DERBY — A Chapel Street man who police said robbed an Ansonia bank to impress Taylor Swift faces up to seven years behind bars after taking a plea deal.
But he may be sentenced to no jail time at all if he does well in an inpatient program for defendants with psychiatric issues.
The man, 27-year-old Bruce Rowley, suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to court records.
He pleaded guilty Thursday before Judge Peter McShane at Superior Court in Derby to second-degree robbery, engaging police in pursuit, and reckless driving.
According to an arrest warrant written by Detective Stephen Adcox, Rowley went into the Webster Bank on Division Street about 3:42 p.m. April 4 and demanded money.
It was not a typical bank robbery.
At the time, tellers remarked how Rowley appeared “disheveled.”
The warrant also noted his unusual M.O.
“The male did not make any threats of violence, did not use a note or weapon or make mention of a weapon,” the warrant says. “The male made no effort in trying to disguise himself. No glasses, hat, hood or mask were worn by the suspect.”
Rowley’s behavior was so out of the norm that the first teller from whom he demanded money “did not comply with his requests because she thought something was wrong with him and was not sure what was going on,” the warrant says.
A neighboring teller gave him $1,621, which included a dye pack that exploded while Rowley was in the parking lot.
Police released photos from the bank’s surveillance system.
Within a day, a Derby resident and a probation officer supervising Rowley had identified him as the robbery suspect.
Detective Rick Esposito reached out to Rowley’s parents, who said he had been prescribed medication for treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Ansonia cops put out an alert notifying other law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for Rowley’s Jeep.
The vehicle was then spotted on Interstate 95 south in Rhode Island by a state trooper, but Rowley allegedly would not pull over.
He led police on a chase south into Connecticut, where state police out of Montville joined in.
The pursuit reached speeds of more than 100 mph, but ended after the troopers used spike strips to flatten the tires on the Jeep.
While being driven back to Ansonia by detectives, Rowley volunteered that he perpetrated the robbery to impress Swift, according to Lynch.
“He immediately started talking about it,” Lynch said. “They didn’t even ask him.”
Though Rowley claimed to have thrown some of the money over a fence at the pop megastar’s $17.75 million Watch Hill, R.I. mansion, police never recovered any cash.
“We had the local PD go up there but no money was recovered so we were unable to confirm that,” Lynch said.
Rowley has been behind bars since his arrest in April.
But after he pleaded guilty Thursday, Judge McShane released him to the Sierra Center, a residential program for people accused of crimes who have serious psychiatric disabilities.
Prosecutor Paul Gaetano did not object to Rowley taking part in the program.
According to the terms of the plea deal, he will face up to seven years in prison in the case when he is sentenced.
Or he could get a completely suspended jail sentence and probation if he does well in psychiatric treatment.
He is scheduled to return to court Oct. 17.
The judge told Rowley to take advantage of the program.
“If the court gets a bad report in the meantime and you’re not cooperating … the court will put the case on earlier,” Judge McShane said.
