Police Seeking Witnesses In Package Store Robbery

WINSTED — Winchester Police Chief Nicholas Guerriero said the department is hoping to track down four customers who were at the DeLuxe Package Store Monday afternoon, right around the time the store was robbed by a man who threatened the cashier with a wine bottle.

Police responded to the store, located at 139 Main St., shortly after 3:30 p.m. Monday but were unable to locate the suspect, who was described as a white male between the ages of 35 and 40 standing 6 feet tall and weighing about 200 pounds. He was wearing a dark jacket, police said.

The suspect made off with the bottle of wine and an undetermined amount of cash from the cash register, which was being tended by 66-year-old Gene Forster, father-in-law of store owner Bill Wood.

Guerriero said he believes as many as four customers were in the store at the same time that the suspect was there, and that one of the customers spoke briefly with the suspect, who left no trace at the scene. "There was nothing," the chief said. "All we had was the owner’s dad. There was no physical evidence."

Guerrerio said he hopes someone who was shopping at the DeLuxe Package Store Monday will come forward with more information. "The suspect did talk to one of the customers and hopefully that person will come forward," he said. "It would be a tremendous help to us."

Anyone with information is asked to call the Winchester Police Department at 860-379-2721.