Rooftop Standoff Ends With Arrests Of 2 Men Who Broke Into Restaurant: Stamford Police

STAMFORD, CT — Two men were arrested in the early morning hours of May 19 following a two-and-a-half-hour standoff on the roof of a Stamford restaurant police say was broken into.

Officers leveraged technology to locate and ultimately arrest Kymani Robinson, 23, and Tyreek Outlar, 27, both Stamford residents, according to Assistant Stamford Police Chief Richard Conklin.

The two men were charged with conspiracy at first-degree larceny; criminal mischief; second-degree burglary; criminal attempt at first-degree larceny; and interfering with police.

On May 19 at approximately 2:45 a.m., a burglar alarm was sounded at Hugo's Tacos on Stillwater Avenue.

The owner of the restaurant, a Stamford resident who was at home at the time, immediately accessed a live feed of the eatery's security cameras and noticed two men rifling through desks in a second-floor office and piling items up, Conklin said.

Information was relayed to 911 dispatch and then responding officers, who arrived quickly and set up a perimeter around the restaurant, Conklin noted.

At the same time, the SPD sent an officer to the restaurant owner's house to get real-time updates on the live security camera footage.

"We were able to establish contact with that owner and work directly with him where he could report second-to-second movement and layout of the inside where these suspects were, what they were doing, as officers established a perimeter," Conklin said.

As officers were setting up a perimeter, they noticed two people on the roof of the restaurant, Conklin said, noting additional officers and K-9s were called, and verbal commands to the two suspects to surrender went unanswered.

"There's no reply from them," Conklin said. "This goes on for a while."

Members of the Stamford Police Department's Special Response Team arrived and a drone was launched to get a better view of the rooftop and the suspects, later identified as Robinson and Outlar, Conklin said.

After about two-and-a-half hours, Robinson and Outlar were taken into custody.

Altogether, the men had gathered almost $20,000 worth of items in two red handbags and a bookbag, according to Conklin.

Officers found $4,000 in cash and approximately $6,000 in rolled coins, Conklin said.

Additionally, there were stolen unscratched lottery tickets worth about $9,100. Conklin said the restaurant is a licensed vendor of CT Lottery tickets.

Conklin said it's believed Robinson and Outlar broke into the restaurant via a second floor window which was accessed from the roof.

Robinson was given a $100,000 bond, but according to the CT Judicial Branch website, it was raised in court to $250,000. Conklin said he has "a litany of high-level charges pending against him." Outlar was given a $100,000 bond.

Both men are scheduled to appear in Stamford Superior Court on May 31.

Conklin said the SPD will look to see if Robinson and Outlar are connected to other burglaries reported in Stamford over the last few weeks.