Man accused of robbing store at gunpoint
A Saugerties man with a felony record was charged with armed robbery after he pointed a replica handgun at a store clerk and demanded the clerk sell him beer, police said Monday.
The clerk had refused to sell beer to the man — later identified as Alberto Rodriguez, 53 — because he appeared to be intoxicated, according to the Saugerties Police Department.
Police said they were notified about 10:30 p.m. Sunday that the Speedy Mart store at 317 Main St. in the village had been robbed by a man armed with a gun.
Police said the clerk told officers a man entered the store “visibly intoxicated” and wanted to buy two beers. Police said that when the clerk refused to sell the beer, because Rodriguez was drunk, Rodriguez pulled a handgun from his backpack, pointed it at the clerk and told the clerk he was going to give him the beer. The man then ran from the store with the two cans of beer, police said.
Rodriguez was spotted a short time later by a Saugerties police officer, who arrested him without incident, the department said. Police said they found a holstered replica of a 9mm pistol in Rodriguez’s possession.
Rodriguez, of West Bridge Street, was charged with the felony of armed robbery and the misdemeanors of menacing and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
They said Rodriguez was sent to Ulster County Jail without bail as a predicate felon, meaning he has had at least one felony conviction in the past 10 years.