Meriden man admits Manchester robbery

Alex Wood, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·3 min read

May 17—A Meriden man has pleaded guilty to the gunpoint robbery of the CVS store on West Middle Turnpike in Manchester on May 14, 2020, and received a sentence that won't increase the 15-year prison term he is serving for robberies committed in the 2 1/2 months before that.

ROBBERY SPREE

DEFENDANT: Andre Green, 30, of Meriden.

GUILTY PLEAS: First-degree robbery in eight cases, including a robbery in Manchester.

SENTENCE: 30 years, suspended after 15 years in prison, followed by five years of probation

Andre Green, 30, whose last name has also been spelled "Greene" in official records, pleaded guilty May 5 in Hartford Superior Court to first-degree robbery in the Manchester crime, court records show.

He received an eight-year prison sentence, according to the records, which don't say whether it is to run concurrent or consecutive to the sentences he is serving for seven other robberies, for which he was sentenced April 26 in New Britain Superior Court.

But Green's lawyer, Frank T. Canace, said the eight-year prison term will run concurrent to the others. He said a sentence runs concurrent to a defendant's existing sentences unless otherwise specified.

The other robberies to which Green pleaded guilty occurred from March 2, 2020, to May 10, 2020, in Meriden, North Haven, New Haven, Newington, Cromwell, Plainville, and Southington, court records show.

The total sentence of 15 years in prison that he received for those crimes is to be followed by five years of probation, with the possibility of up to 15 more years behind bars if he violates release conditions.

He has been in custody since May 19, 2020, when Meriden police arrested him on charges that included a felony count of illegal possession of a weapon — a BB gun — in a motor vehicle.

Green maintained in an electronically recorded interview with Meriden detectives that he committed the robberies with a "BB-style gun," according to an affidavit by Manchester police Detective James R. Graham.

Green admitted he pointed the BB gun at all the clerks, except one in North Haven, and wanted them to believe it was a real gun to scare them, the detective reported. But he also said he told the clerks he didn't want to hurt anyone, Graham added.

Green told Meriden detectives that he was addicted to fentanyl, according to Graham.

Green is an inmate at the Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown, which specializes in "care and treatment for adult male offenders with significant mental health issues," according to the state Department of Correction website.

In the Manchester robbery, which was reported to police at 10:51 p.m. May 14, 2020, the clerk working at the cash register told police a man appeared and told her in a low voice, "You have five seconds to give me the money," according to Graham's affidavit.

The detective went on to recount the following:

The clerk said she replied, "I can't," at which point the robber drew a pistol from his right pocket. She said he held it just above the counter and said, "You can."

"Each time the suspect responded he was slightly more agitated but overall he appeared calm and comfortable with his actions," the detective wrote. "The suspect appeared cautious and kept looking around."

When the clerk told the robber that only the manager could open the register, he pointed a gun at her, and she spoke to the manager who was nearby. She said the man had a gun, but the manager didn't hear her at first.

Eventually, the manager came over, removed the entire cash drawer from the register, and handed it to the robber, who took it and ran out of the store.

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