Gary Zhou 
Police in Stamford, Connecticut recently reported that two suspects were charged in a series of armed sidewalk robberies in the area. Interestingly enough, officials claimed that the case was partially cracked because of video and photographs captured by a Tesla that happened to be parked at a spot where one of the robberies occurred.
A 29-year-old man, Francisco Olivencia, was charged with four first-degree robbery charges. He is also accused of being a felon in possession of a gun, conspiracy to commit theft and attempted first-degree assault, reckless threat, and unlawful discharge of a weapon. On the other hand, his accomplice, 27-year-old Hadiya Bowles, was charged with three counts of first-degree robbery for her role in the hold-up.
At approximately 10 p.m. on August 31st, police were called to East Walnut Street in Stamford’s South End, where a person reported being robbed at gunpoint by a skinny man in a silver SUV. Minutes later, two people around the corner from Woodland Place confirmed another robbery. The victim’s descriptions of the perpetrator were similar from his appearance to the clothing he was wearing.
Fortunately for the authorities, in Woodland Spot, a Tesla was parked and its cameras were triggered. Recordings from the cameras of the electric car showed the make and number of the license plate of the suspect’s vehicle, a 2011 Ford Explorer. After running the plate, police discovered that Bowles was registered to the vehicle.
The car was spotted in the early morning of September 1st at Motel 6. When authorities arrived at the venue, they discovered that the motel room was registered under the name of the 27-year-old. It also retrieved a video of Bowles and Olivencia checking in to the motel. A statement was given to the Stamford Advocate by Lt. Tom Scanlon, the director of the Stamford Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
“We were able to take the first suspect (Olivencia) off quickly, while continuing to pursue the investigation in regard to the other involved persons. This isn’t the end of this investigation. There is still more work to be done and investigators are still pursuing the case in regards to other people who were involved,” he said.
The pair were picked up on September 4th by police as they were leaving a party.
From late August to early September, Olivencia confessed to committing four robberies when the police questioned him. Although he confirmed that Bowles was an accomplice as she was the Ford Explorer’s driver, the case’s affidavits revealed that he was cautious not to imply too much on the 27-year-old for her involvement in the crimes.
“He continually expressed his desire during his interview not to implicate Bowles too much for her role in these incidents, feeling like he placed undue pressure on her to assist Olivencia in these crimes,” the affidavits stated.
Olivencia is currently held at the Bridgeport Correctional Facility, as he is unable to post a $1 million court appearance bond. Bowles, for her part, was taken to the Stamford courthouse for arraignment on Tuesday morning. Sadly for her, a judge refused to drop a $750,000 court-set bail, leading to the transportation of Bowles to the York Correctional Facility in Niantic.
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