City man faces attempted murder charge after robbery, standoff

Officials charged a New Haven man with attempted murder and other offenses following a standoff with police that lasted six hours after an armed robbery in the Westfield Trumbull Mall Friday night, police said.

Authorities charged 24year-old Eddie Lynch with first-degree robbery, criminal attempted murder and attempted first-degree assault on a police officer, among other charges, according to a Saturday afternoon statement from Trumbull police.

Police said Lynch led officers on a chase from the mall into Bridgeport, where he crashed his car and began the long standoff that lasted into Saturday morning before he surrendered.

“Bridgeport Police secured the area immediately surrounding the intersection and were negotiating with Lynch continuously for several hours to encourage his peaceful surrender,” the statement read. “However, the circumstances were tense, with Lynch firing his gun at the officers at least once during that time. Following his arrest, officers recovered a variety of evidence from the jewelry store robbery, including a handgun and stolen merchandise.”

Bond was set at $500,000, with added bonds of $50,000 and $20,000 tacked on from “motor vehicle charges” and “an active domestic violence arrest warrant,” the release read. He is due in state Superior Court in Bridgeport on Dec. 28.

Lynch, a convicted felon, isn’t permitted to have a firearm, according to the statement.

He was charged in relation to a robbery Friday night at the Zales jewelry store inside the mall, according to officials. One shot was fired from a gun that was used to shatter a glass display case, but no one was injured, authorities said.

“At 1:11 a.m., the party responsible for the incident at the Trumbull mall, who was at a standstill with police in the area of Anton Street and Madison Avenue ... surrendered to Bridgeport and Trumbull police,” Scott Appleby, Bridgeport’s director of emergency management, said in an earlier statement.

The mall remained open until its regular closing that was scheduled for 9 p.m. Friday Trumbull police assisted patrons with exiting the mall. Mall employees and patrons were closed out from the area surrounding incident, Trumbull Assistant Police Chief Glenn C. Byrnes said.

Byrnes said police monitored the traffic exiting the mall after several 911 calls reported a gunshot and robbery inside.

“Officers spotted the fleeing vehicle leaving the mall onto Main Street and continued a pursuit until the driver lost control at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Anton Street in Bridgeport,” Byrnes said.