NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A 30-year-old man was sentenced in New Haven Tuesday to five years in prison for burglarizing a Newington gun store in September 2021, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Troy Harris will have his prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release, prosecutors said. The Newington gun store that was robbed is Hoffman’s “Guns for the Good Guys,” a federal firearms licensee on the Berlin Turnpike.
Court documents and statements made there note that shortly after midnight on Sept. 5, 2021, Harris approached a woman in the parking lot of a Bristol supermarket after fleeing from state parole.
According to prosecutors, Harris pointed what looked like a handgun at the victim and demanded she leave her car and give him the keys. After she complied, he threw her to the ground and drove off in her car.
Prosecutors added that in the early morning hours of Sept. 7, 2021, Harris drove the victim’s car to the Newington gun store and crashed it through the front entrance of the store. He then entered the store, kicked out a display case and stole five handguns before leaving the scene on foot.
Harris was arrested the next day, prosecutors said. He has been detained since his arrest and pleaded guilty to theft of firearms from a licensee on July 13, 2023.
A judge has ordered Harris to pay $36,166 in restitution. Prosecutors said state charges against Harris connected to the carjacking are pending and that only one of the five stolen guns has been recovered by law enforcement.
The matter has been investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Newington and Bristol Police Departments.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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