Police say Old Hill resident Fernando Bost, 20, of 187 Quincy St., robbed the same State Street convenience store twice in the span of four days -- on Saturday, June 11, and again on Tuesday, June 14.
Springfield resident Fernando Bost is accused of robbing a State Street convenience store earlier this week.SPRINGFIELD -- Police have apprehended a Springfield man accused of robbing the same State Street convenience store twice in the span of four days, most recently on Tuesday at around 8:30 a.m.
Fernando Bost, 20, of 187 Quincy St. was charged a short while later with two counts of armed robbery while masked and a single count of unarmed robbery in connection with incidents at State Street Gas & Ara Convenience, 560 State St., on Tuesday and last Saturday, June 11.
Bost, who lives in the city's Old Hill neighborhood, also was wanted on a warrant for larceny of a person in connection, according to Sgt. John M. Delaney, a spokesman for Springfield Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet.
A little more than two hours after Tuesday's gunpoint holdup, Sgt. Henry Gagnon and officers Juan Tavares, J.B. Stern and Jamie Collins took Bost into custody near the corner of Hancock and State streets, after spotting a man matching a description provided by the convenience store manager.
Police said the manager claimed a black male entered his store with a small handgun, demanded money, then fled east on State Street. Authorities said the manager's description of the gunman matched that of a man who committed an armed robbery at the same store on June 11.
Delaney said officers approached Bost with caution, finding a gun tucked into his waistband and an unspecified amount of cash. The officers then took Bost back to the alleged crime scene, where the manager positively identified him as the person who robbed him at gunpoint. The gun turned out to be a BB pistol, police said.
Bost denied all charges at his arraignment in Springfield District Court.