WESTFIELD – Police arrested a Northfield man who broke into the Westfield Mobil Gas Station last week after someone identified the suspect from photos obtained exclusively by the Westfield News and posted on thewestfieldnews.com and the Westfield News Facebook page.
Jonathan P. Hall, 34, was arrested at 11:24 a.m. Tuesday morning at the West Springfield police station since officers from that city assisted with apprehending Hall.
Hall was charged with felony breaking and entering in the nighttime, larceny from a building and defacement/vandalizing property.
Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe said total losses for the gas station, including the safe that was stolen, its contents and $100 from the cash register, came to $2,000.
Hall allegedly shattered the front door of the station located at 162 Southampton Road at 3:30 a.m. July 9.
Video surveillance showed him with a crow bar in his right hand. He is seen lifting the safe from the floor and snapping the bolts, according to police records.
Hall was able to pull off the burglary in the station within 30 seconds, according to police records.
On July 11, a texted tip was sent to the Hampden County Sheriff’s office after someone identified Hall from the posted photographs, which were still shots obtained by a Westfield News reporter using the surveillance video.
Police discovered Hall had been staying at the Hampden Inn in West Springfield, and surveillance video captured him leaving there at 2:26 a.m. the morning of the break-in, wearing the same clothes seen in the Mobil Station’s video.
According to McCabe, when Hall was arrested, he denied the charges, but then confessed after being told he was caught on video.
Hall allegedly has a long criminal history and was recently released from a facility.
Stay with The Westfield News as this story develops.
