WESTFIELD – A man who allegedly knocked down, handcuffed and robbed a longtime friend, while masked, was arrested Saturday after a short investigation.
City police report a Hedges Avenue resident called at 9:57 p.m. Saturday to report he had been robbed by two masked men but said that he recognized the voice of one of his assailants to be that of a friend.
Officers Richard Mazza and Thomas Cusack responded to the call along with their supervisor, Sgt. Jeffrey Baillargeon, and Mazza reports that the victim said that he had been walking through the parking lot of a Main Street supermarket and was behind a congregational church when two masked men accosted him.
The victim said that he was pushed to the ground and the men who claimed to be police officers placed his hands in handcuffs.
Mazza reports the victim said that he felt something being pushed into his back and believed it to be a gun.
The man said that his assailants reached into his pockets and stole his driver’s license and his smartphone before they removed the handcuffs and fled toward a nearby restaurant.
He told police that he saw his assailants leaving the restaurant’s parking lot in a vehicle he described.
The victim said that he believes that he recognized the voice of one of his assailants, who was unusually tall, to be that of a long-time friend.
He said that although he was sure that he recognized the voice of his taller assailant, he believes, but is not sure, that the second man sounded like his friend’s brother, who is significantly shorter.
Det. Sgt. Stephen K. Dickinson arrived to take charge of the investigation and, with Detective Timothy Grady, took the victim to the address of his friend who he identified as Eduard Kostyushko, 22, of 33 Russellville Road.
There, he identified a vehicle seen there, found to be registered to the suspect’s father, as the vehicle he had seen his assailants leave the area in.
The victim called and spoke with the suspect asking for the return of his phone but the suspect hung up on him.
Dickinson said that he secured a warrant to search the suspect’s home for a gun, handcuffs, the victim’s driver’s license and his cell phone.
Dickinson assembled a force that included Grady and fellow detective Dan Gustafson as well as officers Christopher Coach, Timothy Fanion, Francis Gaulin, Joseph Maxton and James Renaudette.
Dickinson said later that, because he discovered that there could be as many as seven adults in the residence, “it’s always better to have too many” officers than too few.
The warrant was executed at 2:25 a.m. but the suspect was not found at home.
The suspect vehicle had been removed but Dickinson said it was found to have been taken a short time earlier by one of the suspect’s brothers.
Dickinson also said that he learned that the suspect’s brother who had been identified as a possible accomplice was out of the state.
The search revealed, in the suspect’s bedroom, the victim’s license, handcuffs, a hand gun and ammunition, a small quantity of cocaine and “a few packs” of heroin, as well as paraphernalia including inert white powder commonly used to cut or dilute powdered drugs, scales and a quantity of cash.
The victim’s iPhone was not found.
Dickinson said that, while the officers were still at the house, Kostyushko was dropped off at the property by his girlfriend and promptly taken into custody.
Kostyushko was arrested and charged with armed and masked robbery, kidnapping, intimidating a witness, impersonating a police officer, possession of a Class A drug, possession of a Class B drug with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm without a FID card and possession of ammunition without a FID card.
