[naviga:img class="img-responsive" src="/Assets/news2015/0208DayLamotte.JPG" alt="John H. Lamotte"/]

John H. Lamotte

Groton — A Rhode Island man was arraigned in New London Thursday after police connected him to two robberies that took place at the Stop & Shop on Route 12 — one in 2016, one in 2017.

John H. Lamotte, 52, of Bradford, R.I., is facing two counts of first-degree robbery and one count each of third-degree larceny and fourth-degree larceny.

According to police, the first robbery took place on the morning of Dec. 6, 2016. Police said a man passed a note to a store employee that demanded money and implied he had a weapon. The man fled the store on foot after receiving an unspecified amount of cash.

The other robbery occurred Sept. 18, 2017, at the People’s United Bank inside the same Stop & Shop. It also happened during the morning. Police said the suspect in that case demanded money verbally and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

New information led detectives to identify Lamotte as a suspect, police said. They obtained a warrant for Lamotte's arrest and, on Wednesday, learned members of the Westerly Police Department had apprehended him.

Police said Lamotte was arraigned in Rhode Island on a charge of being a fugitive from justice, then turned over to Groton Town police.

Lamotte was held on a $200,000 bond pending his Thursday arraignment in New London Superior Court.