Man Arrested For Allegedly Stealing $100 From Autistic Man In Stamford

STAMFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- A suspect has been arrested and charged with tricking a 27-year-old autistic man out of his birthday money at a park in Stamford, Connecticut.

Stephen St. Jacques, also 27, of Stamford was arrested and charged with second-degree larceny on Monday, Stamford police said.

The entire incident, which happened around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the breezeway leading from Veterans Park and into the Stamford Town Center, was captured on surveillance video.

Police said the victim was on his way to buy video games with the money when a man approached him and engaged in conversation.

That was when the man excitedly showed the suspect his birthday money, police said. The man takes the money and appears to taunt the victim before pretending to put it back in the victim's pocket, police said.

In the video, the man then gives the victim a hug and walks away. Police said the victim didn't realize the money was gone until it was too late.

Over the weekend, police received numerous leads about the identity of the suspect, and ultimately identified St. Jacques, police said.

"At that point it really steamrolled.  We got a lot of donations.  The public really came forward and wanted to donate money to help this guy," Lt. Diedrich Hohn said.

A search warrant was executed at St. Jacques' house and an article of clothing he was wearing in the video was confiscated, police said.

St. Jacques came to Stamford police headquarters and admitted his involvement, police said. His bond was set at $50,000, police said.

St. Jacques has a past record of assault and robbery arrest, police said.

Stamford police and the local police union also started a collection for the victim. On Monday, they turned over $1,000 in donations to the victim.

Check Out These Other Stories From CBSNewYork.com: