Police: CT man arrested for allegedly robbing same gas station he robbed eight years prior

A man was arrested for allegedly robbing the same gas station in Southington over the weekend where police say he committed a robbery eight years ago.

Gregory West, 40, of Plainville was taken into custody Monday on charges of third-degree robbery and sixth-degree larceny, according to the Southington Police Department.

Police said West was implicated in a robbery at the Fleet gas station at 1611 Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike after a license plate reader captured a rental car investigators believe he used as a getaway vehicle.

Officers responded to the gas station on Saturday just before 10 p.m. on the report of a robbery and learned that a man entered the store and demanded the cash register from the clerk, police said. The man threatened to hurt the clerk when the clerk initially refused to give up the register.

According to police, the man ultimately made off with an undisclosed amount of money and left the area in a vehicle that was captured on video surveillance.

The police department’s FLOCK license plate reader system captured the vehicle’s information, showing that it was a rental car. This led to police identifying West as a suspect, according to police.

“Investigators were familiar with West due to the fact he had been previously arrested in 2016 for the robbery of this same Fleet gas station,” Southington Lt. Keith Egan said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Egan said investigators on Monday obtained a warrant charging West in the most recent robbery before he was taken into custody near his home on East Street in Plainville. He was held on a $350,000 bond and was expected to appear in New Britain Superior Court on Tuesday.