WESTFIELD – A proactive response by store employees and prompt action by city police led to the arrest Saturday evening, ten minutes after the crime was reported, of an armed robbery suspect on St. Dennis Street.
Police report that on Saturday a 7:14 p.m. caller from the Rite Aid store at 7 E. Silver St. reported that a man who claimed to have a gun had robbed the store.
Det. Sgt. Stephen K. Dickinson reports that the clerk said that a man came into the store wearing gloves and asked to borrow a pen.
She said that while the man was using her pen she moved to a nearby work station to assist another customer and, because she thought it odd that the man was wearing gloves on a hot summer day, she paged another employee to the front of the store before returning to the man.
The clerk said that when she returned to the man he handed her a note that read “This is not a joke. I have a gun. Pretend this is a Western Union (transaction) and give me $200 and I’ll walk out. DO NOT PRESS AN ALARM.”
The clerk said that she handed the man ten $20 bills from the cash register and said that another employee had approached while she did so.
As the suspect walked out, the woman told her co-worker that the store had been robbed and he followed the man, at a judicious distance, and saw him removing his shirt as he walked on to East Silver Street and then crossed to St. Dennis Street.
While her colleague was following the suspect, the clerk called police who entered St. Dennis Street from the other end and also stationed a cruiser on the other side of the nearby railroad right-of-way berm.
The clerk had said that the suspect, who had a large scab on his face, had been wearing baggy light colored blue jeans, a plaid shirt and a ball cap when he entered the store. The man police found on St. Dennis Street was shirtless and was wearing black trousers.
The man was identified as Craig C. Knowlton, 26, of 3 Shepard St., a young man well-known to many police officers who have dealt with him in a wide variety of situations for several years.
District court records show that Knowlton has been arrested numerous times for charges that include shoplifting, receiving stolen property, possession of a Class D drug (marijuana), assault, disorderly conduct and trespass.
He was taken into custody, ten minutes after the clerk called 911, despite his protestations of innocence.
Dickinson said that, when taken into custody, Knowlton denied the crime pointing out that armed robbery is out-of-character for him.
Dickinson conceded that armed robbery is a departure from Knowlton’s style and said “He’s graduated here. He’s also probably graduated to state (jail) time.”
Knowlton was returned to the store to see if the witnesses could identify him.
The clerk said that she was 90 percent certain that the suspect was the robber. Her co-worker, who had seen him only from behind, said that he was 60 percent certain and a customer who had seen the suspect inside the store said that she was 70 percent certain.
An employee who had been outside the store taking her meal break in her vehicle said that she had noticed the man entering because he had stopped repeatedly to pull up his baggy trousers and said that she was 50 percent certain that the man in custody was the same person she had seen entering the store.
Dickinson said he subsequently showed the clerk an array of photos that included a picture of Knowlton without the prominent scab on his face and reports that when the clerk picked out his picture she said her certainty was up to 95 percent.
Knowlton was found to be in possession of ten $20 bills and officers, with assistance from a State Police K-9 team, searched the area of St. Dennis Street and found clothing which matched the description of that worn by the robber.
No gun was found.
Knowlton was arrested and charged with armed robbery.
He is expected to be arraigned in Westfield District Court today.
