HENRY J. DEKASTROZZA JR.
WESTFIELD – A city man who allegedly robbed a Union Street convenience store at knifepoint was taken into custody as he fled the scene of the crime Tuesday evening.
City police received a report of a holdup alarm from an alarm company at 9:49 p.m. Tuesday and at 10 p.m. officer Zachary Coderre reported that a suspect had been detained on Union Street.
The clerk at the Country Mart at 54 Upon Street told police that a masked man had brandished a knife and demanded money. The clerk said he surrendered cash from the register and described the suspect.
Coderre reports that the only person he saw in the area was a man riding a bicycle who fit the clerk’s description of the robber.
The officer reports that the man was detained and a pat frisk revealed a fold of cash (later found to be $359) in one of the man’s pocket and his account of his recent activities did not fit the circumstances. A K-9 team responded and the dog found a track which led from the store to the place where the suspect had been detained.
Officer Chris Coach reported finding on Dartmouth Street a discarded pair of pants the suspect had apparently been wearing and a short time later found what may have been the suspect’s mask in a yard on Union Street. A knife was not recovered.
The suspect, identified as Henry John Dekastrozza, 39, of 140 Union St., Apt. 49, Westfield, was transported to the station for a further interview and eventually admitted that he had robbed the store.
Dekastrozza was arrested for armed and masked robbery.
He was arraigned Wednesday at Westfield District Court and held in lieu of $5,000 cash bail pending a May 24 hearing.
Dekastrozza was also arraigned in an unrelated case brought by State Police. He was released on his personal recognizance, pending a May 24 hearing, on charges of operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and operating a motor vehicle without a valid inspection sticker.
