Ansonia police arrested one man and are looking for another in connection with a gunpoint robbery and assault at a Hill Street store Sunday (May 18) night.
The stickup occurred about 9:15 p.m. at GQ Mart, police said in a prepared statement Wednesday (May 21).
Police said two men entered the store, one armed with a handgun and another with a “Taser type weapon.”
“The males announced a robbery and attempted to steal money from the cash register,” the police statement said. “They were unable to obtain any cash but did steal a cell phone from one of the workers. The males then fled the area.”
During the robbery, one of the men struck an employee of the store in the face with the handgun, and also used the Taser device on him, according to police.
Police said they identified one suspect — Jarvis Sanders, 21, of New Haven — in the course of investigating the heist, and took him into custody.
“The other male has not been identified at this time,” the police statement said. “No weapons were recovered. The second male is described as a black male. No other information on the second suspect was given.”
Sanders was charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree assault, second-degree threatening, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, sixth-degree larceny, and breach of peace.
Police held Sanders on $100,000 for arraignment Monday at Superior Court in Derby, where a judge lowered the bond to $75,000 and continued the case to June 3.
Sanders was behind bars at Bridgeport Correctional Center as of Wednesday morning, according to Correction Department records.
It is rather disturbing to think that you have to work in a corner store and fear that you will be robbed and beaten. I can not wrap my mind around the fact that there is no respect for the working people of the community. What are we teaching our youth? It seems as though they have not been taught the basics, such as go to work and you can get what you want instead of trying to steal what other people are working for. Come on Ansonia residents open your eyes and ears and pay attention to your surroundings. If you see something, or somebody doesn’t look like they belong where you see them call the police, they will check it out. Better to be safe than sorry.