Published: May 13, 2008 12:51 am            

TOWN OF TONAWANDA: Man arrested for robbery

An armed robbery Sunday in the town ended with one man in custody and one still at large.

Jazzon P. Hamilton, 18, of the Town of Tonawanda, was charged with second-degree menacing, first-degree robbery, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree criminal use of a firearm after victims of the robbery identified him as one of the suspects, according to police reports.

According to police, just after 5 p.m. two men forced their way into an Eggert Road home and held residents at gunpoint while demanding money. Two witnesses said they were sitting on the couch when they heard the scuffle at the door and got up to see what was happening, according to reports. But after they saw a man with a red bandana and a rust colored hooded sweatshirt wielding a handgun, they sat back down and told the man not to shoot. Upstairs neighbors also heard loud noises from the apartment.

After taking money from the residents, the two men fled on foot and were pursued by the homeowners who began to suspect that the gun wasn’t real or wasn’t loaded, according to reports. The residents called police while giving chase and were able to provide a general location of the suspects.

Police located Hamilton on a nearby street corner in clothes that matched the description given by witnesses. Hamilton said he was walking from his home in Sheridan Parkside to Buffalo, but officers began to doubt his story when they noticed he was out of breath and not wet enough to have been walking in the rain for as long as he said, according to reports.

Hamilton was held for court and police refused to comment further because investigations are still on-going, said Lt. Nick Bado.

Contact reporter Daniel Pyeat 693-1000, ext. 158.

        

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