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The announcement came at 2 p.m. Monday at police headquarters, where officers handed Patrick Kogut, 27, more than $1,300 that had been donated by police and citizens after the news of the mugging spread through the city.
Steven St. Jacques, of 49 Durant St., was charged with second-degree larceny and held on $50,000 court-set bond pending an appearance Tuesday in state Superior Court in Stamford.
A beaming Kogut sat between Sgt. Paul Guzda and Officer Frank Laccona, giving a thumbs up to assembled media and police officers during the press conference. Neither he nor his mother Irena made any public comments other than Kogut saying "Thank you guys. Thank you guys."
Guzda and Laccona headed up the investigation into the downtown mugging last week.
It was through the initiative of Sgt. Kelly Connelly that the donations began. She sent an email to her fellow officers, who responded generously. Gift cards were also donated.
The police department had received many calls, including from out-of-state residents who wanted to donate online, she said. However, she said no online donations were organized and Kogut's family asked that no more donations be collected.
Tuesday, she handed Kogut a large yellow envelope with the donated funds.
"We were able to get Patrick back his money and then some," she said as she handed him the envelope.
An appreciative Kogut held the envelope to his chest and looked to the ceiling with a big smile on his face.
The accused knew the victim from the mall and realized it would be an "easy theft," police said.
The man told police he owed someone some money and zeroed in on Kogut.
Police received several tips from the public after the department released a surveillance video of the theft. They were able to narrow it down to St. Jacques and executed a search warrant at his residence, where they discovered some of the clothes that the suspect was seen wearing in the surveillance video, police said.
During the lengthy police interrogation at police headquarters, St. Jacques adamantly denied he was involved in the theft until he finally confessed, Guzda said.
"It took about an hour and 10 minutes," Guzda said. "At the end, he literally took a deep breath and he said, 'All right, I took it.' He told us he took it because he had to repay a debt. He took it because he could, he basically made the statement that it was easy. He did tell us he was sorry at the end."
On Sept. 9, the suspect ran up to the victim as he entered a passageway to the Stamford Town Center mall from the area of Veterans Park at 3:35 p.m.
The victim excitedly shows the suspect the $100 in money he received for his birthday. He was on his way to buy video games at the mall, police said.
The man hands the money over to the suspect, who then holds it away from the victim, police said. The upset victim tries to grab it and then jumps up and down in frustration, police said.
The suspect then appears to put the money back in the victim's pocket and the two exchange hugs, police said. The suspect is seen in the video jogging away through Veterans Park toward Atlantic Street. The victim realizes too late his money was stolen.
A Downtown Special Services Ambassador heard the man screaming that someone had just stolen his money and went to his aid, police said.
Read more about the mugging here on the Daily Voice.
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