A series of mishaps and miscues led to the identification and capture of the three men accused of conspiring to rob the Chestnut Hill Road branch of Fairfield County Savings Bank, according to court files that were unsealed Tuesday.
Information from a social worker, an astute bank clerk and the father of one of the suspects led police to identify Matthew DeCredico, Timothy Nikolis and Christopher Williams as suspects who stole $4,200 from the bank, the Norwalk Hour reports.
Nikolis, 24, of Westport, and Williams, 23, of Norwalk, both pleaded not guilty to the robbery-related charges at their previous court dates. Decredico, 23, of Westport, pleaded not guilty to the charges on Tuesday. All three men are being held at Bridgeport Correctional Center and they will appear in court on Aug. 27.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, DeCredico, Nikolis and Williams spent the hours prior to the July 6 robbery looking for heroin and trying to pawn a flatscreen television that they had stolen from an office building.
Homeless and desperate for drug money, Nikolis, Williams and DeCredico became frustrated when pawn brokers would not give them $300 for the television, and Nikolis suggested that they rob a bank, according to an affidavit.
The three men looked for a bank that they could rob and came upon the Fairfield County Savings Bank at Chestnut Hill Road, police said. Nikolis ordered Williams to go into the bank and see if the bank had a security guard, police said.
Williams asked the teller if she could give him change for a $20 bill, and the teller found Williams' mannerisms suspicious, according to police.
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The teller took down the license plate of his black Nissan Maxima as he drove away, police said. The teller later gave police the license plate number, and police traced it back to Williams, according to court documents.
Later in the day, the three men returned to the bank, police said. DeCredico grabbed a copy of "White Fang" that was lying on Williams' back seat and hastily scribbled a note that he would later slip to a bank teller during the robbery, police said. Nikolis grabbed a can of Axe body spray that he would later use to prop open the door at the bank, police said.
After Nikolis and DeCredico robbed the bank, they hopped in Williams' car, police said. Williams took a series of side roads until he reached the Merritt Parkway and he, Williams and DeCredico headed to New York City, police said. They stopped in The Bronx, purchased cocaine and ecstasy and spent the night getting high in a hotel room, police said.
Meanwhile, police sent out surveillance footage of the two men who were inside of the bank to various media outlets. Many of the residents of the men's shelter on Jesup Road in Westport noticed that the robbers looked like Nikolis and DeCredico, according to police.
DeCredico's Narcotics Anonymous sponsor also saw the surveillance photos and called DeCredico's father, who in turn called Norwalk Police, according to court documents.
Investigators also met with Williams' father, who said his son had mental health issues and had been living at the homeless shelter for the past month, police said.
The next morning, Williams checked his voice mail and noticed he had messages from his father and one of his friends, police said. Both callers told Williams that Norwalk Police wanted to speak with him, police said.
Williams became paranoid and decided to check out of The Bronx hotel, police said. He drove DeCredico to Albany, N.Y., and planned to drive back to The Bronx with Nikolis, according to police.
Before returning to The Bronx, Nikolis and Williams decided to stop at a Stamford McDonald's to buy heroin, police said. Stamford Police Officer Rich Byxbee noticed what he believed to be a hand-to-hand drug transaction at McDonald's and detained Williams and Nikolis, police said.
DeCredico was arrested after surfacing at a drug rehab facility in New Haven on July 13.
