A 45-year-old Bristol man pleaded guilty Tuesday to committing numerous violent robberies across Connecticut, including in Darien, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Connecticut announced.
Lonny Cross’s robberies, which occurred in a five-week period fromSeptember through early October 2022, were typically committed with other robbers. He pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport. He could be sentenced to as much as 40 years in federal prison.
Here’s the announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, slightly shortened and with minor editing changes (you can see the original here):
According to court documents and statements made in court, between Sept. 5 and Oct. 13, 2022, Cross committed 37 robberies and attempted robberies of gas station convenience stores, mini-markets and liquor stores.
Photo from the U.S. General Services Administration website
The Brien MeMahon Federal Building and Courthouse in Bridgeport
The robbers committed their crime spree in these cities and towns as far east as Stonington, Connecticut (on the border with Rhode Island), as far north as Wethersfield and as far west as Port Chester, just over the border in New York state:
North Branford, Waterbury, Wolcott, Plymouth, New Haven, North Haven, Orange, West Haven, Wethersfield, Bristol, Southington, Naugatuck, Watertown, Franklin, Norwich, Waterford, Groton City, Stonington, Ledyard, Darien, Norwalk, Stratford and Seymour in Connecticut and in Port Chester, New York.
Several of the robberies occurred on the same day, only minutes apart. Cross typically traveled to the a store with an accomplice, who would sometimes enter the store to determine the number of employees and customers in the store, exit the store, then report that information to Cross. Cross then entered the store, displayed a knife or facsimile firearm while threatening employees, and stole cash and other items.
On Oct. 14, 2022, investigators conducted court-authorized searches of Cross’s home and a black 2014 Chevrolet Impala that he was known to drive. The search of the residence revealed clothing consistent with clothing worn by Cross in several of the robberies, as well as quantities of heroin, crack cocaine, and narcotics paraphernalia.
In the car investigators found 120 bags heroin, about 14 grams of crack, and a knit hat matching the description of one worn by Cross during a robbery the day before. Cross, who was on state parole, was arrested on state charges that day. He has been jailed since his arrest.
Cross pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery, and one count of Hobbs Act Robbery. [The federal Hobbs Act prohibits committing a robbery that affects interstate or foreign commerce or conspiring to commit it.] Judge Dooley scheduled sentencing for Aug. 21.
This investigation was conducted by the FBI, Connecticut state police, police in Orange, Port Chester and from numerous other departments in the cities and towns where the robberies took place, along with help from the Connecticut Division of Parole and Community Services.