Crime & Safety

'Stick Up' Joke at Local Liquor Store Leads to the Arrest of Two Manchester Women

Police didn't think the joke was very funny.

A pair of Manchester women were arrested on robbery charges earlier this week after they walked into a local liquor store and told the clerk to open the drawer because it was a stick up. 

The women later told police that it was all a joke, but the Manchester Police Department did not seem to think it was very funny.

According to the department, Megan T. Callahan and Arlena L. Clark walked into the M&J Wines and Liquors at 352 West Middle Turnpike around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday evening wearing masks and told the clerk to open the register because it was a “stick up.” The pair later removed their masks and said it was only a joke, but police arrived to the scene due to a call from a concerned witness who saw the pair enter the store wearing the masks.

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Callahan, 21, of 22 Cumberland St., and Clark, 23, whose address is listed as homeless, were both charged with breach of peace, conspiracy to commit third-degree robbery and attempted third-degree robbery.

The pair told police they committed the prank because they were “bored.”

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Callahan was released from custody on a $2,500 surety bond and is scheduled to appear in court on the charges Sept. 9, according to the Connecticut Judicial Branch’s Web site; she is also awaiting trial on two counts of sixth-degree larceny and third-degree forgery from a pair of arrests in July.

Clark was not released from custody and is being held on a $5,000 bond for the offenses, according to the Connecticut Judicial Branch’s website. She is scheduled to appear in court on the charges Sept. 19; Clark is also awaiting trial on previous arrests, including third-degree assault and violation of probation. 


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