FILE
Superior Court in Milford.
SEYMOUR — A West Haven man allegedly wanted two things after approaching a clerk at a New Haven Road convenience store early one morning in May.
First, he asked for a pack of Newport cigarettes.
Then he pulled a silver gun from his waistband and demanded all of the money in the store’s cash register.
The suspect allegedly left the store with about $1,000, but was in police custody within a day.
The details come from an arrest warrant for 27-year-old Cory Davis, who faces charges of first-degree robbery, fifth-degree larceny, first-degree threatening, and carrying a dangerous weapon in the case.
Davis has been behind bars since May.
The warrant, written by Inspector Joseph DeNigris, says the robbery was reported at the Xtra Mart convenience store at 44 New Haven Road about 5:44 a.m. May 5.
The clerk working at the store told police he had been looking out the window of the store earlier and saw the man who robbed him walking in the area of North and Gilyard streets.
The man tried to walk into a store across the street, but it was closed, the clerk said.
The man then stared at the Xtra Mart for a few minutes before crossing the street and entering the store.
The man picked out a few items and approached the counter.
He put a orange juice and roast beef sandwich on the counter, asked for cigarettes, then allegedly showed the handgun and demanded money.
The clerk took the till out of the register and put it on the counter, after which the suspect took all the cash from it and left.
Cops canvassed the area for the suspect but couldn’t find him, though they did find a New York Yankees hat on Day Street, which matched surveillance video from the store showing the suspect wearing a Yankees hat.
Police posted photos from the surveillance video on Facebook seeking help from the public in identifying the suspect.
They also sent the photos and info on the robbery to police departments in the area.
The next day, Waterbury cops called Seymour police saying they believed the suspect in the Seymour stick-up had perpetrated five robberies in their city, based on the surveillance footage.
A witness had given Waterbury detectives a license plate number from a getaway vehicle in one of the robberies they were investigating that they traced to a friend of Davis’ who lived in West Haven.
Police went to the friend’s home, where they the man, as well as Davis and his girlfriend.
Detectives noticed Davis bore a “strong resemblance” to the suspect from the surveillance footage, the warrant says.
Both Davis and his girlfriend were wanted on arrest warrants — Davis for allegedly escaping from a Vermont jail while serving time for assaulting and robbing a motel clerk.
Waterbury detectives then interviewed Davis, who admitted to the five Waterbury robberies and the Seymour Xtra Mart heist, according to the warrant.
He said he had used a BB gun owned by his girlfriend’s father to perpetrate the robberies. He said his girlfriend drove him to Seymour but he told her he was getting money from his brother.
While searching Davis’ West Haven home after obtaining a search warrant, police allegedly found a backpack containing the BB gun — and a pack of Newport cigarettes.
Davis is currently being held on bonds totaling $695,000 in the six robbery cases, and is also facing eventual extradition to Vermont for allegedly escaping from prison there.
He is scheduled to appear at Superior Court in Milford in the Seymour case Oct. 23.
