During the early morning of July 4, after paying for a candy bar and cigarettes, 37-year-old John Long reportedly told the cashier, “I’m taking this too,� snatched two 18 packs of Budweiser, and left in a stolen 1994 Honda Civic driven by 22-year-old Derick Mello.
“He told me not to call the police or he would kick my ass,� said Jason Cooper, a new father making an early morning formula run. “I called the police and gave them the license-plate number.�
Police reportedly spotted the men near the intersection of Broad Street and Tank Farm Road. Both suspects were arrested on suspicion of burglary, though Mello’s arrest also included suspicion of burglarizing his parents’ home and stealing their car, police said. ∆
This article appears in Jul 6-13, 2006.