Chase Bank Robbery—

Alleged Getaway Car Driver Arrested

By Andrew Gorosko

Police said they have arrested the alleged driver of the getaway car that was used in a robbery at Chase Bank at 30 Church Hill Road last month.

Police said they arrested Todd Froehlich, 38, of Woodbury on a warrant at the Danbury Superior Court lockup on April 29, charging Froehlich with first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, and third-degree larceny. Froehlich was arraigned on those charges that day in court.

Based on the third-degree larceny charge, the amount of money stolen in the incident would range from $2,000 to $10,000.

“The accused was the driver of the getaway car in the [April 18] Chase Bank robbery,” police said in a statement.

Also, state police have charged Froehlich for allegedly robbing a Webster Bank branch office in Sherman on April 28.

State police, however, list a Danbury address for Froehlich. State police have charged Froehlich with first-degree robbery, fourth-degree larceny, first-degree unlawful restraint, engaging police in pursuit, reckless driving, and two counts of assault on a police officer.

Froehlich was being held on $200,000 bail on May 4 in Bridgeport Correctional Center for a May 13 Danbury Superior Court appearance in the two bank robbery cases. Froehlich has not pleaded to the charges in either case.

Also, Newtown police said that they have obtained an arrest warrant for the man they believe committed the Chase Bank robbery, but have not yet served it against him.

That suspect is Brian Lavigne, 26, whose last known address was in Wolcott.

The warrant that Newtown police obtained for Lavigne’s arrest has been lodged at the Hartford Correctional Center, where Lavigne was being held on $500,000 bail on charges stemming from a bank robbery that he allegedly committed on April 16 at a Webster Bank in Southington.

Lavigne was being held MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield on May 4.

Southington police have charged Lavigne with first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, fourth-degree larceny, and conspiracy to commit fourth-degree larceny. Lavigne has not pleaded to those charges and is scheduled to appear again in Bristol Superior Court on that case on May 19.

Southington police have said that Lavigne has confessed to committing the Chase Bank robbery in Newtown.

The charges against Lavigne, which Newtown police would lodge in connection with the Chase Bank robbery, were not available.

At about 3:12 pm on April 18, Lavigne allegedly robbed the Chase Bank branch office, after which he fled the scene, eluding capture. There were no injuries in the incident, in which the robber stole an unspecified amount of money from the bank.

Police then received a 911 call from the bank reporting that it had been robbed by a lone man who had just left the premises.

Police learned that the robber left the area in an older gray sedan. A witness described the vehicle as having a loud knocking noise coming from its engine.

In investigating, police found that the robber had passed a note to a teller that implied that he had a weapon, but no weapons were shown during the incident.

There were two customers in the bank at the time of the robbery, but they were unaware of what was occurring.

After the crime, the Lavigne allegedly got into the getaway vehicle, which was driven by another person, whom police believe was Froehlich.