.
When police picked up Olivencia and Bowles as they were leaving a party on Connecticut Avenue on Sept. 4, they already had an arrest warrant charging Olivencia with armed robbery, police said.
During an interview with police, Olivencia admitted committing the robberies on East Walnut Street, Woodland Place and Rose Park Avenue — and a fourth robbery William Street on Sept. 2, during which the robbery suspect fired a shot, but no one was injured, police said.
According to the arrest affidavits of both Olivencia and Bowles, he confirmed Bowles’ participation in some of the robberies and said she was driving the Explorer.
“He continually expressed his desire during his interview not to implicate Bowles too much for her role in these incidents, feeling like he placed undue pressure on her to assist Olivencia in these crimes,” the affidavits say.
Olivencia said Bowles was in financial need and he gave her some of the cash from the robberies, according to the affidavits.
Bowles did not admit to playing a role, and when asked if she lent her car to anyone else over the course of the three robberies, she responded incoherently, neither confirming or denying that she had, her arrest warrant states.
She said she has known Olivencia since middle school and said she was home on the night of Sept. 1 and said her car was with her for the entire work week, her arrest warrant states. When asked again if anyone had borrowed her car she refused to answer without a lawyer being with her, the warrant states.
Police reported armed street robberies occurring in the city in late August and early September.