Leave your name, we'll arrest you
By Bill Fortier
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Two Worcester men who allegedly held up another man were quickly arrested after police got their addresses from job applications they had filled out just before the robbery.
Michael Robinson, 21, of 38 Great Brook Valley Ave., and Daniel Coran, 18, of 48 Bullard Ave. were arrested by Auburn police on Bullard Avenue.
Each was charged with armed robbery, larceny from a person, assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon (knife) and conspiracy, according to police. Mr. Robinson was also charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
The police were called about 2 p.m. Wednesday to Imperial Distributors at 33 Sword St., in the Auburn Industrial Park, after a report that a man was being chased by someone with a knife.
Joseph Cook, 18, of Worcester told the officers he had been filling out an application for work at Imperial when he heard two other job applicants discussing a plan to rob him of his necklace and jacket.
He told officers he had been involved in a dispute previously with one of the two men, according to police Sgt. Todd Lemon.
Mr. Cook said the two assaulted him when he left the business, with one man holding him from behind, while the other displayed a knife about 8 inches long. The men allegedly beat up Mr. Cook, took his jacket and fled. Sgt. Lemon estimated the jacket's worth at $200; it was recovered.
When he overheard their plans to rob him, Mr. Cook said he had hid his necklace in his shoe. He called police from a nearby office after the robbery.
Police used information provided by Mr. Cook about the vehicle the two men fled in, as well as personal information they had put on their job applications, filled out before the alleged assault.
After Auburn police notified other local and state police, Worcester police stopped a vehicle that matched the description, a Mitsubishi sedan, on Bullard Avenue.
Auburn Detectives Vincent Ross and Paul Lombardi went there to make the arrest.
Mr. Robinson and Mr. Coran were held overnight at the Auburn police station on $1,000 bail and arraigned yesterday in Central District Court, Worcester.
They are to appear in court for pretrial hearings on April 5. Judge Martha Brennan also ordered the two men to stay away from Mr. Cook. Mr. Robinson was released on bail, while Mr. Coran is being held in the Worcester County Jail in West Boylston on $1,000 cash bail.
