NEW HAVEN – A 40-year-old man was sentenced May 26 to 29 years in federal prison for a COVID-19 era gas station robbery spree, including one in Ansonia.
William Rosario Lopez, of New Haven, will be on probation for five years after his prison sentence, according to a prepared statement sent by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Haven.
Lopez is accused of robbing five gas stations between March 18 and March 26, 2020.
The Shell gas station at 696 Main St. in Ansonia was his fourth target. He walked into the station about 12:30 a.m. on March 23 wearing a surgical mask and pointed a silver pistol at a worker and demanded money.
He threatened to shoot the employee, and fired a shot at the employee after the employee took too long opening the cash register. The employee was not hit.
Lopez also robbed gas stations in New Britain, Southington, Vernon, and Waterbury. He assaulted a gas station employee in Vernon during his crime spree.
He was arrested April 9, 2020 and convicted in a trial on April 28, 2025.
Part of the investigation into the robberies involved police reviewing security camera footage from the robberies, and then comparing it to previous interactions they had with Lopez and his girlfriend, Solimar Rodriguez Gonzalez , who is accused of casing the gas stations for Lopez (she took a plea deal and is scheduled to be sentenced in June).
In New Haven, police responded to a breach of peace involving Lopez at a pet store where he had just purchased a snake. The snake got loose in his car, causing him to tear part of his dashboard apart trying to find it.
He asked for his money back, but a clerk declined, saying the snake was now bruised. Lopez got angry and started knocking items over, prompting police to arrive. The employee declined to press charges, but police had Lopez and his car on body cameras, which came into play later when they developed him as a suspect in the gas station robberies.