PlayStation 3 Shooting Cops Speak to SPOnG on Day of Arrests

Wal-Mart shooting suspects detained

Posted by Staff
Hurrah for "Good old fashioned police!" just not on your stag night, eh?
Hurrah for "Good old fashioned police!" just not on your stag night, eh?
Police in New Putnam, Connecticut, USA have arrested two individuals in connection with the near-fatal shooting of a man queuing for a PlayStation 3 console last week.

William J. Robertson (20) of Woodstock, and Andrew Patnaude (17) of Putnam were charged with attempted murder, robbery, assault and other crimes following the shooting of Michael Penkala (21) who refused to yield to the robbers' request to surrender all valuables. He was also standing in a queue for a Playstation 3 with $2,500 in his wallet. According to reports filed with State police, the thieves were masked and armed with handguns when they approached the Wal-Mart queue and demanded that everyone hand over all wallets and anything else of value.

Speaking exclusively to SPOnG today, investigating officer, Lieutenant J. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police, explained, "The initial call came in on the 17th November at 3.45 in the morning for the shooting taking place. It was called in by people waiting in line for the store to open so they could make the purchase of the PlayStation 3."

Vance continued, "Two individuals armed with a shotgun and a handgun approached the 15 or 20 people standing in line and demanded their valuables. One of those in line confronted the armed subjects and refused to relinquish the cash that he had in his pocket. The suspects then say they were going to flee, but the one with the shotgun turned around and took a shot at the individual who failed to relinquish his cash."

"The suspects fled the scene and the end result was that the victim suffered a gunshot wound to his chest and shoulder area, he was taken to hospital, released and is presently recovering. As a result of this crime, we have what is called the Connecticut State Police Major Crime Investigation Squad who came to the scene, worked with the patrol troopers and initiated an investigation. That resulted in the application to Superior Court yesterday for two arrest warrants. The circumstances of the investigation were submitted to the court and both warrants were issued late yesterday afternoon at which time the State Police detectives initiated a search for both individuals, capturing one at about 3.45 this morning and the other at 10.30."

So, what evidence led to the arrests? "We're not at liberty to disclose that, but in general terms, witness statements were important, physical evidence that was located was important and certainly good old fashioned police work that enabled us to gather the identity of the suspects."

Comments

Posting of new comments is now locked for this page.