People v. Aldridge

SCHOTTKY, J.

Walter Aldridge and Robert Perry were charged by information with the crimes of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty as to Perry but found Aldridge guilty of both crimes charged, and he has appealed from the judgment.

It appears from the record that Mary Zaretsky, 76 years of age, was the owner and operator of the New York Secondhand Store, which dealt in secondhand merchandise. On November 19, 1960, a man, who was later identified as Aldridge, entered the store and asked to see a soldering iron. He was dissatisfied with the one which was shown him and left the premises. He returned in about 30 minutes and told Mrs. Zaretsky that he would take the soldering iron. He then asked her if she had change for $20. She answered that she did not. Aldridge left and again returned. He gave Mrs. Zaretsky a one-dollar bill. She wrapped the soldering iron, placed it on the counter, and went to the cash drawer to procure the change due the customer. Suddenly Aldridge struck her with a hard instrument several times. She apparently lost consciousness. She sustained a skull fracture and lacerations of the head. She was hospitalized as a result for two weeks. Approximately $15 was taken from the cash drawer. Mrs. Zaretsky was positive in her identification of Aldridge as her assailant.

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A prosecution witness, Dennis Sweeney, who operated a café on the same street about 90 feet from Mrs. Zaretsky’s store, testified that he was standing outside his place of business and upon hearing a commotion coming from the direction of the store he looked and saw a Negro coming from the store carrying a lug wrench. He could not see the man’s face but observed that he got into a 1949 or 1950 Dodge ear and as he got into the ear he “hollered” to the man in the car to take off. Sweeney wrote down the number of the car, which was afterwards identified as Perry’s car. Later Aldridge and Perry were apprehended by the police. A soldering iron like the one Mrs. Zaretsky was selling at the time of the incident was found under the passenger’s side of the front seat of Perry’s car.

Defendant Perry testified that appellant Aldridge was with him in the automobile and that he stopped the car to let Aldridge go to the store; that he did not know what store he went to; that he turned on the ear radio while appellant was gone and that appellant came back to the car and said, “Let’s go” and they drove off; that he did not see anything in appellant’s hand as he got into the ear.