Downtown convenience store robbed at gunpoint
WESTFIELD – Police are looking for a man, armed with a handgun, who robbed the Cumberland Farms on Main Street early Sunday morning.
"The most important thing is that no one was hurt," said Police Detective Jason Williams on Monday after the robbery that occurred at about 2:20 a.m. on Sunday.
Williams said the man, described as Hispanic with a Hispanic accent and between 5 feet, 6 or 7 inches, walked into the store, pointed the handgun at the clerk, and demanded she open the register and the safe.
Once open, the man walked behind the counter and stuffed the cash in an over-the-sling bag he was carrying, he said.
The clerk did exactly what she should have done in the situation, he said.
"It's not worth losing your life over," Williams said, adding that it was a "traumatic experience" for the clerk.
The man approached the store on foot from the direction of Clinton Avenue and fled, on foot, east toward Elm Street after the robbery.
He's continuing the investigation by checking security cameras in the area in hopes of getting a better description of the man.
One feature the security camera at Cumberland Farms recorded was the man's hat.
"He does have a very distinctive hat. We're hoping that someone has seen it," Williams said.
If anyone was in the area at about that time or has any information, please contact him at 413-642-9384 or email him at ja.williams@cityofwestfield.org .
This was the second time in four months that the Main Street Cumberland Farms has been robbed.
In September, police arrested David Kilmer, 21, minutes after he robbed the store while brandishing a knife that he held over his head while demanding money from the register.
He was caught on Clinton Avenue when trying to hide in a shed, which was on the property of an off-duty police officer.
He was originally charged with armed robbery, malicious destruction of property, assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.
The commonwealth amended the armed robbery charge to larceny from a building, according to court records.
A probable cause hearing, to rule if the case should be transferred to Hampden County Superior, was scheduled for Dec. 19, but wasn't held, according to court records.
Williams said, other than the September robbery, he couldn't recall when another one had occurred in the city.
According to news reports, the Main Street Cumberland Farms was robbed by an armed gunman in 2015.
In 2013, three men were charged with armed robbery of a convenience store on Mill Street. The weapon turned out to be a BB gun. All three pleaded guilty to reduced charges and were sentenced to probation.
Also in 2013, police arrested a man for robbing a Franklin Street convenience store. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation.
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
