Can Collector Battles ​“Bomb” Charges

Robert Cardone pushed a shopping cart filled with black plastic crates and an orange traffic cone along Elm Street — killing time during another day out of jail, out of work, and still shrouded by a ​“bullshit” bomb-suspect criminal case.

Cardone, 22, took that walk in the midday sun on Tuesday on Elm Street by Stop & Shop.

He was on his way to grab lunch at Fellowship Place’s daytime drop-in center before continuing his meanderings about downtown. Eventually, he said, he’d make his way back to his grandma’s home on Atwater Street in Fair Haven, where he’s been sleeping at night.

Not too long ago, Cardone was sleeping outdoors on a bench on Elm Street. After that, he spent a month sleeping in a cell at the Whalley Avenue jail after being arrested on Aug. 30 for throwing three metal objects that police feared might have been explosives. Local law enforcement shut down parts of downtown traffic and evacuated City Hall as they investigated the potential bomb threat. 

They ultimately found Cardone at the Stop & Shop on Whalley, where cops knew him as a regular presence at the grocery store’s bottle return. 

This reporter caught up with Cardone this week and asked him if he had intended to throw bombs or bomb-suspicious objects near City Hall in August.

“No,” Cardone replied. ​“I was collecting cans.” 

Cardone told police the same thing the day of his arrest. He said he had just been collecting cans on Orange Street, and had meant no harm. 

On Tuesday, he elaborated that the metal objects he picked up and then discarded were similar to the metal legs of elementary school desks. Back on Aug. 30, he told police that he threw those metal objects near the municipal office building at 200 Orange St. when he saw how rusty they were, and decided they were of no use to him.

Cardone was ultimately arrested on three felony counts of breach of peace, a misdemeanor count of first-degree criminal trespass, and a misdemeanor count of third-degree criminal mischief. He was sent to jail on a $25,000 bond as his case made its way through state court. (The arresting officer’s report described the metal objects as looking like ​“some kind of improvised explosive as they had a white tip in the shape of a detonator.”)

Cardone was released on bail on Sept. 30 with the help of fundraising by local homelessness activists.

His next day in court is Nov. 4, on both his bomb-suspect case and a dozen other statutorily sealed criminal court cases. He and his public defender have applied for a diversionary program that, if the judge approves, could lead to the bomb-suspect-case charges being dismissed. 

“I’m still fighting the case,” he said. ​“Hopefully they drop the charges.”

After all, he said, ​“it’s a bullshit case.” He was just collecting cans, as he often does. He had no intention of posing a threat to anyone, let alone shutting down parts of downtown.

“It wasn’t too bad,” Cardone said about his month in jail. ​“That was my second time in.” After bonding out, he said, he received a few hundred dollars thanks to the activists’ fundraising. 

He said he’s still out of work and out of a permanent home. He said the bomb-suspect criminal case that continues to hover over him has made it difficult to find a job or an apartment, as he doesn’t know how the case will shake out. He said his most recent job was at the Target in North Haven.

Cardone said he grew up mostly in Fair Haven, but also all over New Haven and the surrounding area. ​“I was homeless,” before his current stay at his grandma’s, he said.

And what was up with the shopping cart he was pushing Tuesday?

Cardone said he was just ​“bored,” had found the cart, and decided to push it about. He said he had no bigger plan for it than that. Ultimately, he said, he’s just waiting for his next day in court — waiting to see if this can collecting-bomb suspect case will just go away.

"Nowhere To Go"

The dozen other criminal cases that Cardone is currently facing are statutorily sealed, meaning that members of the public and press cannot review the charges or underlying court documents.

Earlier in October, city spokesperson Lenny Speiller and police spokesperson Officer Christian Bruckhart sent along 99 pages worth of incident reports and other files related to those arrests.

All relate to Cardone’s alleged repeated trespassing and theft from such locations as the luxury apartment building at 360 State and its (now-moved) groundfloor supermarket, Elm City Market; the Walmart on Foxon Boulevard; and the Off Broadway Theater by Yale’s campus.

Over the course of those reports, staffers at 360 State and Elm City Market in particular repeatedly tell police about how Cardone is a regular presence at that building, trespassing in the apartment complex and stealing from the grocery store and the apartment building’s entertainment room.

Cardone repeatedly complies with every police order, according to these reports, and recognizes that he should not be, say, trespassing at 360 State, as he gets hit with one round of criminal trespassing charges after another.

One such arrest report, written on March 20 by Officer Michael Daniele, concerns Cardone’s alleged destruction of two signs in the 360 State St. parking garage elevator, causing $1,000 worth of damage.

Officer Daniele ultimately found Cardone nearby, in front of the public library on Elm Street.

“I stopped Cardone and advised him I was stopping him for breaking the signs at Elm City Market,” Daniele wrote. ​“Cardone expressed a desire to be arrested because he is homeless and has nowhere to go. I asked Cardone if he wished to speak with COMPASS but he refused, saying they did not help him much last time he spoke with them. Cardone stated he is on a waiting list for housing but is staying at a shelter located in Hamden for now.”

Police ultimately arrested him on two misdemeanor charges from that incident: second-degree criminal mischief and first-degree criminal trespass. 

He’d be arrested again, on similar charges, in the months to come. All of Cardone’s criminal cases indicate that he has not yet entered any pleas.