WESTFIELD – Visitors to the Whip City who had allegedly robbed a Mill Street convenience store at gunpoint didn’t even get out of town before they were spotted, stopped and arrested.
City police report that at 1:50 p.m. multiple callers started to report an armed robbery at the Stop & Go store on Mill Street by male parties who had fled the scene in a green Honda Civic type car.
One caller said that she witnessed the robbery and saw two male parties, one of whom was wearing a hooded sweatshirt backwards and had apparently cut eye-holes in the hood, run out of the store to a car waiting on Harrison Street and flee toward Court or East Silver streets.
At 1:58 p.m. Officer Joseph Maxton reported seeing a green Honda Civic occupied by four persons traveling eastbound on East Main Street and followed the vehicle.
Maxton activated his take down lights and siren when he caught up with the car but it did not stop until it reached a red light at the intersection of Little River Road.
Maxton reports that, because a weapon had reportedly been shown, he stayed inside his cruiser and used the public address system to tell the occupants to show their hands.
Instead, when the light turned green, the car continued on the bridge until it stopped abruptly and a piece of clothing fell out while the front seat passenger exited.
Disregarding Maxton’s order to stop, the man jumped over the guardrail and fled down the embankment.
Maxton ordered the remaining occupants to stay in the vehicle and, within moments, Officers David Racicot and Joseph Stoyak arrived to assist.
Three suspects were taken into custody and Officer Christopher Coach and his canine partner, “Falco”, arrived to assist in the search for the fleeing suspect.
Det. Sgt Stephen K. Dickinson reports that the suspect was tracked and seen to be wading or swimming across the river.
Dickinson reports that officers were dispatched to the other side and Officer Steven Nacewicz reported at 2:12 p.m. that he had spotted the suspect in a corn field and, two minutes later, reported that he was holding the suspect at gunpoint.
Meanwhile, back at the bridge, a hooded sweatshirt had been found near the vehicle with holes cut in the hood and a handgun had been seen in plain sight on the floor of the backseat.
The pistol was found to be a BB gun.
Taken into custody were Scott A. Peabody, 26, of 108 Lawton St., Springfield, Matthew A. Cyr, 29, of 44 River St., Agawam, Timothy J. Lynch, 19, of 88 Harby Road, West Springfield, and Thomas F. Cliche, 19, of 68 Montgomery Street.
Dickinson said that all four were charged with armed and masked robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery while masked.
Peabody, who was the driver, was also charged with failure to stop for police, failure to signal and a marked lanes violation.
Cyr, who fled, was also charged with resisting arrest.
Cliche was found to be the subject of an outstanding warrant issued by Springfield District Court.
All four suspects are expected to be arraigned this morning in Westfield District Court.
Dickinson said this morning that his investigation to date appears to show that Lynch entered the store first to ascertain if any customers were present and then Peabody and Cyr went in and performed the actual robbery.
He said that it appears as if Cliche may have been an innocent bystander. “I think he thought he was going for a ‘blunt’ ride” thinking that his companions were going to Westfield to buy marijuana, Dickinson said.
