ROCKY HILL -- Police say it was his second bank robbery in as many weeks, but the criminal thief met a foe he didn't expect.
Last November, a Massachusetts man tried to rob a Webster Bank on Cromwell Avenue in Rocky Hill, according to police. But, a local lawmaker stopped him in his tracks.
"All of a sudden, I heard commotion behind me," said state Senator Paul Doyle, D-Wethersfield, who was in the bank on November 19 conducting business for his law firm. "I heard a woman screaming 'he just robbed me.'"
Police have identified the man as Christopher Lunn, 33. During an investigation, Lunn told police that when he entered the Webster Bank he saw a long line, but noticed that at the front there was a stack of cash sitting on the counter in front of a customer. He knew that was his opportunity to act.
"I was like, 'I could take this and go,'" Lunn told Rocky Hill police during his recent interrogation. "I had a feeling I was going to get chased either way because they're probably going to be able to recognize me from the old footage."
He robbed the same bank on November 4, according to police and surveillance footage. But, this time, surveillance video shows him being chased out of the bank by Doyle, a former college track and cross country star.
"But, I was wearing loafers, not any casual, good running shoes, that's for sure," said Doyle.
Doyle caught up with Lunn in a nearby Starbucks parking lot where he told him to stop and drop the cash.
"I did say to myself 'boy I hope the guy doesn't have a gun,'" said Doyle.
Lunn finally ditched the over $600 in cash and got away. But, Doyle recovered the dough. And, it's fitting that he ran down a robber.
"Yeah, I was chairman of the Banks Committee when I was in the House. So, protecting a bank," he said, chuckling.
By the time an informant snitched, Lunn was already in jail on drug charges in Massachusetts, so, Rocky Hill police could not extradite him until recently.
