WEST SENECA — West Seneca Police arrested a Buffalo man following an attempted robbery at a grocery store Sept. 21.
Richard Brown, 55, allegedly approached the customer service desk at Tops on Orchard Park Road at approximately 10:51 a.m. and handed an employee a note demanding cash, threatening to shoot if his demands were not met, police said.
When the attempt failed, Brown fled the store after discarding the note in a bathroom, according to police.
He was apprehended moments later inside his vehicle in the parking lot by Officer John Pingitore.
Brown was charged with Attempted Robbery in the First Degree and Destruction of Physical Evidence.
He is awaiting arraignment in West Seneca Town Court.
In a separate incident Sept. 22, police arrested Nicholas Bolognese, 36, of Buffalo, in connection with a burglary at the Royal York Apartments on Seneca Street.
Police responded to the apartments at approximately 2 p.m. for a reported larceny in progress.
The victim told police that while she was taking out her trash, she was approached by a male suspect who first asked her for money and later for a glass of water.
When she returned to her apartment, she discovered her purse had been opened and three credit cards along with $25 in cash were missing.
Officers Bilal Clay and Kaitlyn Reich spotted a male matching the suspect’s description near George’s Collision on Seneca Street and detained him.
Bolognese was found in possession of the victim’s credit cards and cash, police said.
He was charged with Burglary in the Second Degree, Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, Petit Larceny, and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree.
Bolognese was arraigned in West Seneca Town Court and remanded to the Erie County Holding Center in lieu of $3,000 bail.
