MONTICELLO – A Monticello man was arrested March 2 and charged with robbing a convenience store the day before.
According to Monticello village police, Ricardo M. Diaz, 35, entered the Mobil convenience store at 131 Forestburgh Road at approximately 9 p.m. on March 1 and approached the clerk on duty behind the front counter.
Diaz motioned to the clerk, implying that he had a concealed firearm under his clothing. Diaz then demanded that the clerk open the cash register, police said.
When the clerk complied, Diaz reached over the counter and stole $2,290 in cash from the register and fled the store on foot, according to authorities.
Monticello police officers who responded to the store reviewed surveillance footage of the incident and quickly identified Diaz as the suspect.
At 8:30 a.m. on March 2, officers Harry Mota and Darek Tyminski spotted Diaz at a convenience store on Pleasant Street and arrested him without incident. Police said Diaz was attempting to buy items at that store with proceeds from the robbery.
Diaz was charged with second-degree robbery and fourth-degree grand larceny, both felonies.
Diaz was arraigned before Monticello Village Justice Douglas Solomon and sent to Sullivan County Jail in lieu of $30,000 cash bail, $90,000 bail bond or $200,000 partially secured bond, pending further court action.
The name of Diaz’s attorney was not immediately available.
Police said Diaz is currently on parole in New York State until March 28, 2030, for a prior 2017 conviction for second-degree robbery in Sullivan County Court.
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Monticello man accused of robbing Mobil convenience store
Reporting by Mike Randall, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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