PAWCATUCK MAN WITH PREVIOUS CONVICTION CHARGED WITH ROBBING MYSTIC MOBIL
Stonington — A Pawcatuck man who has a previous conviction for armed robbery, and is on probation for a larceny conviction, was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with robbing the Mobil convenience store at Route 27 and Coogan Boulevard.
Joseph M. Bailey, 45, of 100 South Broad St., Apt. 201, was charged with first-degree robbery, sixth-degree larceny and driving with a suspended license. He was arraigned later Wednesday in New London Superior Court.
Court records show that he was sentenced in 2009 to 10 years in prison, five of which were suspended, and three years of probation in connection with the 2008 knifepoint robbery of Chucky’s Sunoco in Pawcatuck. He also has convictions in 2008 for burglary, larceny and violation of probation, pleaded guilty in 2016 to violation of probation in the robbery case and received a suspended 60-day prison sentence in July and one-year probation after pleading guilty to sixth-degree larceny. Records also show various other arrests for Bailey but the outcome of those cases are not listed on the state judicial website.
According to police, at 4:46 a.m. Wednesday the clerk at the Mobil store called 911 to report that a man entered the store, told the female clerk he was robbing her and had a gun. He then went behind the sales counter and took cash from the register and a pack of cigarettes. Police declined to say how much was taken but a sixth-degree larceny charge involves the theft of $500 or less. There were no injuries.
Officers then watched video surveillance of the incident and were able to identify the man as Bailey, someone they have arrested and had interactions with in the past.
At 8:30 a.m., police spotted Bailey driving a pickup truck. Officers knew his license was suspended, as they had arrested him on Sept. 22 for that offense. They stopped him in front of the Spruce Meadows apartment complex, where he lives, for driving with a suspended license. He was taken into custody. A short time later, police said, they searched his home and found clothes that appeared to be similar to what the suspect in the security camera footage was wearing at the time of the robbery. London police said in a news release. The clerk reported that the suspect did not show a weapon but was holding his right hip to imply that he had one.
The suspect threatened the clerk with violence, police said. While on scene, authorities found a witness to the robbery.
According to police, the suspect was described as a tall white man wearing a green hoodie and jeans.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call police at (860) 447-5269, ext. 0.