Shliach Pulled Over, Mistaken for Fleeing Robbers

A robbery in Greenwich, Connecticut prompted a large and rapid response from local police. Rabbi Yossi Deren was driving in the area shortly after the incident in a car similar to the one driven by the suspects, when he was pulled over by police officers.

From Greenwich Time:

No one was injured Tuesday evening in a Round Hill Road robbery that prompted a large and rapid response from Greenwich police.

Radio dispatches indicated the incident, which involved masked robbers who fled in an SUV, happened just after 10 p.m. Tuesday in the 500 block of Round Hill Road.

Police are releasing little information about the incident, but Lt. Kraig Gray, spokesman for the department, said a person at the residence called police.

“They related they had been robbed,” Gray said Wednesday evening. “We’re in a fact-finding mode … We do have some investigative leads that we are following up.”

Gray would not comment on what was taken during the robbery or how many individuals police are searching for.

According to radio dispatches Tuesday night, police were searching for what were believed to be two male robbers.

Round Hill Association President Leslie Lee said Wednesday afternoon she had not heard about the incident and hadn’t received any information from police.

A phone message seeking comment was left at the Round Hill Road home Wednesday.

A rabbi driving in the area shortly after the incident in a car similar to the one driven by the suspects told Greenwich Time Wednesday morning that he was pulled over but quickly let go when police realized he wasn’t among the men they were looking for.

Rabbi Yossi Deren, director of Chabad Lubavitch on Mason Street, said he was driving south on Round Hill Road at about 10:15 p.m. when three cruisers sped by him heading northbound.

A moment later, 12 emergency vehicles followed in the trio’s wake. But one of the pack peeled off and swung around. By the time Deren, 39, got his coal-colored Chevrolet Suburban to Lake Avenue, the cruiser had its lights and siren on and pulled him over, he said.

When an officer walked up to his driver’s door, he told Deren he didn’t look at all like the men they were looking for and, after checking his license, let Deren go on his way.

“He said they were looking for a similar SUV involved in a smash-and-grab,” Deren said.

Gray urged all homeowners to take precautions to prevent break-ins, such as regularly locking doors, using an alarm system and having motion-sensing lights.

“Make yourself a bad target for a criminal,” he said.