Subway restaurant robbery suspect says he's sorry
Nov. 3—VERNON — The man accused of robbing a Subway restaurant in town last month told officers he is sorry and wishes he could take it back, according to a police affidavit.
Robbing the restaurant on Hartford Turnpike was a spur of the moment decision he made to avoid withdrawal from his worsening opioid addiction.
That's what South Windsor resident Justin Richard, 38, told police after they located him at his workplace the day after the robbery, the affidavit states.
The affidavit provides the following details:
Police responded to the Subway on Oct. 26 after an employee reported being robbed by a man driving a dark blue minivan. The vehicle wasn't located in the immediate area, but was captured on a surveillance camera.
Police noted a distinct sticker on the rear window of the van. The van was included in still images released to the public.
The next day Richard's employer told police that Richard was driving a minivan with the same sticker the day before. He was at work at that moment.
Officers met with Richard, who agreed to accompany them to the police station for an interview.
He told them how he had become addicted to opioids.
Three years earlier he began using prescription painkillers recreationally, Richard said. That progressed to using heroin. For a while he was able to get a prescription for Suboxone, a drug used to treat opioid addiction, but it stopped working once he began using fentanyl.
"I am at the point where now I am just chasing and chasing," Richard said.
He said he hadn't planned to rob the Subway. He explained how he drove by the Subway at first, but turned around. Up until the moment he exited his car, he was trying to talk himself out of committing the robbery.
He went inside and asked the employee for all the money.
On surveillance video reviewed later police noted that it appeared as though Richard made a hand gesture that looked like a gun while walking over to the register.
Richard said he hadn't intended to do that, but was only pointing at the employee.
"I feel really bad about what I did and wish I could take it back," Richard told police.
"I saw her face during it, and it will be instilled in my brain for the rest of my life. I could see how scared she was," he said.
Richard said he drove to Hartford with the money to purchase drugs, then went home.
Richard was charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree breach of peace and fifth-degree larceny. He is being held in lieu of $150,000 bond and is to appear in court on Dec. 2.
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