Newtown Savings—

Police Seeking Warrants Against Pair In Bank Robbery 

By Andrew Gorosko

Police said this week they are submitting evidence to Danbury Superior Court in seeking to obtain arrest warrants against two men they believe were involved in the robbery of Newtown Savings Bank’s main office at 39 Main Street midday on June 17.

Lieutenant George Sinko said Wednesday that police have drafted arrest warrant applications against Shane Parsons, 36, formerly of Newtown, and Carl Valluzzo, 37, whose last known address was in Danbury, in connection with the bank robbery that occurred about 11:30 am on June 17.

There were no injuries in that incident. Police have not disclosed how much money was stolen in the incident.

Lt Sinko said that the charges that police would seek against the men generally would involve robbery, larceny, and conspiracy. The exact charges that would be filed against them would be known if and when arrest warrants are served against the men.

Both men are currently being held on high bail at the New Haven Correctional Center in connection with a robbery of the Webster Bank branch office on Highland Avenue in Waterbury, which occurred earlier on the morning of June 17.

Parsons is being held on $300,000 bail on pending charges of first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, third-degree larceny, and conspiracy to commit third-degree larceny.

Valluzzo is being held on $300,000 bail on pending charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit third-degree larceny.

In the two bank robberies on June 17, Parsons allegedly went into the banks to steal the money and Valluzzo allegedly drove the getaway vehicle.

Lt Sinko said Newtown police would submit their arrest warrant applications to Danbury Superior Court by the end of this week in seeking to obtain warrants to arrest the men. Such applications need the endorsement of both a prosecutor and a judge for warrants to be issued.

Besides the Newtown bank robbery incident, Newtown police hold an outstanding warrant against Parsons on unrelated burglary charges.

Police recently solved a string of six residential burglaries that occurred from early March to early May in which the burglars stole items with an overall value of more than $65,000, most of which were pieces of jewelry.

In connection with those crimes, police have arrested Caitlin Durkin, 22, of 4 Wine Sap Drive on 16 charges, and Christopher Bergeron, 24, of 20 Bonnie Brae Drive, on ten charges. Durkin and Bergeron are being held on bail on those charges.

Police hold an outstanding arrest warrant for Parsons as a co-conspirator in those burglaries, Lt Sinko said.

Lt Sinko said town police are familiar with Parsons, having arrested him multiple times in the past.

Following the two bank robberies, Waterbury police, working with the US Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force, located the bank robbery getaway vehicle later on June 17 at the Sunnyside Inn in Bridgeport. The police found both Parsons and Valluzzo at that motel, Lt Sinko said.

Newtown police detectives executed a search warrant for the motel room where the men were found and seized some US currency from that room, Lt Sinko said.

Newtown police described the Newtown Savings Bank robbery.

At about 11:30 am, a white man wearing shorts and a T-shirt, who was allegedly Parsons, entered the lower-level lobby of the Newtown Savings Bank and demanded money from a teller. The man passed a note to the female teller that stated that he had a gun, but no gun was shown during the incident, Lt Sinko said.

After obtaining the cash, the robber left the bank. Newtown police were called to the scene. A state police tracking dog was brought to the bank to seek the suspect who had left the area.

The school system decided to place a lockdown on schools in the area after learning of the bank robbery. Police later informed the schools when it was all right to lift that lockdown status, the lieutenant said.

Robbery had been a relatively rare crime in Newtown in the past, but it has become a more common criminal offense.

On June 13, a robber stole an unspecified amount of money from a clerk at the GameStop electronic game store at Sand Hill Plaza at 228 South Main Street. In that case, the robber handed the cashier a note indicating that he had a handgun and demanding cash, after which the cashier gave the man some money and the robber fled the scene. The robber did not display a weapon.

Early on April 3, a male robber implied to a cashier at the Newtown Mobil gas station/convenience store at 62 Church Hill Road that he had a gun and demanded money, after which he got away with an unspecified amount of cash.

Police are investigating both incidents, neither of which involved injuries.