Gun Fired in Store Robbery, Two Arrested

A bullet was shot through the glass door of a convenience store Monday night by robbers who took money from a cash register and fled -- but were later captured, police said.

Norwalk police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the incident:

At about 9 p.m. Monday, two black males wearing white pajama-like pants and black jackets, one with a white mask and the other with a black mask, entered R&G Grocery at 24 Wall St.

One of them had a silver-colored revolver in his right hand and was wearing glasses or goggles. Both wore gloves.

"We're going to rob you," one of the two said to the store owner.

"Why?" the owner responded.

At that point the other male walked behind the counter and demanded that the store owner open up he register. That robber took cash -- police declined to say how much -- leaving the cash register empty.

The two then went to the door to leave, but the owner had locked it remotely. The robber with the gun then shot through the glass door and the two left. The victim was not physically harmed.

At 9:07 p.m., the owner called police to report that he'd been robbed.

Police began searching the area. One robber had gone toward Main Street, the other toward Knight Street or High Street, police said.

A police officer searching for the robbers saw one person who seemed to match the description on North Avenue (on the other end of High Street and Knight Street). That suspect ran to the parking lot of St. Philip Roman Catholic Church. On Father Conlon Place, near the church, the suspect was taken into custody.

Another suspect was taken into custody near 20 Camp St., a bit farther away but also near the church. The suspects were shown to the victim, who identified them as the robbers.

A "reverse track" was done by two different police dogs  (one from Norwalk, one from Westport) to see if they could trace each of the suspects' steps back to the store. One dog succeeded.

One of the suspects arrested was Christopher Blair, 23, of Monterey Place, Norwalk. He was charged with first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery.

The other was an underage juvenile who may be tried in juvenile court, police said. Lt. Thomas Matera, commander of the detective division, refused to give out any information about the boy.

Only some of the money was recovered, and the weapon hadn't been found by Tuesday morning, Matera said.

"Patrol officers did a nice job, as well as the [Special Services Division] street team," Matera said.