A Waterbury man has been arrested for his role in an attempted robbery and assault at a Prospect used car dealership that left one man dead in November of last year.
On Tuesday, troopers arrested 56-year-old Alton Woods in connection with the incident that happened on November 30 at Route 69 Auto Sales.
Woods was arrested by warrant, police said. He is facing charges including manslaughter, manslaughter with a firearm, robbery, criminal possession of a firearm, unlawful restraint, assault and conspiracy.
He is in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Corrections on unrelated charges and was processed at Waterbury Superior Court, according to police. He was held on a $1,000,000 court set bond.
According to police, two masked men armed with guns entered through the rear of the business and headed to the customer service area at the front of the business.
Officers said the two men, one of which was later identified as Woods, began to physically assault several employees, including the owner of the store.
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A customer who was at the business saw the assault and drew his legally registered weapon before firing rounds towards the suspects, according to police.
The masked men then ran and exited through the rear of the business.
A State Police K-9 team responded to the scene and found a 44-year-old man near the store. Police said the man, later identified as Torrance Battle, of Waterbury, sustained gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead by paramedics.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
On Tuesday afternoon, Connecticut State Police clarified why Woods is being charged with manslaughter. According to police, the manslaughter charge applies in this instance because while attempting to commit an armed robbery and assaulting the business owner, Woods caused the death of the second robbery suspect, later identified as Battle. Battle was was shot and killed by the customer who legally possessed the gun.
