CT woman accused of robbing two banks in under an hour in 2022, stealing about $10K

Yahoo

02-05-2025

A Hartford woman faces felony charges after an investigation involving the FBI found that she robbed two Connecticut banks in less than an hour in 2022, stealing a little more than $10,000.
Sarah Stuart, 34, was charged Wednesday when officers with the Hartford Police Department contacted state troopers and informed them they had custody of her, according to Connecticut State Police. State police had two warrants out for her arrest following an investigation into bank robberies in Tolland and Mansfield.
Stuart faces one count each of first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery and sixth-degree larceny.
According to the arrest warrant affidavits, police on March 18, 2022, responded at 10:40 a.m. to a bank on Merrow Road in Tolland where a 911 caller reported a robbery. A teller at the bank later told investigators that the suspect was standing near an island in the center of the bank before she approached her window and allegedly put a handwritten note against the plexiglass barrier that demanded $10,000.
The teller could not see the entirety of the note, as there was a sticker in the way and the woman did not hold it still, but she believed it may have said the woman was armed, the arrest warrant affidavits said. She gave the woman $30 in bait money and a $20 bill in a white envelope before the woman took off and fled on foot.
At 11:21 a.m., police received the report of a second robbery at a bank on Middle Turnpike in Mansfield. The description of the suspect was the same as in the first robbery. In that incident, the teller alleged that the robber held up a note that demanded $10,000 in big bills without any trackers or dye backs, the warrant affidavits said. The note also warned the teller not to push the alarm.
'Hurry up or I'll shoot you,' the note reportedly read, the arrest warrant affidavits said.
The teller said she activated an alarm as she loaded up $10,000 into an envelope. She said the suspect did not show a weapon but she allegedly moved in a way that implied she had one in her pocket, the warrant affidavits said. The woman calmly left the bank and took off on foot once she was given the envelope, according to the warrant affidavit.
Detectives with the state police Eastern District Major Crime Squad took over the investigation into both robberies and confirmed through the surveillance footage at the banks that the same individual was responsible. They also found video surveillance from nearby businesses that showed the woman was dropped off by a white Audi sedan that also was used to pick her up, the warrant affidavits said. The license plate on the vehicle was used to determine the vehicle was a rental car.
Agents with the FBI contacted the rental car company and found that it had been rented by a New Britain resident, the warrant affidavits said. Agents conducted surveillance at the individual's home and found that someone arrived in the vehicle, a 2021 Audi A5, about three hours after the robberies, according to the warrant affidavits. The individual did not stay long.
FBI agents followed the vehicle to the Shoppes at Buckland Hills in Manchester where they confronted the driver along with state police after he parked and got out of the vehicle. According to the warrant affidavits, the man allegedly took off running and ditched a large amount of money and a cell phone before he ran into the mall. He was apprehended shortly thereafter and agreed to do an interview with investigators.
The man allegedly told authorities that he had driven a woman to two banks earlier in the day, but he claimed that he was not aware that she was going to rob them, the warrant affidavits said. He said he was visiting a friend in Hartford earlier who asked if he wanted to make some money, according to warrant affidavits. The man allegedly told him to drive a woman anywhere she wanted and that he would be rewarded, state police wrote.
After taking her to multiple spots, the man claimed that the woman gave him a large wad of cash before she asked to be dropped off. He allegedly told investigators he does not commit bank robberies and prefers forgery crimes, the warrant affidavit said.
The identity of the man was redacted from a copy of the warrant affidavits before they were released publicly. It was not immediately clear whether he has been charged.
A week later, after receiving intelligence suggesting the woman who robbed the banks was Stuart, FBI agents and state police began patrolling areas of Hartford where she was known to be, according to the warrant affidavits. After finding her on Congress Street, Stuart agreed to speak with investigators.
According to the warrant affidavits, Stuart allegedly admitted to robbing the two banks but said she was forced to do it by a man who she only knew as 'Jay.' She said she bumped into him at a corner store in Hartford where he allegedly asked her if she wanted to make some 'good money,' the warrant affidavits said. She told investigators the man promised she would make between $3,000 to $5,000.
After agreeing, Stuart alleged that the man 'beat around the bush' for a little before admitting that they would be robbing a bank, according to the warrant affidavits. He allegedly had her write a note that demanded $10,000 and, among other things, threatened to shoot the teller if they did not 'hurry up,' the warrant affidavit saids.
Stuart said she was brought to a bank in Tolland where she walked around the building and returned to the vehicle, allegedly telling the man she could not go through with the robbery because there was a security guard there, the warrant affidavits said. She claimed that he knew she was lying and insisted she go back to the bank to rob it. When she did, she told investigators, she asked a question about opening an account and left, the warrant affidavits said.
When she returned to the vehicle she claimed that the man knew she was lying about the failed robbery and allegedly forced her to go to another nearby bank, telling her that if she refused he would punch her, leave her out there and make sure she did not 'come back the same,' the warrant affidavits said. In the second bank, Stuart said showed a teller the note and made off with $50 but that the man was confused as to how she was not given more money when she returned to the vehicle, according to the warrant affidavits.
Stuart alleged that the man insisted she rob yet another bank where she was given $10,000, the warrant affidavits said. She alleged that he kept all but $100 of the money, which he gave her, and told her he needed to have someone 'wash' the rest of it before she could be given her cut. She said the man claimed to know someone who has been washing money at a casino for years.
Stuart told investigators the man referred to them as a 'team' and told her not to worry about getting her share of the money, the warrant affidavits said. After telling the man she needed to get some drugs, Stuart said he dropped her off at a bodega in Hartford and, despite saying he would wait for her, took off. She told authorities she never saw him again.
Stuart was held in custody following her arrest and was arraigned on Thursday in Rockville Superior Court. She remains held on a $250,000 bond and is due back in court on June 20, according to court records. She has not entered a plea, records show.