Suspects Indicted In Armed Convenience Store Robbery In Milford: Feds

MILFORD, CT ? Four Bridgeport men were indicted by a federal grand jury in Hartford last month on robbery and firearm offenses in connection with several armed robberies of stores and an Amazon delivery truck, announced U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery. Sharing in the announcement was Robert Fuller, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The crimes were committed in 2022 and 2023 in Bridgeport, Milford and Stratford.

Indicted were:

Elijah Raffington, 21

Rajonne Blake, also known as "Ray Ray," 25

Shasson Daniels, 20

Mickyeem Profit, 21

The indictment was returned under seal on July 11, and accuses the four of the following:

• On Dec. 15, 2022, Raffington and Profit committed a gunpoint robbery of Omega Deli, located at 999 Maplewood Avenue in Bridgeport;
• On Dec. 21, 2022, Raffington, Daniels, and Profit committed a gunpoint robbery of Milford Convenience & Tobacco, located at 784 Boston Post Road in Milford;
• On Dec. 23, 2022, Raffington, Daniels, Blake, Profit, and another individual committed a gunpoint robbery of an Amazon delivery truck and merchandise in Bridgeport;
• On Dec. 23, 2022, Raffington, Daniels, and Profit, committed a gunpoint robbery of Smoke Shop, located at 2175 Boston Avenue in Bridgeport;
• On Jan. 2, 2023, Raffington, Daniels, and Blake, committed a gunpoint robbery of Cumberland Farms, located at 1290 West Broad Street in Stratford.

From the announcement:

The six-count indictment charges each defendant with multiple counts of interference with commerce by robbery (?Hobbs Act robbery?), an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count. In addition, Daniels and Profit and charged with carrying, using, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and Raffington and Blake are charged with aiding and abetting in the same, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of seven years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life.

The indictment was unsealed on August 1, 2024, after Blake was arrested. Raffington, Daniels, and Profit had been detained in state custody. Each of the defendants were arranged in New Haven federal court, entered pleas of not guilty, and were ordered detained.

U.S. Attorney Avery 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.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bridgeport Police Department, the Stratford Police Department, and the Milford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel J. Gentile.

The case is being prosecuted through Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Justice Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit www.justice.gov/psn.