Union Township police arrested a Massachusetts man who police say was wanted in connection to several gas station robberies.
Michael Molina, 27, of Chicopee, MA, was arrested Sunday for his alleged role in the robbery of two men at a local liquor store.
According to police, at approximately 7 p.m. yesterday, officers responded to the Buy Rite Liquor Store - 1448 Morris Avenue - after 2 men reported they were held up at knife-point in the parking lot.
The men told police that after making a purchase in the store they returned to their car when a man approached them, showed a knife and demanded money while threatening to stab one of the men.
Molina made off with an undisclosed amount of money fleeing west on Morris Avenue in a white Mercedes Benz.
Molina’s description and vehicle matched the description given in a string of robberies this past weekend around Union
Officers Tom Florio and Pete Simon moments after the robbery saw a car matching the suspected vehicle parked in the lot at 1571 Morris Avenue. They used their unmarked car to block the unoccupied car and seconds later Molina walked towards the vehicle.
The officers asked to speak to him, but he shoved Officer Simon and tried to run away. Both officers struggled with him and could not place him under arrest. Molina punched and elbowed the officers in the head and face, according to police.
At one point during the struggle, Molina pulled a knife out of a rear pocket and waved it in his hand. Officer Alberto Dos Santos arrived on scene and sprayed oleoresin capsicum (pepper spray) onto the man, but it had no effect. Eventually the officers placed Molina under arrest.
Police recovered a 5-inch blade knife from under the car.
The car turned out to be a stolen 2014 Mercedes Benz, taken from Enfield, CT. The car also displayed a license plate that according to police, Molina took from another car in NY.
Detective Walter Stinner investigated the Buy Rite parking lot robbery and was able to gather enough evidence to charge Molina with the robbery of the two men in the lot.
Molina was also charged with the following armed robberies:
1. Delta Gas Station, 1384 Morris Ave., Union (December 13 - at 11:39 a.m.) 2. Shell Gas Station, 1568 Stuyvesant Ave., Union (December 14 - at 6:55 a.m.) 3. Exxon Gas Station, 2201 Springfield Ave., Vauxhall (December 14 - at 7:08 a.m.)
In all the gas station robberies, Molina used the same car and threatened to stab gas station workers unless they gave him their money.
He stole various amounts of money and also took the attendants lap top computer from the Shell station. No one was hurt in any of the robberies.
Molina was charged with a variety of criminal complaints for yesterday, including armed robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, weapons possession, terroristic threats, aggravated assault on an officer and resisting arrest.
He is currently held at the Union Police Department pending transfer to the Union County Jail. His bail was set at $350,000 by Union Municipal Court Judge Jonathon Rosenbluth. If anyone has additional information on this crime or any other crime, please contact the Detective Bureau at 908-851-5030.