The Workermonkey

# posted by DJ Booze Piñata @ 4/26/2007 08:49:00 AM

Market Proves Tough Target For `Ninja' AttackApril 26, 2007 By PENELOPE OVERTON, Courant Staff Writer

For three Simsbury High School students, The Country Market in Higganum proved tougher to crack than Fort Knox. Their target, state police say, was the store's office. Once inside, they expected to find enough cash to buy a computer. They were familiar with the terrain, since one of them used to work at the store and his mother still does.
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Plan A, in which one of them hid inside a sealed cardboard box that was carried, Trojan Horse-like, inside the store by the other two, failed when the would-be burglar burst from the box before the store was empty.Plan B, four days later, was less subtle: A masked, ninja-wearing, machete- and-baseball-bat waving frontal assault. That didn't work either.There won't be a Plan C. On Wednesday, state police charged 18-year-old Alessandro Acosta, a champion swimmer, with attempted robbery, attempted larceny, burglary and weapons charges, as well as tampering with evidence, threatening and other charges.Police expect to make two other arrests soon, said Sgt. Salvatore Calvo. In an arrest warrant for Acosta, police identify Robert Long Jr. and Konrad Bosselman, both Simsbury High School seniors, as Acosta's partners in the April 13 burglary and Long as Acosta's partner in the April 17 attempted robbery.According to the arrest warrant, Long used to work at The Country Market, and his mother, Margaret, still does. Police said Long, Bosselman and Acosta decided to rob the Tylerville shop so Long could buy a computer.On the first attempt, Bosselman climbed into a cardboard box that Acosta and Long sealed with duct tape and carried into the store before closing time, police said. Bosselman was supposed to cut his way out of the box with a knife after closing time and steal money from the office.But Bosselman told investigators that he got hot inside the cramped, unventilated box and cut his way out too soon, according to the warrant. He grabbed the box and ran when spotted by a worker, police said. The worker saw Bosselman drive off in a car registered to Acosta's mother.Four days later, Acosta and Long returned to Higganum to try again, this time dressed like ninjas and armed with a baseball bat and a 23-inch-long machete that belonged to Long's father, police said. Long told police he wore an executioner's robe over the ninja outfit, police said.Shop owner Sheryl Nosal told police the robbers barged in around 7:30 p.m., after the shop had closed, waving the machete and bat at her and her 15-year-old daughter, who were standing behind the deli counter, and demanded money, police said.Nosal told officers she screamed, "Get out!" and then she and her daughter dashed into the office. One of the robbers tried to bust the door down, Nosal said, but she blocked the door while dialing 911. At the same time, her husband, Robert, also dialed 911 from another part of the store.Nosal believes the robbers ran when they heard her dial 911, but not before she recognized the voice of one of the masked men as belonging to Long, who had worked at the shop for almost two years, according to the warrant. His mother has worked there 10 years.Police said Long and Acosta admitted they threw the bat and a stolen license plate out the car window after the attempted robbery, and that Long ripped up the gown and tossed it out as well, according to the warrant. They returned the machete to Long's home, the warrant says.Acosta and Long told police Bosselman allegedly did not participate in the second robbery attempt because he was doing community service in Old Saybrook that day as part of his probation for a previous offense. Information was not available about the nature of that crime.Acosta appeared in Superior Court in Middletown Wednesday. Judge Barbara Bailey Jongbloed reduced Acosta's bail to $50,000. Acosta posted bail and was released. He is due in court again on May 9. Last year, as a junior, Acosta swam on a team that won the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays for Class L schools at the state championship meet in New Haven. He was a runner-up in both the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly.Coach Peter Milliken said Wednesday that he was shocked by Acosta's arrest. He said that Acosta decided not to swim with the team this year because he had joined a year-round team in hopes that it would improve his opportunity to get into a good college."He was a very dedicated athlete, always paying attention to what we were doing and very focused," Milliken said. "He always took care of business in a very legitimate manner. This just doesn't sound like the student I coached."Long and Bosselman have both made the honor roll at Simsbury High.In postings on MySpace.com, a social networking website, Long calls himself a "dork" and says, "some people think I'm crazy because I what I do in the halls at Simsbury High School but im really not that crazy. I have alot of trust issues." Long said he wants to meet "anyother misunderstood people who don't have a reason 2B that way." Long's MySpace.com page features an anime video clip about ninjas accompanied by the Sifl & Olly song, "Ninja of the Night."

The Workermonkey

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Country Market Proves Tough Target For `Ninja' Attack

# posted by DJ Booze Piñata @ 4/26/2007 08:49:00 AM

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