Robber
sought
By CARL E. HARTDEGEN
Staff Writer
WESTFIELD – City police are searching for a man who robbed a credit union customer during daylight hours in the parking lot yesterday afternoon.
City detectives report that shortly after 1 p.m. a city resident called and reported she had been robbed in the credit union parking lot. Several officers including Jose Torres, Joseph Maxton, Steven Carrington and Luis Morales responded, as did street supervisor Sgt. Alex Baginski.
The victim described the robber as a very tall – about 6 feet two inches – and very thin white man in his mid 20s wearing jeans and a zipped gray hooded sweatshirt that needed washing. The hood of the gray sweatshirt was pulled over the suspect’s head but the victim said that he appeared to have very short dark hair on the top of his head. She also said that the man’s complexion was very pale but his eyes were shadowed as if he was not well rested.
She said the man fled toward Frederick Street but a search of the area performed immediately by the officers did not yield the suspect, although a witness said she saw a man fitting the suspect’s description running toward Frederick Street.
The victim told Maxton that she had been in her car at the parking lot of the Westfield River Branch of the Polish National Credit Union on Parkside Avenue, organizing her cash after making a withdrawal inside the credit union, when a male party opened the passenger door of her car and got inside with her.
The woman said the man pushed her to the floor while saying he would not hurt her if she gave up her cash. She told the officers that after a brief struggle for her money the man was able to grab it from a seat and fled.
Det. Lt. David Ragazzini and several detectives under his direction responded to continue the investigation and gathered physical evidence from the victim’s car. The man’s image was recorded on the credit union’s security video.
Detectives ask that anybody with information about the crime or the suspect call the detective bureau at 572-6400.
Carl E. Hartdegen can be reached at [email protected]
