Police: Drugs Fuel Seymour Robbery, Theft

If the police account is correct, a 19-year-old Shelton resident may need to re-think his recent career in crime.

First Casey Hyman and a partner allegedly tried to rob a man with an pellet gun at an ATM in downtown Seymour, police said.

The victim, however, refused to hand over any cash.

Then in July, Hyman allegedly stole a motorcycle, and tried to quickly re-sell it on the street.

Guess what — the buyer was working with police.

Now Hyman is in jail on charges related to the motorcycle theft and police expect to charge him soon for his alleged role in the May robbery. 

The Robbery

The alleged robbery happened May 31 at the drive-up ATM at the Main Street Bank of America in Seymour.

Police said Hyman and Seymour resident Daniel Szleszynski approached a car parked at the ATM, pointed a pellet gun that looked like a real gun at the driver and demanded money. 

Police charged Szleszynski this week with first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery.

The arrest warrant for Szleszynski details the alleged crime:

The two men approached the victim’s car on either side, covering their faces with their T‑shirts.

Give me all your money man: 300 bucks,” Szleszynski said to the victim, according to the victim’s statement to police. 

When the victim told Szleszynski he didn’t have that much money, Szleszynski allegedly told him to take out $100 from his account.

Press the button,” Szleszynski allegedly told the victim. 

Instead, the victim hit cancel on the ATM screen, drove away and called police. 

Szleszynski was still able to get $100 to dispense from the victim’s account. He and Hyman ran away from the scene, the warrant says.

Problems

But the pair had been spotted — and recognized — by two different police officers earlier that night, while hanging out near the bank. 

It made identifying the suspects easier, according to the arrest warrant for Szleszynski. 

Earlier that night, a Seymour officer had seen the two walking together near the bank and recognized Szleszynski.

Then, less than an hour before the robbery, a different patrol officer drove by the two as they sat on the curb outside the bank, according to the warrant. 

That officer said he recognized Hyman from previous dealings with him.

The two men don’t move from the spot, surveillance footage shows, until about 40 minutes later, when they approached the victim’s car and demanded the money. 

They also left fingerprints — which are still being analyzed by the state police crime lab — all over the car and the pellet gun that police found discarded in a nearby catch basin. 

One witness also saw the two men standing over the victim’s car during the robbery. 

Plus, the victim said he stopped his car about a block away and watched the pair run away from the scene while he was on the phone with police.

Drug Money

Both Szleszynski and Hyman initially denied being involved in the robbery when talking to police.

Hyman later admitted to police that he had been involved, and implicated Szleszynski and another man, referred to in the warrant only as Mike K.”

Hyman told police that Mike K” suggested the three rob someone that night to get money for drugs, according to the arrest warrant.

According to the warrant, only Szleszynski and Hyman took part in the robbery at the ATM.

After Szleszynski and Hyman retrieved the $100 from the ATM, they met up with Mike K” in Ansonia and purchased an unspecified type of drug, the warrant says.

Motorcycle Thefts

More than a month later, two local men walked into the police department at 6:30 a.m. and said Hyman was stealing dirt bikes and motorcycles and selling them on the street. 

They wanted to set up a sale for one of the bikes — a purple Yamaha that had been stolen from one of the men the night before. 

Several Seymour police officers in unmarked cars parked at the Tri-Town Plaza parking lot for the swap. At the last minute Hyman switched the meet-up spot to Nolan Field in Ansonia. 

As he spoke with the interested buyer, Hyman recognized an undercover police officer who had pulled into the parking lot, the warrant says. 

Hyman took off running, climbing through back yards in the neighborhood to get away.

The officer chased him on foot, but tripped over a pothole and was injured.

Hyman got away, although he dislocated his shoulder while jumping over fences, the arrest warrant says. 

He was charged on July 29 on a warrant for third-degree larceny, first-degree criminal trover, tampering with a motor vehicle, and interfering with an officer. 

Court

Hyman is being held on $50,000 bail for those charges, and is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 6. 

Police said they also have a warrant for his arrest in connection to the ATM robbery. He has not been charged yet. 

Szleszynski, who was arraigned at Superior Court in Derby Tuesday, was held on a $200,000 bond, and was ordered to undergo detox before his next court date on Aug. 18. 

Judge Karen Sequino Tuesday ordered Szleszynski’s case to be screened for Part A in Milford, where more serious cases are heard. 

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