Greenwich Man Charged in Gas Station Shooting

STAMFORD -- A 22-year-old Greenwich man was charged with attempted murder Wednesday afternoon in the November 2009 near-fatal shooting of an Old Greenwich gas station attendant and will face felony murder charges Thursday for a deadly robbery in Norwalk that occurred a month before.

Alain LeConte, 22, of Bertolf Road, Greenwich, was arraigned Wednesday in state Superior Court in Stamford on attempted murder and felony robbery charges, nearly a year after an attendant at the Mobil on the Run gas station on East Putnam Avenue was shot in the head and survived.

LeConte is expected to be formally charged with the brutal murder of Norwalk gas station clerk Jose Joaquin Morales on Thursday.

Norwalk police Chief Harry Rilling said LeConte, and another man, Mustafa Jacobs will be charged in the Norwalk robbery homicide on Thursday at state Superior Court in Norwalk.

Morales, 32, was behind the cash register of Miracle Shell on West Avenue, next to the northbound entrance of Interstate 95, at 2:15 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2009 when two men, police have identified as LeConte and Jacobs entered the convenience store and demanded money. Security video shows Morales complied with the demand and was on the ground when he was shot in the head by one of the masked robbers. A few days later, Morales was taken off life support and died at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Jacobs is also facing felony murder and first-degree robbery charges for his role in the Morales murder.

Two other men, Taran Nelson, 23, of Waterbury and David Wash, 37, of Bridgeport are facing robbery and conspiracy charges for their role in the Greenwich shooting. Wash was also arraigned Wednesday and is being held on $500,000 bond.

Police are also looking to charge a fifth suspect who they have not yet identified in the incidents.

The Mobil on the Run shooting occurred just after 1 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2009 when a man, now identified as LeConte, entered the store wearing a mask and a hooded sweatshirt and demanded cash. The 37-year-old clerk complied with the request, but the suspect still shot him in what police have described as an unprovoked attack.

LeConte, who is already incarcerated after being charged in a Stamford bodega robbery, was held on $1 million bond. In the Stamford robbery, police caught LeConte while he was committing the act. Police said he held a gun to a the head of a female clerk at the Adams Avenue store.

LeConte appeared in court Wednesday wearing a bright orange prison-issue jumpsuit and scanned the gallery for friends and relatives before his arraignment began. Attorney Mark Phillips, who is representing him currently for the Stamford robbery was again appointed special public defender for LeConte, who is due back in court Jan. 5.

The arrests of LeConte and the the three other alleged conspirators after Greenwich and Norwalk detectives teamed up.

Greenwich Police began to focus on LeConte soon after he was arrested by Stamford Police on Dec. 12, 2009, while committing a robbery at a bodega, Chief David Ridberg said in a 1 p.m. press conference at police headquarters.

Because LeConte was held in custody after that robbery, it gave Greenwich Police time to develop their case, Ridberg said.

In that case, Stamford Police were tipped off about the robbery and arrested LeConte and accomplice David Hackney of Bridgeport as they walked out of Adams Grocery at 20 Adams Ave.

LeConte had pointed a revolver at the face of the cashier who handed over less than $250 to the robbers who had pulled pantyhose over their faces as a disguise.

Greenwich Police worked hard to solve the Mobil shooting, said the department's detective division head.

"It was an extremely violent crime," Capt. Mark Marino, head of the Greenwich Police Department's detective division said. "When you have a case of that severity you were going to put the resources into solving it."

Police declined to say whether a weapon was recovered.

Norwalk police Detective James O'Leary said authorities put the two cases together because it was the first execution-style robbery in the area in years.

Police wouldn't go into specifics of the case because the warrants are sealed due to court orders. Marino said police believe Wash and Nelson were in the area when LeConte is alleged to have shot the clerk.

Greenwich Police stopped and arrested Wash as he was driving northbound on Interstate 95 near Exit 4 Tuesday afternoon. Police "had been in communication" with Wash prior to the arrest Marino said, but he declined to say when or how that communication was done. He offered no resistance when he was arrested, police said. A male passenger was in Wash's vehicle but he had nothing to do with the case and was released, Marino said.

Nelson turned himself in to Greenwich Police Wednesday morning. He was released on a promise to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Dec. 22.

Detective Pasquale Iorfino, of the Greenwich Police Department, attributed the "successful outcome" of the case to his partner, lead investigator Detective David Wilson, and the work of neighboring police agencies.

"After a year-long investigation by Detective Dave Wilson, we are happy to see that justice is done and a man like this won't be walking the streets for a very long time," said Iorfino, as he walked out of the courtroom.

Wilson,said he spoke with the the former Mobil employee's wife Wednesday morning to inform her of the arrests.

"She was ecstatic," he said during the press conference. "She was very happy that these guys were arrested today."

The man had been shot in the back of the head during the armed robbery and although police didn't release details of his condition, they said it was a serious wound.

"Let's just say the Good Lord saved that man," Iorfino said.

The Norwalk store clerk was not as fortunate and the Morales family continues to grieve, said their attorney Alex Martinez.

Norwalk police met regularly with the Morales family updating them on the progress of the investigation and Martinez said they can now begin the process of healing now that suspects are behind bars.

"Now that the family has been notified that there appears to be some closure, as far as identifying the responsible person, that is extremely gratifying," Martinez said. "It is a beginning of the healing. It is a start. You could tell there was a weight coming off their shoulders when I told them that an arrest was imminent."

Cos Cob's Mobil Manager Charged with Fleecing $115,000

I've been to this station numerous times, the guy was always super friendly... Sad thing to have happened. = [

STAMFORD -- A 45-year-old store manager allegedly stole nearly $115,000 from a Greenwich gas station by recording fraudulent lottery payouts and expense account purchases and pocketing the cash over several years, court records show.

Thomas Milne, of Bridgeport, appeared in state Superior Court in Stamford Wednesday after being arrested in June by an investigator working for the state Division of Special Revenue, which regulates gambling in Connecticut. He was charged with first-degree larceny, a major felony.

Court documents show the former owner of the Cos Cob Mobil on East Putnam Avenue approached a Division of Special Revenue investigator in April because he suspected an employee stole funds from the lottery account at the station, which he sold in February.

An audit of gas station records revealed a large discrepancy between the amount of money being reported by two different inventory and daily-sales tracking systems. The audit showed the daily funds recorded in one system were less than the amounts recorded in the other.

Between 2006 and 2010, the store lost an average of $300 to $500 each day.

Milne, the manager of the gas station since 2000, was the only employee with access to the store's daily-sales tracking software and was also responsible for data entry, records show. All other employees denied stealing money from store accounts and told authorities only Milne used the computer.

In May, the state investigator met with Milne and asked him about the accounting discrepancies. The store manager admitted to increasing the reported amounts by about $300 each and then removing cash from the store cash deposit or expense accounts, records show.

Milne admitted to stealing an estimated $115,000 from the store since 2005, saying he used the money to pay his mortgage and to meet other financial obligations, authorities said. He is free after posting $75,000 bond.

Norwalk Store Robbery Victim Dies, Reward Now Offered for Information

..I wonder if it's the same robber that shot the Greenwich gas station attendant in the head last year, right around the time of this robbery?? He's lucky because at least he had lived..

NORWALK -- Doctors at Yale-New Haven Hospital took a Norwalk Shell station clerk off life support Monday who had been shot in the head during a robbery at the West Avenue gas station early Saturday morning.

An autopsy on the man, Jose Joaquin Morales, 33, of 17 Lee St., Stamford, is scheduled for today at the state's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

"This is so horrendous and so absolutely outrageous that I would hope anyone with information would be so angry they would call us and give us information," Norwalk Police Chief Harry Rilling said. "The robbery was extremely brutal. Words cannot explain how horrendous this was."

The robbery occurred just before 2:13 a.m. Saturday, when police said two masked men -- at least one armed with a handgun -- walked into the station's large convenience store and demanded money from Morales. The station is about 150 yards from Interstate 95's northbound Exit 15.

A security video shows that Morales complied with the demand and was on the ground when he was shot in the head by one robber, Rilling said.

"It is beyond belief that they would feel it was necessary to do that. Everybody was cooperating," Rilling added.

Pending autopsy results, Morales could become Norwalk's first homicide victim in nearly 15 months.

Morales was treated at the scene by officers and paramedics and then transported to Norwalk Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, police said. Because of the extent of his injuries, he was transferred later Saturday to Yale-New Haven Hospital where he was put on life support.

Surveillance videos from the station and surrounding businesses are being reviewed by investigators, Rilling said.

Marvin Morales said his cousin came to the United States from Guatemala about 14 years ago and began working for the Shell station about 7 months ago.

Another cousin, Luis Morales, said that Joaquin came to America for a better future and to help his parents by sending them money.

He said his single cousin was happy most of the time and enjoyed socializing and going to church.

The family hopes to raise about $14,000 to send his body back for burial in Guatemala.

At the request of the State's Attorney for the Judicial District of Stamford/Norwalk, Governor M. Jodi Rell authorized a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for the death of Mr. Morales.

Anyone with information in the case should contact Norwalk Police Department at 203-854-3000.