WESTFIELD – A Northfield man, with 89 entries on his criminal record, was out of jail for less than a week when he robbed a city gas station last week.
Jonathan P. Hall, 34, was held on $10,000 cash or surety after being arraigned on charges of felony breaking and entering at nighttime, larceny from a building and defacement/vandalizing property.
Westfield police, with assistance from West Springfield police, arrested Hall shortly before 11:30 a.m. Tuesday morning and charged him with breaking into the Westfield Mobil Gas Station, located at 162 Southampton Road, on July 9.
Hall allegedly threw a cinder block through the front door to gain access, stole money from the cash register and forcibly removed the safe that was attached to the floor snapping the bolts that had been securing it – all accomplished within 30 seconds, according to court records.
Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe said total losses for the Mobil station, including the safe that was stolen, its contents and $100 from the cash register, come to $2,000.
When Hall was arraigned before Westfield District Court Judge Philip A. Contant on Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Magali Montes asked for $25,000 cash bail. Hall’s court-appointed attorney, Kathleen Cavanaugh, said Hall’s family might be able to come up with $2,500 for bail.
Contant set bail at $10,000 partly based on the defendant’s extensive record of convictions: 12 pages dating back to 2000 , and more than half a dozen appearance defaults.
An anonymous tip lead to Hall’s arrest after someone identified the suspect from photos obtained exclusively by the Westfield News and posted on thewestfieldnews.com and the Westfield News Facebook page.
Montes said Hall had been incarcerated at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Shirley for a three-year and one-day sentence on charges that were not released and was placed on Superior Court probation upon his July 3 release.
Hall failed a drug test on Monday and left the building after his probation officer had told him to wait, according to Montes.
Another anonymous tip told police that Hall may be staying at the Hampden Inn on Riverdale Road in West Springfield, according to a report written by Westfield Police Det. Anthony Tsatsos.
On Tuesday, Tsatsos visited the Hampden Inn and learned that Hall had rented a room from July 8-10.
Tsatsos viewed surveillance video from the hotel that captured Hall leaving the inn at 2:26 a.m. the morning of the break-in, wearing the exact same clothing as seen in the Mobil station’s video.
As Tsatsos was viewing the video, hotel staff informed the officer that Hall had just entered the lobby.
Tsatsos called for backup from West Springfield police and approached Hall who initially denied the charges.
After Tsatsos told Hall he was caught on video committing the crime, Hall replied, “I was trying to do better,” according to court records.
After Hall’s confession, a pair of white sneakers (white Nike) were taken, which appear to match the tread design of sneaker impressions left in the sand at 150 Southampton Road, the area facing the gas pumps.
Hall’s next court appearance is a pretrial hearing scheduled for August 14.
