Bridgeport Man Charged with Robbery, Firearm and Carjacking Offenses

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, David Sundberg, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Stratford Police Chief Joseph McNeil today announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned an indictment charging TYIESE WARREN, also known as “Loose Screw,” 20, of Bridgeport, with robbery, firearm and carjacking offenses.

The indictment was returned yesterday and unsealed today after Warren was arrested.  Warren appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William I. Garfinkel via videoconference and entered a plea of not guilty to the charges.  Warren is detained pending a detention hearing that is scheduled for September 15.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, in an effort to address escalating violence in Bridgeport, the FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals, Bridgeport Police and other local police departments are actively investigating members of multiple Bridgeport-based groups, including members of the Original North End (“ONE”), a group based in the Trumbull Gardens area of Bridgeport.

It is alleged that, on March 25, 2020, Warren and an accomplice stole a car that was in front of the Citgo 6M Service Station and Quik Mart located at 2000 Barnum Avenue in Stratford.  During the theft, they dragged the car’s driver, who was trying to stop the theft and was hanging onto the car, several hundred yards before he let go.  Warren and an accomplice then engaged in a carjacking involving a Toyota Corolla in Bridgeport, holding the owner at gunpoint and ultimately driving away in the car.  Minutes later, Warren and an accomplice committed a gunpoint robbery of the Citgo in Stratford, taking cash from the store and a cellphone from a store employee.  Stratford Police arrested Warren later that night after he crashed another stolen car he was driving on an I-95 on-ramp and then ran from police.

The indictment charges Warren with one count of interference with commerce by robbery, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years; one count of brandishing, carrying and using a firearm during and relation to a crime of violence, which carries a mandatory consecutive term of imprisonment of at least seven years; and one count of carjacking, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years.

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Warren investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Safe Streets and Violent Crimes Task Forces, and the Stratford, Stamford, Milford, Waterbury and Bridgeport Police Departments, with the assistance of the ATF, DEA and U.S. Marshals Service.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen L. Peck, Rahul Kale, Peter D. Markle and Jocelyn C. Kaoutzanis.

U.S. Attorney Durham noted that this prosecution is a part of the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program and Project Longevity.  PSN is a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Project Longevity is a comprehensive initiative to reduce gun violence in Connecticut’s major cities.  Through Project Longevity, community members and law enforcement directly engage with members of groups that are prone to commit violence and deliver a community message against violence, a law enforcement message about the consequences of further violence and an offer of help for those who want it.