Bridgeport Man Sentenced To More Than 21 Years For Armed Robbery

BRIDGEPORT, CT — An organizer and getaway driver in violent armed robberies has been sentenced to more than 21 years in prison, according to a statement from Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. Eric Chambers, 37, of Bridgeport, will also serve three years of supervised release for his role in several violent armed robberies in 2017 during which two people were shot and wounded.

According to prosecutors, Chambers' half-brother, Jachim Brown, wearing a mask and pointing a gun, entered Nikita’s Bar on Iranistan Avenue in Bridgeport and pointed a gun at an employee.

Brown directed the employee behind the bar to retrieve a key to a safe. After the employee complied, Brown opened the safe and stole about $2,450, according to prosecutors.

Chambers’ car can be seen on surveillance video driving past the entrance to the bar. Chambers had previously worked security at the bar.

In the early morning hours of Nov. 9, 2017, Brown, again brandishing a gun, robbed an employee of Avenue Café who was couriering about $2,000 in cash to Bishop’s Corner Café on Boston Avenue in Bridgeport.

Surveillance video outside Bishop’s Corner again revealed Chambers’ car close by to the robbery.

On Nov. 13, 2017, the same employee, who had delegated his money courier responsibilities to another security guard after the Nov. 9 robbery, was again confronted by Brown. When Brown realized that the employee did not have the cash, he shot him in the thigh, according to prosecutors.

Brown, wearing a mask and brandishing a gun, entered the Bar Restaurant on Nov. 14, 2017 located on Main Street in Stratford, and walked directly to a bin near the cash register that typically contained approximately 80 envelopes with cash payments for employees of the Bar Restaurant and other establishments.

Brown grabbed the bin, pointed his gun at one employee’s head, and turned and fired at a second employee who had his hands raised, hitting the second employee in his stomach. Surveillance video revealed that Brown had been dropped off behind the restaurant by Chambers, according to prosecutors.

Bridgeport police pursued Brown Nov. 16 following a call reporting an armed robbery in progress at EbLens on Pequonnock Street in Bridgeport. After Brown exited the store, a Bridgeport police officer chased him on foot.

As Brown attempted to get into Chambers’ car, he turned and fired at the police officer. The officer returned fire, tackled Brown and placed him under arrest.

At the time of his arrest, Brown possessed a Raven P25 .25 ACP caliber handgun. Forensic analysis of the gun revealed that it had also been used in the shootings of the two people on Nov. 13 and 14, according to prosecutors.

Chambers has been detained since his arrest on April 30, 2018. A jury found him guilty of four counts of aiding and abetting Hobbs Act robbery in March 2019.

Brown was sentenced to more than 21 years in prison and five years of supervised release in February 2020 after pleading guilty to four counts of Hobbs Act robbery and one count of discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.