Man Who Carjacked Vehicle With Cremated Remains Inside Gets 7 Years: Feds

HARTFORD, CT — A Hartford man accused of hijacking a car carrying cremated remains that have now been missing for four years was sentenced to seven years in prison Monday.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Arno Smith, 60, of Hartford, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 84 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for committing a carjacking in 2018.

According to court documents and statements made in court, at about 11 p.m. on July 26, 2018, Smith approached a woman who was sitting in her 2006 Honda in a Hartford parking lot and pressed what the woman believed to be a gun against her neck. According to case records, Smith grabbed the woman's purse and she exited the car. Smith then pointed the weapon at the woman, told her to walk away, and then drove away in the car.

The cremated remains of the woman's son were in the vehicle, according to case records.

After the robbery, Smith attempted to use the woman's credit card at two locations in Bristol, according to case records.

Smith was arrested on state charges on Sept. 20, 2018. At the time of his arrest, he was sitting in the woman's car, according to case records.

The cremated remains where not in the car and have not been recovered, Avery said.

According to police, between July 27 and Sept. 19, 2018, Smith committed robberies at businesses located in Bristol, Southington, Hartford, Bloomfield, South Windsor and Windsor Locks.

Smith has been detained since his arrest. On Oct. 6, 2020, he pleaded guilty to one count of Hobbs Act robbery.