Man Assaulted Clerks, Robbed Store In Meriden: Police

MERIDEN, CT — A Middletown man is accused of assaulting two clerks during the robbery of a store late Tuesday night in Meriden, according to police.

Police responded to the American Corner store at 64 East Main St. around 11 p.m. on the report of an assault and a robbery.

Arriving officers found that a man, later identified as 31-year-old Adrian Ayala-Garo, was hanging around inside the store without buying anything, according to police.

Police said Garo, who was wearing a face mask, glasses, hoodie and rubber gloves, was asked to leave the store.

“Garo walked around the counter and punched the clerk in the face knocking him backwards,” police wrote in a post on Facebook. “He assaulted another clerk as well. Garo attempted to open the register with his own set of keys; however, he was unsuccessful. Garo then grabbed the register drawer and walked out of the store with it.”

Employees told police that the drawer had several thousand dollars inside.

One clerk suffered a possible broken nose, chipped tooth, and a possible concussion, according to police.

Police obtained Garo’s description from the security camera system and from the employees.

“A short time later, Sergeant William Rogers located a shirtless Garo lying in a yard, partially behind a cement style wall, on Crown Street,” police wrote. “Rogers confronted Garo and immediately identified a face tattoo he had seen in pictures from the security footage. Garo was taken into custody and a large sum of cash, clothing, gloves and glasses matching the description used in the robbery and assault were seized.

“Shortly after being taken into custody, an Uber arrived to pick Garo up.”

Garo was charged with first-degree criminal trespass, third-degree robbery, and second-degree assault. He was held in lieu of a $250,000 bond.