Enfield man charged with robbery and burglaries
Jan. 23—ROBBERY, BURGLARIES
SUSPECT: Richard K. Rowland, 22, of 41 Spring St. in Enfield
CHARGES: First-degree robbery and misdemeanors in Nov. 7 holdup of Subway sandwich shop at 786 Enfield St.; third-degree burglary and misdemeanors in two earlier incidents; drug misdemeanors in a separate Nov. 7 incident
STATUS: Held on $65,000 bond, due back Feb. 22 in Hartford Superior Court
An Enfield man is being held on $65,000 bond while facing charges that he robbed an Enfield Street sandwich shop at knifepoint in early November, committed misdemeanor drug offenses at a local movie theater that same day, and committed two previous burglaries.
Richard K. Rowland, 22, of 41 Spring St., confessed to the Nov. 7 robbery of Subway at 786 Enfield St. and three burglaries at Dunkin' Donuts at 90 Enfield St., Enfield police Officer Michael McHugh wrote in a report.
Police received the report of the Subway robbery at 4:34 p.m. on Nov. 7.
An employee said a man had come in and asked to used the bathroom. When he came out, the employee said, he went behind the counter brandishing a switchblade-style knife, McHugh reported.
The employee said she repeatedly told him, "Don't hurt me," to which he replied, "Open the register. Give me all the money in the register, and I won't hurt you."
The employee said she opened the register and that the man grabbed the money from it and from a tip jar, then left the restaurant.
A dog track failed to locate the robber but did produce a green hooded sweatshirt on the side of the building that appeared to match the one the robber had been wearing.
Police identified Rowland as a "potential suspect" based on town camera footage and images circulating on a police information-sharing program regarding other thefts, including the three Dunkin' Donuts burglaries, McHugh reported.
After 9 p.m. that same day, police received a report of suspected narcotics found in the bathroom of the Cinemark theater at the Enfield Square Mall.
Mall security and theater personnel told police that a man had spent about an hour in the bathroom, after which theater staff members went inside and found a small plastic bag containing a "clear white rock substance," which Enfield police Officer Leo Polverini believed was crack cocaine.
Polverini wrote in a report that a theater staff member reported having gone to school with the man who had been in the bathroom and knew him as "Richard." Polverini reported that he used his cellphone to show the employee a picture of Rowland from a police bulletin regarding the recent burglaries and the employee positively identified him as the man who had been in the bathroom.
Officers found Rowland sitting alone in a movie theater balcony. As they approached, he reached into the pocket of his sweatshirt and threw 41 $1 bills on the floor, according to McHugh, who had been sent to the theater to act as a backup officer.
Police handcuffed Rowland, took him into a hallway and searched him, finding a "butterfly knife" and suspected crack cocaine, Polverini reported. He added that another officer found suspected heroin or fentanyl in Rowland's wallet. McHugh reported that another $201 was seized from Rowland.
Police charged Rowland with possessing a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
Rowland declined to speak with police at the movie theater, according to McHugh. But after being booked on the drug charges, he waived his rights and confessed to the Subway robbery and the three Dunkin' Donuts burglaries, McHugh added.
Rowland gave a statement to a detective, but its details aren't available in court records on the robbery or drug cases.
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