Police charge East Haven man in connection with robbery

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NAUGATUCK — An East Haven man was arrested in connection with a plot to rob a woman of marijuana.

Isaiah Freeman, 20, of 140 Mill St., Apt. C, East Haven was arrested at about 4 a.m. this morning on an active arrest warrant, which stemmed from a November robbery on Orchard Terrace.

Naugatuck Police Department spokesman Lt. Robert Harrison explained Freeman, along with a borough teen, conspired to rob a 21-year-old Naugatuck woman on Nov. 28. The teenager, whose name was not released due to his age, had met the woman two weeks before the incident, Harrison said, at which time the woman told the teen she had marijuana for sale.

On Nov. 28, Harrison said, the teen left school early, met up with Freeman and called the woman to buy an ounce of marijuana with the intentions of ripping her off. The teen told the woman to meet him on Orchard Terrace.

When the woman arrived, Harrison said, the teen approached the car with a metal pole up his sleeve to make it look like he had a gun. There was no gun used in the incident, he said.

The teen then robbed the woman of the marijuana and stole the wallet of a male passenger who was in the backseat of the car, Harrison said. The wallet was a Coach wallet, valued at $150, that turned out to have no money inside, Harrison said. Another woman was in the car as well, Harrison said. No one was injured during the robbery.

Freeman hid in the bushes during the robbery, but afterwards jumped out, took the pipe from the teenager and ran off with him through the woods, Harrison said.

According to Harrison, the people in the car then called police to report an armed robbery. He said police never recovered a gun, which the passengers said was pointed at the Waterbury man; detectives learned from a third party, who did not want any part in the robbery, that it had been planned using a pipe.

The teen was arrested in December and charged with robbery in the first degree, criminal use of a firearm, breach of peace, conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree, and larceny in the sixth degree.

Freeman was arrested this morning after an officer on patrol spotted a group of people hanging around in the area of North Church Street. After identifying the individuals, Harrison said, the officer discovered the warrant for Freeman and took him into custody.

Freeman was charged with accessory-criminal liability for acts of another, conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit larceny in the sixth degree, breach of peace and giving a false statement in the second degree.
Freeman appeared Wednesday in Waterbury Superior Court, where a judge set his bond at $100,000.

The Republican American contributed to this article.