One of the victims was taken to Baystate Medical Center for treatment.
Jovan MurphySPRINGFIELD – Police charged two city men with armed robbery Sunday night following two separate incidents involving the theft of cash and cell phones from victims in the Liberty Heights neighborhood.
Sgt. John M. Delaney said the incidents began about 9 p.m. when police were summoned to the area of 11 Wait St. for an armed robbery.
The victim told police that a man, armed with a knife, stole his cell phone and $2 in cash, Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said.
At about that time, police were then summoned to the area of 494 Newbury St. for yet another armed robbery reportedly committed by three males, Delaney said.
That victim later told police that he had been walking near the Racing Mart on Carew Street when a suspect threw him to the ground, punched him in the face and chest several times and stole his cell phone and $25 in cash.
Karl CovingtonPolice, on their way to that call, found three suspects walking on Chapin Terrace. One of the suspects, later identified as Jovan Murphy, 18, of 91 Knollwood St., ran.
When Officer David Robillard caught up to the suspect and took him to the ground, Murphy resisted and hit the officer several times in the chest before he was restrained.
Police then took the three suspects to the Wait Street victim who identified Murphy as his assailant. The victim told police that the other two victims, while present, had not been involved.
The Newbury Street victim was taken to Baystate Medical Center for treatment. When police took the three suspects to the emergency department there, he identified Murphy as his assailant and said that Karl Covington, 18, of 91 Knollwood St., had acted as a look-out.
Murphy was charged with resisting arrest, assault and battery on a police officer and two counts of armed robbery.
Covington was charged with armed robbery.