Hamden police have arrested five people after investigating two armed robberies in which guns were held on store clerks, police said.
Three people robbed a gas station as well as a convenience store in Hamden early Sunday morning and held guns to the heads of employees, according to police.
Police said officers responded to the Citgo Gas Station at 1978 State St. at 1:14 a.m. Sunday to investigate reports of an armed robbery and learned that three people with guns approached two store employees as they were emptying the trash, ordered them back into the store and demanded money.
Two of the gunmen “placed the barrel of their handguns to the head of one of the employees, as he emptied the cash drawer,” a news release from police says.
The people who robbed the store were wearing masks and ran toward Franklin Road, police said.
Forty minutes later, Hamden Police responded to Krauszer’s Food Store at 2008 Whitney Ave. in Hamden to investigate an armed robbery and
learned that three armed gunmen entered the store with “guns drawn,” forced all of the employees to the rear of the store and demanded money, police said.
One of the employees was placed in a “headlock,” with a gun pointed at his head, according to police.
The three individuals fled in a vehicle with an undisclosed amount of money, according to police.
Officer Eric Hallstrom went south on Route 15 to find the suspect’s vehicle and saw one matching the description parked in front of Phillips 66 Gas Station at 1655 Litchfield Turnpike in Woodbridge.
Police said the driver appeared to see the Hamden Police vehicle and proceeded to “cut in front of Officer Hallstrom, nearly colliding with his cruiser.”
Police chased the vehicle south on Route 15 in Woodbridge and the pursuit continued into Orange, West Haven and New Haven.
The vehicle, which had been stolen in Wallingford a day earlier, eventually stopped in Hamden, at the intersection of Winchester Avenue and Goodrich Street and five occupants ran into nearby yards, police said.
Hamden and New Haven Police Department arrested five people and said one, Justice Bryant, 18, of New Haven, was found hiding in a garage on Lander Street and had a firearm.
Sergeant Jason Venditto and his K-9 partner, Knight, found three firearms hidden under snow.
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Bryant was charged with two counts of robbery in the first degree, two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree, two counts of carrying a pistol without a permit and two counts of illegal alteration of a firearm. He was detained on a $100,000 bond.
Frankie Tyson, 18, of Hamden, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree, larceny in the first degree, engaging an officer in pursuit and reckless driving. He was detained on a $100,000 bond.
Mekhi Phelmetta, 18, of Hamden, was charged with two counts of robbery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit robbery in the 1st degree and carrying a pistol without a permit. He was detained on a $500,000 bond.
Timaree Fields, 18, of New Haven, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree. He was detained on a $100,000 bond.
A 17-year-old New Haven resident was charged with two counts of robbery in the first degree, two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree and two counts of carrying a pistol without a permit. He was placed in the custody of the Juvenile Detention Center in Bridgeport.
Bryant, Tyson, Phelmetta and Fields are scheduled to appear at Meriden Superior Court on April 5.
