Robert Connolly Charged Again with 'I Forgot My Wallet' Scam

This time, police say, it happened at Palmer’s supermarket, but police describe the same pattern of behavior: Robert Connolly, 46, tells a clerk or a store manager that he’s forgotten his wallet and promises to pay the bill later.

Then he doesn’t return, and the name he’s given is often somebody else’s, according to multiple police reports.

Darien police give this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the circumstances leading up to Connolly’s latest arrest:

On Oct. 16, Connolly bought $91.43 worth of groceries at Palmer’s Market at 264 Heights Rd. He said he left his wallet at home. He wrote written agreement to pay back the money. And signed it ”Bob Donnelly” (yes, with a “D”).

On Oct. 17, he returned to Palmer’s. This time he had $181.83 worth of groceries in his cart. He said he forgot to bring his wallet. A different store manager from the previous day let him sign an I.O.U. This time he signed it “Robert Connolly.” On both occasions he left his telephone number — his real one.

On Nov. 3, he returned to Palmer’s. This time he rolled up to the cashier with $231.06 worth of groceries in his cart. He said he didn’t have money with him. This time, managers recognized him.

They told Connolly that they wouldn’t allow him to take the store items away because he still owed Palmer’s $231.06 from his previous two visits. (Store managers were able to identify Connolly as the nonpayer in both previous incidents).

Connolly left the store. At this point, Palmer’s mangement contacted Darien police. They said they only wanted the money back and were not inclined to press charges — that is, have Connolly arrested.

Darien police called Connolly, who said he’d pay the money on Nov. 7.

That did not happen.

That changed the mind of Palmer’s management, and a complaint was filed with police, who applied for an arrest warrant, which a judge granted on Dec. 3. It charges Connolly with two counts of sixth-degree larceny and two counts of criminal impersonation, along with one count of attempted sixth-degree larceny.

On Dec. 12, Stamford police informed Darien police that they had Connolly in custody and were holding him on $42,500 bond in connection with other charges. He was due in state Superior Court in Stamford the next day, and Darien police showed up there and officially arrested him.

Connolly, whose address is on Shore Road in Greenwich, has been arrested by Darien police on various occasions, usually in similar circumstances:

• This past July he told Village Cleaners at 9 Tokeneke Rd. he’d forgotten his wallet and would pay them the $70 later. That didn’t happen.’
• Earlier this summer, it was Abello’s Deli at 72 Tokeneke Rd. — an unpaid $220 in catered food.
• Last February, it was a taxi driver who took him to a Darien home from Westchester County.
• He also was arrested last June by Darien police. Police say that when his car was stopped, he gave police the first name “Thomas” but the police officer knew what he looked like in connection with previous cases.

Stamford police have also arrested him on multiple occasions in the past year, sometimes charging him with sixth-degree larceny, but also on charges of misdemeanor possession of marijuana and possession of narcotics. He’s been charged with failure to appear in court on more than one occasion.