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Arrests Made in Greenwich Gas Station Shooting

Two men were arrested in the 2009 shooting of a Greenwich gas station attendant, and two others were charged in a related fatal shooting last year at a Norwalk gas station, Norwalk police announced Wednesday.

Taran Nelson, 23, of Waterbury, and David Wash, 37, were each charged with first-degree robbery and first-degree conspiracy to commit robbery in the Greenwich case.

Alain Leconte, 22, and Mustafa Jacobs, 24, both formerly of Stamford, will be arraigned Thursday at Norwalk Superior Court on charges of felony murder and first-degree robbery in the Norwalk homicide.

At Wednesday's news conference, Norwalk Police Chief Harry Rilling and Mayor Richard Moccia said the robberies were similar, as both stations have easy access to I-95. An incident in Stamford also appeared to be linked, they said. Police in Greenwich, Stamford and Norwalk worked together to put the cases together.

Jose Morales, an immigrant from Guatemala, worked the night shift at the Miracle Shell gas station at 94 West Ave. Police say two masked men entered the station at 2 a.m. Oct. 10, 2009, and ordered several customers to lie on the floor. Morales was told to go behind the counter and get cash from the register. After doing that, he was told to also lie on the floor. Witnesses say that as the gunmen left, one of them shot Morales in the back of the head.

At 1 a.m. Nov. 21, 2009, a masked man entered the Mobil on the Run station at 1429 E. Putnam Ave. in Greenwich. Police say he robbed the sole attendant and shot him in the head as he was leaving. The victim survived.

Leconte and Jacobs are currently in jail on drug charges. Leconte is in the Walker Correctional Institute, and Jacobs is in the Norwalk Correctional Institution. Rilling said police had time to methodically build the case because the suspects were incarcerated. "To develop a case of this magnitude is very complex," he said. "You want to make sure you get everything covered."

Ingemar Heredia, attorney for the victim's family, said Morales, 33, had a tight-knit family of cousins, aunts and uncles. "They never lost hope," he said of their desire for arrests to be made. Most of his family is in Guatemala, but local relatives plan to be at the courthouse Thursday. Heredia said the arrests afforded the family some closure.

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