Crime & Safety

Officer Witnesses 7-Eleven Robbery, Arrests Three Men

As luck would have it, an officer saw suspects in the act and made the arrests just down the road.

A getaway car parked with its hazard lights on outside the 7-Eleven on Route 22 in Springfield was the tip-off for a nearby officer who witnessed three men rob the convenience store at gunpoint.

According to Springfield Police, Patrolman Brian Trotman was parked across the street on Hillside Avenue around 3 a.m. Saturday when he noticed the suspicious vehicle parked on the shoulder. Through the store windows, Trotman witnessed two men rob the store while one waited in the parked vehicle. Trotman and Patrolman James Mirabile arrested the men about a quarter-mile down the road as they were heading westbound on Route 22. Police recovered the cash drawer from one register and a handgun used in the robbery. Police have yet to release information on the cash total in the drawer. An employee was the only other person in the store at the time of the robbery.

Plainfield residents Gustavo Alasdiaz, 23, and Nestor DelGadillo, 19, and Kevin Veliz, 19, of South Plainfield were arrested on charges of armed robbery and brought to Union County Jail.

"It really couldn't have gone any better than that," Lieutenant Damon Quirk told Patch. Quirk said the department was already on alert because they had been notified about an earlier armed robbery nearby in Union. Quirk said police have yet to determine if the crimes are related.

Quirk said the 7-11 has been robbed before, but not recently. "As you see in the news, there appears to be an increase in armed robberies in the state as we're approaching the holidays," Quirk said.


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