NAUGATUCK — Police last week arrested a 26-year-old man in connection with an armed robbery in 2014 after linking the man to the case through DNA on a ski mask left behind near the scene.
Police say Michael Warga was the man who robbed the Mobil Gas Station on South Main Street shortly after midnight on Nov. 28, 2014. According to court documents, a clerk working at the time told police he was mopping the floor when a white man wearing a black ski mask, black hooded sweatshirt and black gloves walked up behind him with a gun. The man told the clerk to open the cash register, then fled the store after taking all the cash in the register, the affidavit states.
A police canine tried to track the suspect. While the track didn’t yield a suspect, a canine found a black ski mask, gloves and hooded sweatshirt on the Route 8 North on-ramp near the gas station, the affidavit states.
Police sent the clothing to the state forensic lab for analysis, which found multiple DNA profiles, the affidavit states. The DNA from the clothing also matched profiles from evidence submitted by the New Milford Police Department and Connecticut State Police in similar cases, the affidavit states.
This past April, DNA from the ski mask was matched to Warga on the Combined DNA Index System, which allows forensic laboratories to exchange and compare DNA profiles electronically. After getting a search warrant, police took a DNA sample from Warga, who was being held at the Bridgeport Correctional Institution. The DNA was a match, the affidavit says.
Police charged Warga with first-degree robbery, first-degree threatening and carrying of pistol or revolver without permit. Warga was held on bond following his arraignment in Waterbury Superior Court and is scheduled to appear in court again on Wednesday.
