By Elio Gugliotti, Editor
NAUGATUCK — Three days after a midday home invasion at a condo complex, Naugatuck police identified two additional suspects wanted in connection with the armed robbery.
Police said Thursday they have secured arrest warrants for Khalil Rasheem Abdul-Hakeem, also known as “Kirby,” 21, of Bridgeport, and Leequaje Adrian Jihad Jackson Brown, 22, of Naugatuck in connection with the home invasion.
Naugatuck police and the U.S. Marshals Office are searching for the suspects. Police asked anyone with information on the whereabouts of Abdul-Hakeem and Jackson Brown to contact the U.S. Marshals Office at 203-800-6001 or the Naugatuck Police Department at 203-729-5222. Police urged the public to contact police if they see the men and not approach them. Police said Abdul-Hakeem and Jackson Brown are considered armed and dangerous.
The home invasion occurred Monday at about 12 p.m. at a condo complex at 39 Horton Hill Road. Three armed men in masks held three women at gunpoint in a condo and took about $17,000 in cash, multiple pairs of high-end sneakers, three video game consoles and a laptop, according to the incident report. No one was injured during the robbery, police said.
The owner of the condo, who wasn’t home at the time of the robbery, told police the robbery was the second time in as many months armed men broke into his apartment and robbed him. The first robbery occurred in April at an apartment in Bridgeport, according to court documents, and the suspects made off with $6,000 in cash.
The man told police he recently received a large sum of money from a lawsuit settlement. He told police it’s well known he got the settlement and sells high-end shoes online, and believes that’s why the robberies occurred.
The business appears to be legitimate, Deputy Police Chief C. Colin McAllister told the Republican-American. There is a healthy market for rare sneakers produced in limited batches, sometimes with special colors or markings, he said.
Police tracked the suspects from Monday’s robbery to Lakeview Avenue in Bridgeport using a cellphone taken from one of the women, according to the incident report.
As officers watched the area, four men in a gray 2010 GMC Acadia pulled up and got out of the SUV. One of the men put items into a gray 2006 Saab 93 that was parked on the road and another took a bank money bag out of the Saab, according to the incident report.
The men drove off in the Acadia. Officers pulled the SUV over, but after initially stopping the driver sped off. About a quarter-mile later, the driver pulled down a dead-end street and three of the men took off on foot, while one remained in the SUV, the police report states.
Police caught and arrested two of the men — Nasir Omari Blow, 22, and Jacarri Pettway, 20, both of Bridgeport, at the scene.
Police recovered two Xbox systems, 18 pairs of Nike shoes, a handgun, drugs and drug paraphernalia from the Saab and Acadia.
Blow and Pettway were both charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree larceny, second-degree criminal mischief, home invasion and conspiracy charges.
Blow is also facing weapons charges.
Both men were arraigned in Waterbury Superior Court May 26 and held on $500,000 bond. They are scheduled to appear in court again July 27.
Well at least Browns on the run, out of Naugatuck for a while.