Hamden Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years for Armed Robberies of West Haven Post Office and Hamden Bank

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DERRICK WHITE, also known as “Fly,” 53, of Hamden, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 188 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for committing armed robberies of the Allingtown Post Office in West Haven and the Wells Fargo Bank in Hamden on April 21, 2016.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on the morning of April 21, 2016, WHITE, Malcolm Haynes, Howard Bookert and another male drove in WHITE’s vehicle to the vicinity of the Allingtown Post Office located at 75 Farwell Avenue in West Haven.  WHITE, Bookert and Haynes, who was armed with a .22 caliber rifle, then entered the post office.  Haynes pointed the rifle at individuals who were in the lobby and the clerk behind the counter and directed them to stay away from the door.  WHITE then hopped over the counter, waved the postal clerk away from her station, removed the cash drawer from the counter and handed it to Bookert.  The robbers then fled with the drawer, which contained approximately $491.

In the afternoon of April 21, 2016, the four individuals drove to a branch of Wells Fargo Bank located at 1647 Whitney Avenue in Hamden.  Haynes, again armed with the rifle, WHITE and the other male entered the bank.  Haynes pointed the rifle in the direction of various employees as WHITE went behind the counter and removed approximately $9,287 from teller drawers.  During the robbery, the other male brandished what appeared to be a small black semi-automatic pistol.

WHITE and Bookert were apprehended in New Haven on April 21, 2016.  On that date, investigators recovered the firearm that Haynes used during the robberies, which Haynes had hidden in a plastic garbage bag behind a house in New Haven.  Haynes was arrested on May 23, 2016.  The three defendants have been detained since their arrests.

On January 25, 2017, WHITE pleaded guilty to one count of armed bank robbery.

Haynes, of New Haven, and Bookert, of Hamden, previously pleaded guilty to related federal charges, and the fourth male was charged by the state.  On May 3, 2017, Haynes was sentenced to 90 months of imprisonment.  On August 31, 2017, Bookert was sentenced to approximately 16 months of imprisonment, time served.

WHITE’s criminal history spans more than 30 years and includes 10 prior convictions, including multiple robbery convictions.  In 1982, he shot an individual in the stomach and arm in a dispute over stolen gold chains.

This matter was investigated by the West Haven Police Department, Hamden Police Department, New Haven Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anastasia E. King.