September 4, 2015

Third Detroit Resident Admits Role in Stamford Jewelry Store Smash-and-Grab Robbery

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAJUHN GRIFFIN, 26, of Detroit, Michigan, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport for his role in a smash-and-grab robbery of a Stamford jewelry store in November 2014.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 26, 2014, GRIFFIN and two accomplices, armed with hammers, entered Sidney Thomas Jewelers, located in the Stamford Town Center Mall, during regular business hours. Soon after entering, they used the hammers to smash open a jewelry display case and removed more than $250,000 worth of Rolex watches. The three then fled with security guards in pursuit. One of GRIFFIN’s accomplices, Richard Mathew Bailey, was caught and apprehended inside the mall while fleeing.

GRIFFIN was arrested in Detroit on April 6, 2015.

GRIFFIN pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with commerce by robbery, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. A sentencing date has not been scheduled. He is released on a $10,000 bond and conditions requiring home confinement and electronic monitoring.

Richard Matthew Bailey and Brian Moore, both from Detroit, previously pleaded guilty to the same charge. Moore helped organize and carry out the robbery by soliciting others to participate and partially funding it. He also drove accomplices from Detroit to Stamford to carry out the robbery and picked them up after the robbery in order to return to Detroit. Bailey and Moore await sentencing.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Stamford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Vidoni.