A 19-year-old Waterbury resident, Tyssan Woods, also known as “Tigger,” was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his involvement in the theft of firearms from a Salem gun store and two armed carjackings in Stamford. U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea delivered the sentence in Hartford, which also includes four years of supervised release.
According to court documents and statements made during the proceedings, Woods, along with Eduardo Cruz and others, drove a car into the entryway of Statewide Pawn Shop, a federally licensed firearms dealer in Salem, on March 15, 2024. The group stole 21 firearms from the store. Law enforcement conducted a controlled purchase of three stolen firearms from Cruz and a juvenile later that day in Waterbury. On March 18, investigators purchased another stolen firearm from Cruz, who arrived at the meeting location with two juveniles. Cruz was arrested at that time; officers recovered two more stolen firearms—one carried by a juvenile and one found in Cruz’s vehicle.
On March 28, Woods committed two armed carjackings in Stamford. Connecticut State Police located him later that day seated in one of the stolen vehicles and took him into custody. Investigators recovered the other stolen vehicle in Waterbury and found two more stolen firearms during a search of Woods’ residence.
Authorities report that thirteen of the firearms remain missing.
Woods has been detained since his arrest. He pleaded guilty on June 20, 2025, to one count of theft of firearms from a licensee, two counts of carjacking, and one count of using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Cruz also pleaded guilty and was sentenced on June 9, 2025, to three years in prison.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Connecticut State Police, and police departments from Waterbury, Stamford, and Wolcott investigated this case.
U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan stated: “U.S. Attorney Sullivan thanked the State’s Attorney for the Judicial Districts of Waterbury, New London, and Stamford-Norwalk for their cooperation in investigating and prosecuting this matter.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Mahard prosecuted the case through the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program.
