Hamden Police Nab Alleged Robber

The quick actions of an alert Hamden Police lieutenant led to the apprehension of the man police say held up at gunpoint the Gulf Service Station on Dixwell Avenue Thursday night.

At about 9:15 p.m. Thursday police got the report of an armed robbery at the station, located at 1624 Dixwell Ave., according to police spokesman Capt. Ronald Smith.

A man entered the business and demanded money and cigarettes from the clerk, Smith said, while pointing a gun at them and threatening to kill them. He was able to get away with an undisclosed amount of money and several boxes of cigarettes, Smith said.

A short time later, Lt. Kevin Samperi saw a man on Millis Street who fit the description of the man suspected in the armed robbery, Smith said. The man, identified as Anthony Onofrio, 47, of 233 Goodrich St., Hamden, ran into a back yard, where Samperi was able to capture him, Smith said.

 Onofrio was charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree larceny and refusal to be fingerprinted. He was held in lieu of $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on Jan. 30.