Man with Autism robbed of birthday money – with UPDATE

Stamford, CT – A 27-year-old man with autism was robbed just as he was about to spend $100 in birthday money his family gave him. The horrid incident took place near the Stamford Town Center Mall around 15:45 Wednesday September 10. Thankfully the incident was caught on camera. The victim was passing through the breezeway from Veteran’s Park into the mall when the suspect came near him.

The victim then appears to pull out a $100 bill. The suspect took it, and then preceded to tease the victim. For a moment it looks as though the suspect is changing his mind when things take a turn for the worse. WTNH News 8 interviewed Sgt. Kelly Connelly of the Stamford Police Dept about the incident  and she had this to say:

“At the end of the video we put together you can see the suspect hugging the victim and it looks like he put the money back in his pocket, but in actuality he took it and ran off with it.”

Shortly thereafter the victim realized what happened and yelled for help.

The police of Stamford as well as community members have come together to collect money for the victim. So far, the collection tally is well over the original $100 stolen. Sadly, no arrests have been maid the police have released a video so others can give any info they can.

The original article by Brian Spyros on the WTNH News 8 website here

* UPDATE* It has now come to our attention via abc 7 Eyewitness news that a suspect has now been arrested.

The suspect  is 27-year old Steven St. Jacques of Stamford. He has been charged with second degree larceny.

Police say he has prior arrests for an assault and a robbery.