Crime & Safety
Man Accused of Robbing Rocky Hill, West Hartford Banks Pleads Not Guilty
Joseph B. Clower was arrested shortly after police said he held up a First Niagara Bank in Rocky Hill in early April.
Written by Patch Senior Field Editor Ronald DeRosa
A Bristol man accused in the robbery of two banks in early April has pleaded not guilty to felony charges, according to online court records.
Joseph B. Clower, 42, recently entered the pleas in Hartford Superior Court, where he faces charges of first-degree robbery and fifth-degree larceny in the hold-up of the First Niagara Bank on the Silas Deane Highway in Rocky Hill and the Webster Bank at Bishop’s Corners in West Hartford.
Not guilty pleas are a typical procedure in court, as cases typically cannot proceed unless they are entered.
The West Hartford robbery happened on April 5 and the Rocky Hill incident occurred on April 8, the same day President Barack Obama came to speak at a rally in West Hartford.
According to the Hartford Courant, State troopers who were patrolling I-91 during the president’s visit capture Clower in in Windsor less than an hour after the Rocky Hill robbery.
Clower is incarcerated on a total $550,000 bond while his case is ongoing.
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