Clinton Teen, 18, Charged With Armed Robbery In Westbrook: State Police

CLINTON, CT — An 18-year-old Clinton resident was charged Friday in connection to an armed robbery of a convenience store in Westbrook earlier this month, Connecticut State Police announced.

Bryan Ortiz, of Hurd Bridge Road, was arrested by Connecticut State Police on Friday, just two days after he was charged by Clinton Police when they found marijuana and Amphetamine pills while both agencies were executing a search warrant at his residence as part of the recent armed robbery investigation.

The armed robbery occurred March 3 at the XTRA Mart located at 130 Route 1 in Westbrook. At about 7:30 p.m. on March 3, state troopers from Troop F in Westbrook responded to the XTRA Mart on the report of an armed robbery.

The suspect, described as a white or Hispanic male, 5-feet, 7-inches to 5-8 tall with a heavy build, entered the store and displayed a silver and black handgun and demanded money from the store clerk.

After receiving an undisclosed amount of money, the suspect fled the store on foot. Shortly thereafter a silver 4-door vehicle, with loud exhaust and New York registration plates, was seen traveling from the scene at a high rate of speed northbound on Route 1, according to police.

Police said the firearm was not discharged and there were no reported injuries.

The suspect was last seen wearing a dark-colored jacket over a light gray hoody with multiple layers underneath, a baseball cap with an orange brim, and a green camouflaged knit-type hat over the cap and covering his face. The suspect was also wearing gray pants and tan work boots.

Troopers and State Police K-9 teams searched the area but did not locate the suspect. Detectives from Central District Major Crime (CDMC) responded to the scene and assumed the investigation.

Ortiz, a student at The Morgan School in Clinton, was identified as a suspect after the school resource officer observed him apparently wearing the same clothes that the suspect was wearing in the robbery, according to the arrest warrant.

Students at the school also said that Ortiz admitted to a friend that he committed the robbery and school officials recognized the clothes worn by the suspect as belonging to Ortiz, since he had been told not to wear it to school because it had pot leaves on it, according to the warrant.

After initially telling police that a friend was responsible for the robbery, Ortiz eventually admitted that it was him, according to police.

Ortiz also told police that he burned some of the clothes that he was wearing at the time of the robbery, gave away the shoes he was wearing to a friend, and said that he threw the BB gun he used in the robbery into a river near his school, according to the warrant.

It was determined that $340 was stolen from the gas station in the robbery.

Ortiz was arrested on charges of second-degree robbery and sixth-degree larceny. He was held on a $75,000 bond pending arraignment at Middletown Superior Court on Friday.

He was arrested by Clinton Police on March 15 on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of marijuana, possession of narcotics and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Pictured: Bryan Ortiz, 18, of Clinton / via Connecticut State Police