State Police: Bank Robber Caught at Milford Motel

State police thanked Milford police for helping arrest a 31-year-old Bethany man at a motel in Milford earlier this week.

Thomas Yorkshaitis Jr., 31, was initially arrested on drug-related charges, according to state police. But state investigators were already working on a bank robbery investigation, with Yorkshaitis as the suspect.

Yorkshaitis was one of two Bethany men charged by state police Thursday with crimes related to the robbery of a Webster Bank branch in Bethany last Saturday.

Yorkshaitis of 8 Beacon Rd. in Bethany and Nicholas Yorkshaitis, 26, of 938 Litchfield Tpk., were each charged with involvement in the robbery.

State police said that descriptions and video surveillance images released to the public on Saturday resulted in tips that led to the men, one of whom — Thomas Yorkshaitis Jr. — was arrested Sunday, March 22, on the separate narcotics charges.

[Update, 5:42 p.m.: Thomas Yorkshaitis was charged in Milford on Sunday with felony possession of narcotics and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website. He was held on $20,000 bond, which he did not post. The website doesn’t record an arrest of Nicholas Yorkshaitis.]

“Within hours of releasing the suspect’s description via the media on the night of the robbery, [...] investigators received numerous tips that directly contributed to identifying the suspect,” according to a state police news release issued Thursday afternoon.

While the two were held on those charges, state police applied for and received approval for arrest warrants on Wednesday charging the men with the bank robbery.

State police had released pictures of the man who robbed the bank and gave the public a very particular description of him that wouldn’t fit too many people: about 5 feet, 10 inches in height, 220 lbs., with reddish blonde hair, visible tattoos on his hands — and he seemed to be missing part of his left index finger.

Police said the man demanded money from a bank teller (although he didn’t show anyone a gun), then left the bank and got into a nearby vehicle, thought to be a gray or silver Nissan Cube. The vehicle was last seen heading north on Amity Road toward Naugatuck. No one was injured in the incident.

The State Police Central District Major Crimes Squad served the arrest warrants charging Thomas Yorkshaitis with second-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit second-degree robbery and third-degree larceny. He has been held on $200,000 in connection with the robbery.

Nicholas Yorkshaitis has been held on $100,000 bond in connection with charges of conspiracy to commit second-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit third-degree larceny. Each of the men is scheduled to appear Friday in state Superior Court in New Haven.

Photo: A surveillance image released by state police of the suspected bank robber