Man Who Used Wheelchair in Rolex Theft Pleads Guilty

A Connecticut man who pretended he needed a wheelchair so he could steal a $37,000 watch from a jewelry store is heading to prison. 

The Connecticut Post reports that 36-year-old Larry Johnson, of Waterbury, pleaded guilty Wednesday to robbery, larceny and assault. 

Johnson is accused of stealing a $27,000 Rolex watch from a jewelry store at the mall in May 2015, pepper-spraying an employee and security guard on his way out the door, according to police. 

Surveillance video from Sidney Thomas Jewelry shows a man sitting in a wheelchair approach a glass case and ask a jeweler for help. She shows him a couple different watches, which she hands over for him to try on. 

After examining two watches and settling on a third, the man abruptly pushes back his wheelchair, knocking into another employee, then stands and bolts to the door, surveillance video shows. 

Stamford police spokesman Lt. Diedrich Hohn said the employee and security guards were taken to the hospital and were later released in good condition. 

Hohn said the first two watches were more expensive than the one stolen, valued at around $85,000 apiece. 

Johnson left a black fedora-type hat and wheelchair at the scene and investigators collected fingerprints from the wheelchair and sent the hat for DNA testing, officials said. He was tied to the theft by a fingerprint left on the wheelchair. 

He faces a sentence of six years in prison when he's sentenced Dec. 7. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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