NORWALK — Physical evidence left behind at the scene of a 2016 attempted armed carjacking outside a Connecticut Avenue store led to the warrant arrest of a convicted felon.
On the afternoon of May 26, 2016, police say that Christopher Alston, 30, of Waterbury, approached a female shopper exiting the T.J. Maxx store on Connecticut Avenue and displayed a handgun.
The woman offered to give him her purse and Alston told her to get into her car, saying “If you stay calm, nothing will happen.”
The woman sat in the front seat of her Mercedes and Alston got in the back seat and locked the car doors. Police say the woman was able to get out of the parked car and run back into the store, where she called police.
Alston left the scene prior to officer’s arrival.
Detectives processed evidence, which included DNA samples, from locations in the woman’s car that the suspect had likely touched.
DNA evidence was sent to the state forensics laboratory for processing and a match to Alston was found in the criminal DNA database system known as CODIS, police said.
Alston told detectives during an interview that he had had a “bad year” in 2016 and his “head was messed up,” adding, “I never tried to rape anyone. I was just robbing them.”
Detective Daniel Fitzmaurice obtained a search warrant for the DNA results and a subsequent arrest warrant for Alston was obtained.
Alston, who is currently incarcerated on robbery and gun charges in other cities, was brought to state Superior Court at Norwalk Thursday to be served his arrest warrant.
Alston was charged with first-degree robbery. His bond was set at $100,000 and he was given a court date of Feb. 8.
According to court records, Alston was convicted of attempting to commit second-degree robbery in Trumbull and was sentenced in May 2017 to 10 years in prison, with execution suspended after two years, followed by three years probation.
He was also convicted in July 2017 of third-degree robbery and stealing a firearm following an arrest in Derby. He received a four and a half year prison sentence on those charges, court records show.