Stoneham Police Arrest Teen for Attempted Gas Station Robbery

Photo caption: An image from the surveillance video. Photo credit: Stoneham Police.

Stoneham Police arrested a Lowell teen for allegedly attempting to rob the Montvale Mobile Gas Station in January.

Police arrested Stephen E. Celona, 19, of Lowell, on Thursday and charged him with attempted armed robbery while masked and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Celona allegedly entered the gas station on Jan. 17 brandishing a knife and covering his face with a scarf.

“The clerk said she fought back at the suspect out of fear and as a result the suspect did not obtain any cash or merchandise. The suspect fled the area and was described as being a white male wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, black hat and a dark colored scarf covering his face,” said police.

The clerk was also able to pull the scarf from the suspect’s face during the struggle, which was caught on camera. Police were able to watch the footage and distribute a still image to area departments.

Police received more video footage from a property management company that showed the suspect fleeing in a vehicle, which Stoneham Police Detective Christopher Dalis determined to be a Honda Civic.

“The following day, Detective Dalis was contacted by Officer Brendan Carr who stated that while responding to the robbery he observed a Honda Civic on Maple Street fitting the description from the video footage. Officer Carr made note of the vehicle’s license plate,” according to police.

This helped lead police to Celona. 

Stoneham and Lowell Police went to Celona’s father’s home in Lowell on Thursday, Feb. 12 and made the arrest.

“This is a classic example of a police officer making important observations on the way to a crime and good detective work leading to a closed case,” said Stoneham Police Chief James McIntyre. “Detective Dalis thoroughly reviewed all of the evidence at hand and put an investigation together, working our partner agencies, resulting in the arrest of the suspect.”