A former New Haven man who robbed a Seymour bank and then led police on a chase up and down Route 8 was sentenced to serve five years in federal prison Tuesday (Feb. 28).
Daniel Hamlett Sr., 55, had pleaded guilty to a single count of bank robbery before U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford.
The case dates back to April 9, 2013, when Hamlett drove a stolen Ford Taurus to the Webster Bank on New Haven Road (Route 67), parked it, then approached another occupied car in the parking lot while wearing a mask.
Hamlett took out a handgun and smashed the window of the car, then demanded money from the driver.
“When the victim responded that he didn’t have any money, Hamlett took the victim’s car keys and cell phone and told him not to move,” federal prosecutors said in a prepared statement.
He then went in the bank, ordered everyone to get on the floor, and stole $5,494 from two teller drawers before driving away in the stolen vehicle.
That set off a police chase, during which Hamlett initially drove north on Route 8 in the stolen Taurus, but ditched it in Beacon Falls, where his son, Daniel Hamlett Jr., was waiting with a red Toyota Prius.
The pair drove south on Route 8 in the Prius, with cops picking up their trail in the area of exit 19 of Route 8 southbound, emergency radio dispatches indicated.
The vehicle got off the highway, with Ansonia and then Derby police becoming involved in the hunt for the car on city streets before losing the Prius in the area of Olivia Street in Derby.
A sighting of the vehicle in the area of exit 13 of Route 8 in Shelton was reported about five minutes later, drawing Shelton police officers into the search, but cops were unable to locate and stop the vehicle.
Both Hamlett and his son were arrested in 2014.
Last October Daniel Hamlett Jr. was sentenced to time served in the case after he pleaded guilty to a single count of aiding and abetting a bank robbery.
The case was investigated by the FBI and Seymour police and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas P. Morabito and Sarala V. Nagala.
