3 arrested in armed robbery

Police link efforts after Florence holdup

By OWEN BOSS
and DAN CROWLEY
Staff Writers

NORTHAMPTON — Police from two departments worked together to arrest three Worcester men who now face charges in an early morning armed robbery at the Cumberland Farms on Main Street in Florence.

Jesrial Morales, 21, Khai Quang Tran, 19, and Michael Emil Wright, 18, each pleaded innocent Wednesday in Northampton District Court to charges of armed robbery with a firearm while masked. Morales and Wright also pleaded innocent to two counts of assault with dangerous weapon and Morales and Tran both pleaded innocent to charges of possessing a firearm without an F.I.D. card and carrying a firearm without a license.

According to police, at 4 a.m. Wednesday morning, Northampton police officers Greg Koreptka, Justin Hooten and Brian Letzeisen responded to the convenience store after receiving a report that two store clerks had been robbed by a masked man with a handgun and that the man and a lookout had fled the scene on foot.

The clerks gave police a description of what the men were wearing and witnesses several blocks away reportedly told police they saw the two men jump into a black vehicle and speed away.
Less than a half hour later, Easthampton police, who were on alert, stopped Tran for speeding on Northampton Street in his black Honda Prelude, which police say was missing its front license plate.

After Tran reportedly consented to a search of the vehicle, police discovered clothing items matching those allegedly worn by the gunman and lookout, approximately $100 in loose bills and an unregistered loaded .357 magnum in the trunk, according to court documents.

Easthampton Police Captain Donald Emerson said a fold-down compartment leading to the trunk made the handgun readily accessible to the passenger in the back seat, making the traffic stop especially dangerous.

“They could have gotten at the weapon any time they wanted to,” he said.

Using the store’s surveillance video footage and the clothing worn by each man, police determined that Tran was the getaway driver and Wright acted as lookout while Morales entered the store with a torn T-shirt wrapped around his face and demanded money from the cash register while pointing a gun at one of the clerk’s faces, according to court documents.
The clerk reportedly gave Morales the $65 in the drawer and Tran was reportedly seen on surveillance footage casing the store before the robbery.

Judge W. Michael Goggins set bail for Morales at $100,000 cash; Wright at $20,000 cash; and Tran at $10,000 cash. All three men are scheduled to reappear in court on Oct. 29 for a bail hearing.

Staff Writer Matt Pilon contributed to this report.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com