WORCESTER – The Worcester Police Department [WPD] has arrested a 40-year-old Worcester man, Wilberto Rivera, and a 42-year-old North Oxford woman, Theresa Venuti, with two counts of armed robbery. The charges relate to two incidents in Worcester during the early morning of Sunday, May 10.
Around 2:45 AM a woman reported two men had pistol-whipped her and stole her cell phone on Lafayette St., then fled down Scott St. in a vehicle.
Shortly after the incident on Lafayette St., police received a report of a person with a gun at Rice Square. Police took a report of a man being robbed at gunpoint near 444 Grafton St.
This victim reported a female driver of an SUV pulled alongside him. Two men, one with a gun, demanded his belongings. They fled in the vehicle towards South Plaza on Grafton St.
A short time later an officer later an SUV matching the description given by the victims was seen by a police officer on Providence St. When the vehicle stopped on Upsala St. the officer turned on his cruiser lights.
A male in the front passenger seat fled the scene. A search by police did not locate him.
Rivera and Venuti complied with the officer and were taken into custody.
