Casino robbery suspect: ‘I was sleepwalking’

By Eric Pfeiffer

Winston A. Riley says he was sleepwalking at the time of the alleged robbery.

A Connecticut man accused of robbing an 81-year-old woman outside a casino at knifepoint says he was sleepwalking and has no memory of the alleged incident.

An attorney for Winston A. Riley says he will enter a "medical defense" for his client, the Norwich Bulletin reports. 27-year-old Riley was arrested back on the morning of March 18 when the elderly woman said he pulled a large knife on her and demanded her purse while the two were riding a parking garage elevator at the Mohegan Sun casino in New London. Riley claims he was "awakened" by the woman after she fled from the elevator. Attorney Nicholas D'Amato claims to have confirmed with Riley's family that his client has had problems with sleepwalking since he was a child.

"It is the first time we've encountered this," D'Amato said. "This is a legitimate medical condition."

However, police claim Riley confessed to the crime after he was arrested, telling them he "just wanted some money."

D'Amato disputes that claim, pointing out that Riley is a family man with no prior criminal record.

Interestingly, the police report also notes that Riley could not recall why he had allegedly tried to rob the woman and said he became "scared and ran away" after she resisted him.

"I told the judge and prosecutor, 'Here's a guy who's (27), no criminal record, married,'"  D'Amato told the Bulletin. "'Do you honestly think he woke up one morning, drove across the state and decided to rob a woman in a place full of security cameras?' It doesn't make sense if you think about it rationally."