Trenton man says he’s innocent because he couldn’t buy gun

TRENTON >> A broke city man said he was too poor to purchase the gun he is accused of using to hold up another man last month.

An attorney for Cyrus Bellamy, 24, charged with robbery, kidnapping and weapons offenses, said he was homeless before his grandmother took him in. He didn’t have money for food, let alone to buy an expensive handgun off the streets of Trenton, used to allegedly rob a 40-year-old man of his wallet and cellphone.

Bellamy allegedly approached the man Sept. 16, as got out of his vehicle on the 200 block of Whittaker Avenue. Bellamy reportedly asked for a cigarette and a dollar, police said.

After the victim told him he didn’t have anything for him, Bellamy returned with a handgun and held him up, police said.

At a bail hearing Monday, Assistant Prosecutor Michael Grillo said the suspect forced the man into his vehicle at gunpoint and made him drive to a Wells Fargo ATM on Hamilton Avenue, where the victim withdrew $300 in cash.

Bellamy then made the man drive him somewhere else, where he got out of the car and told the victim not to call police, officials said.

Later, the victim allegedly got phone calls and text messages — which authorities used to tie Bellamy to the crime, Grillo said.

The victim picked Bellamy out of a photo lineup, though his attorney disputed the identification and said her client denies robbing or kidnapping anyone.

Bellamy was on probation for theft when he allegedly committed the robbery, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors believe the case is “solid,” and a judge kept bail at $250,000.