Police capture one of two men in Groton manhunt
Groton — Police arrested one of two men with possible links to a spree of credit card-related fraud crimes throughout the Northeast and whose appearance at the Wal-Mart in Groton on Thursday sparked a massive manhunt.
The two men were first spotted at the Wal-Mart at 150 Gold Star Highway about 4:30 p.m. when police responded to a report of a larceny by credit card fraud that had just occurred, according to Groton Town Police Lt. John Varone.
At least one of the men matched the description of a suspect in a crime spree that has included targets in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The losses from the crimes are estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Varone said.
Police attempted to stop the car with the two men, but they fled police at high speed to the area of the Copp Family Farm off Route 184, where they left their vehicle and ran into the woods, police said.
Police set up a perimeter in the area, calling for aid from state police and police officers from New London, Groton City, Waterford, Ledyard and Stonington, along with members of a regional community task force.
Several residents told The Day they had seen numerous law enforcement officers patrolling the area of Gold Star Highway with weapons and search dogs.
Kashif T. Louissaint, 24, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was caught and arrested in the area of Interstate 95 and Route 117.
He was charged with interfering with police, criminal attempt to commit fourth-degree larceny and criminal attempt to commit illegal use of a credit card.
He also is wanted on a federal warrant by the FBI in Newark, N.J., for wire fraud.
Police continued to look for the second man late Thursday, at one point sending out a reverse 911 call to residents in the area, asking them to call 911 if either of the two men were spotted.
Police intermittently throughout the night received reports of possible sightings of the second suspect, but by 10 p.m. did not have the second man in custody.
The man who was still at large was described as a black male, 6 foot 2 inches with dreadlocks.
Editor's Note: This article corrects the name of the arrested person.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
