A Westerly man arrested last week in connection with the robbery of the People's United Bank branch at the Super Stop & Shop store in Groton has confessed to committing other crimes in the area, court officials said Monday during Vincent Nicastro's arraignment.

Nicastro was arrested in Westerly two days after allegedly committing the April 15 bank robbery in Groton. During his brief court appearance in Superior Court in New London, he was still wearing street clothes — blue jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt.  Nicastro remained silent as Bail Commissioner Timothy Gilman, Prosecutor Rafael Bustamante and Public Defender Sean Kelly discussed before Judge Omar A. Williams whether his $250,000 bond should be increased or decreased.

Williams kept the bond at $250,000, noting that he received a supplemental report that states that during a videotaped interview Nicastro admitted to committing the crime and confessed to another robbery.

According to the Groton arrest warrant, Waterford police issued an alert for a gray Jeep Cherokee that was used to rob the Charter Oak Credit Union on April 6 in Waterford. The Groton warrant notes that the person who robbed the People's United Bank made his getaway in a similar vehicle.

On April 15 at about 3:20 p.m., Groton Town police received a report that the bank in the supermarket had been robbed. The robber passed a note to the teller that said, "This is a robbery. I want 100's, 50's and 20's. This is not a joke."

It was the second time in a week that the bank had been robbed. The robbery came just two days after Groton Town police charged a man in connection with an April 9 robbery there. The suspect in that case, Timothy J. Foye, remains locked up and is a suspect in a spree of recent convenience store robberies.

On April 16, Groton police received a phone call from a Stop & Shop employee who said he had seen a white man running with something under his arm and getting into a gray Jeep Cherokee. The employee took down the license plate number and gave it to police.

Police checked the plate, which indicated the car was registered to Nicastro's sister, Janae Nicastro of New London. Police spoke with Janae Nicastro, who said her brother borrowed her car on April 15 and was gone for about 45 minutes.

When police showed her a picture of the suspected robber, she told police that the man is her brother.

Police spoke to Vincent Nicastro that same day. He denied any involvement in the robbery and also denied that he was at his sister's house.

It was not clear when Nicastro gave his videotaped confession.

Gilman told the judge that Nicastro has a serious drug problem and a 2010 Connecticut conviction for second-degree failure to appear in court. He said Nicastro is on probation in Rhode Island for a larceny conviction for which he was sentenced in 2011 to 10 years in prison, suspended after five years served and five years' probation.

Gilman said there is another warrant out for Nicastro's arrest although he did not say for what or which police department was expected to serve it. He recommended that bond be set at $150,000.

Kelly argued that his bond should be lowered to $75,000 since he has been cooperative with authorities. Bustamante successfully argued that Nicastro's bond remain at $250,000 since he confessed to the Groton robbery and another robbery.

Nicastro was charged with third-degree robbery and sixth-degree larceny in connection with the Groton robbery. The court did not say if he would be charged in the Waterford bank robbery. His case was transferred to Part A on Huntington Street, where more serious crimes are heard, for May 11.

i.larraneta@theday.com

Twitter: @larraneta