'Aggressive' Panhandler Charged with Robbing 85-Year-Old Woman: Hamden Police

HAMDEN, CT – A New Haven man has been charged with robbing an 85-year-old woman last month after the suspect was found to be “aggressively” approaching people and asking for money on Dixwell Avenue on Sunday, according to police.

Jeffrey Small, 47, was arrested on a warrant in connection to the Feb. 20 incident in which the 85-year-old woman was robbed while sitting inside of her car in a parking lot at 2335 Dixwell Avenue.

Hamden Police responded to the scene at about 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 20 and the woman told police she was sitting inside her car when a man approached her and asked for money.

The woman subsequently reached into her purse, for the purpose of giving the individual “a few dollars,” according to Capt. Ronald Smith.

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The man then grabbed the woman’s purse and fled on foot, southbound on Dixwell Avenue.

The victim told police that she chased the man on foot for a short distance. She located her purse, which was lying on the ground in front of a local business. The woman told police that $50 and various credit cards were stolen from her purse.

Officer Nicholas D’Angelo conducted an investigation, which led to the application of an arrest warrant for Small. The court approved the arrest warrant application.

On March 6, Hamden Police responded to the parking lot of 2335 Dixwell Avenue on the report of an individual aggressively approaching people and asking for money, according to Smith.

Upon arrival, officers positively identified the individual as Small and he was promptly arrested on the strength of the warrant and transported to police headquarters, Smith said.

Small, of 35 Harding Place in New Haven, was charged with third-degree robbery and second-degree larceny.

Small, who was detained on a court-ordered $30,000 bond, is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on March 21.

Hamden Police Department photo