Reading 19 year-old charged in armed robberies
Date: February 3, 2005
Written By:Christopher Rocchio and Natalie Goodale, Staff Writers of The Reading Advocate
Police have charged a Reading man, a Stoneham man and a woman from Medford in recent area robberies that involved a hypodermic needle as the weapon.
Carlos Serpa, 19, of Reading, and Leah Vazzino, 19, of Medford were arrested and charged with armed robbery of the Quick Mart in Winchester and armed robbery of the Dairy Mart in Stoneham. Further investigation led to the arrest of Allen Mason, 23, of Stoneham, later in the evening. He faced the same charges as Serpa and Vazzino.
All three suspects were arraigned in Woburn District Court on Tuesday, according to Winchester Police Lt. Detective James Pierce. He said they are being charged with one count of armed robbery in Winchester and one count of the same in Stoneham. Pierce said more charges could follow in Stoneham because the suspects are believed connection to other robberies. Today, the suspects will face a "Statute 58A-dangerousness hearing" in Woburn District Court.
"The hearing will determine whether or not the suspects are considered dangerous to themselves and others if they were released into the public," said Pierce.
He said the hearing has no bearing on the suspect's conviction, and will instead decide if the suspect's should be released.
On the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 29, The Quick Mart located at 282 Washington Street in Winchester was robbed. Store owner Robert Hajjar said while he was working, two white males in their early twenties entered and demanded money. One of the suspects then held up a syringe and stated, "Give me the money or I'll give you AIDS," according to a press release distributed by the Winchester Police Department on Feb. 1.
In his statement to police, Hajjar said the suspect holding the syringe said he had AIDS. He was described as tall and skinny, wearing a black hooded-sweatshirt and jeans. Hajjar said the other suspect was holding a hammer with a black handle in one hand and an unidentifiable object in the other. According to the police report, Hajjar felt the item could have possibly been a handgun.
Hajjar stated both males reached into the cash drawer and took all the money, also stealing two or three packs of cigarettes each. He said the two men then fled the building and entered a gray Honda Civic parked on Swanton Street. The vehicle left the scene and there was no license plate obtained. A witness on Swanton Street identified the driver of the car as a white female in her early twenties. According to the police report, this statement was corroborated by employees at Bossi's Service Center on Swanton Street.
Several hours later, a robbery occurred at the Dairy mart in Stoneham, and the suspects were described as a white male and white female. A license plate was obtained on a gray Honda Civic leaving the scene, and the plate came back to a 19-year-old female from Medford.
On Jan. 31, a Wakefield patrol officer noticed this vehicle in the parking lot of the Lord Wakefield Hotel on North Avenue. Area departments involved were notified and detectives from the NEMLEC Detective Unit (Winchester, Stoneham and Wakefield) set-up surveillance. Subsequent to that, two people entered the vehicle that matched the description of the people involved in the above robberies - Serpa and Vazzino.
It is still not clear whether or not the syringe contained the AIDS virus; it has been sent to a state lab for testing. Pierce said there is really no hurry on the results of the test because the suspects are still being charged. He said whether the results are positive or not will not make a difference.
"If you try to rob somebody with a gun that has no bullets, it's still considered armed robbery," he said. "This is the same idea."
Police said the trio may have also been involved in robberies in Wakefield and Medford, and the investigation is ongoing. Reading Police Lt. Det. Kevin Patterson said there have been no connections made between recent convenience store robberies in Reading and those in Stoneham, Wakefield and Winchester.
"Our robberies are still under investigation," Patterson said. "But we are looking at all of these incidents to see if there are any connections."
Patterson said the Reading department is in touch with the Wakefield, Winchester and Stoneham departments, who are still investigating the incidents. Reading has had no recent armed robberies during which a hypodermic needle was used as a weapon, Patterson said. A handgun was used in the last armed robbery in Reading. Patterson said Serpa, a former Reading Memorial High School student, is known to police.
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