Initial denial, then tearful admission to robbery

A Bellows Falls woman who allegedly held up the Rite Aid Pharmacy in Springfield on Monday was described by her public defender at her arraignment Tuesday as “anxious to begin immediate (drug) treatment.”
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150225/NEWS02/702259901

Published February 25, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Initial denial, then tearful admission to robbery By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Bellows Falls woman who allegedly held up the Rite Aid Pharmacy in Springfield on Monday morning by threatening a store clerk with a hypodermic needle was described by her public defender at her arraignment Tuesday as “anxious to begin immediate (drug) treatment.” Tuesday afternoon in court, a fidgety Mary Graves, 29, watched intently as an innocent plea was entered on her behalf to a felony count of armed robbery. She was ordered held for lack of $25,000 bail. Springfield Police Detective Anthony Moriglioni wrote that a “shaking and crying” pharmacy clerk had described to him being held up by Graves. Graves allegedly had waited in line to purchase a “Despicable Me” gummy heart candy from the Valentine’s Day clearance bin. But when she reached the counter, and the cash drawer was open, she pulled out a hypodermic needle. “(Graves) was waving a ‘dirty’ hypodermic needle at her,” demanding cash, Moriglioni wrote. He said that Graves made off with approximately $260, running out of the store and getting into a waiting getaway car. The car was a black-and-gray sport utility vehicle. Police said they had been quickly able to track Graves to her apartment in Bellows Falls after receiving tips from the public. A number of people had seen video surveillance footage showing Graves walking through the front door of the pharmacy in a bright red jacket. Moriglioni said when he and other officers first spoke to Graves on Monday, in the doorway of her residence on Canal Street in Bellows Falls, she claimed that she had not left that town all day. When police told her that they “had the entire incident on video,” Graves allegedly replied that “it must have been her twin,” Moriglioni wrote in an affidavit filed with the court. However, Moriglioni said that after initially making repeated denials that she had been involved in the robbery, Graves began to cry and asked detectives to step out of earshot of her boyfriend and young children. At that point, Moriglioni wrote, Graves said “that she was using heroin to battle chronic pain.” She said that she’d asked a friend for a ride to a bank in Springfield on Monday, but upon arriving at the bank, she found that she didn’t have enough funds for a withdrawal. She “then got a spur of the moment idea to go to the Rite Aid to rob it,” Moriglioni quoted her as explaining. Graves was convicted of misdemeanor heroi