News

Jul 28, 2023

Robbery suspect held on $25K cash bail

HAVERHILL — Police say a man may have tried to hide his identity by obscuring

HAVERHILL — Police say a man may have tried to hide his identity by obscuring the tattoos on his face with a marker pen when he revealed a machete and robbed the Tedeschi Food Shop in Dudley Plaza on Monday.

Stephen Soltish, 34, of 16 7th Ave., was arraigned on charges of robbery while armed and masked, and breaking and entering in the nighttime for felony, on Tuesday in Haverhill District Court. The judge set bail at $25,000 cash.

Police responded to the Tedeschi Food Shop at 5 Dudley St. on Monday at 6:30 p.m. for a report of a robbery. A store clerk told police the robber had placed the machete on the store counter and demanded the cash registers be opened.

The clerk told police the man had tattoos on his face and that he was dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt and red hat. The robber made off with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.

Police spokesman Detective Lt. Robert Pistone said that based on the description of the suspect, investigating officers believed it was the same man they had seen in the area earlier that day.

Pistone said Patrolman Jamie Landry encountered a suspect matching the description walking down 5th Avenue toward Auburn Street.

Landry slowed his cruiser and the suspect fled.

Police learned the suspect was in the basement at 28 5th Ave., where they arrested him and located a sweatshirt in the bushes and a container of Oxy cleansing wipes. Pistone said when Soltish was arrested, he had black marks on his face that appeared to have been wiped off.

"Witnesses at the scene of the robbery said the suspect may have had hand-drawn marker on his face in addition to tattoos," Pistone said.

Pistone said Soltish was in possession of an amount of money and denominations consistent with what is believed to have been taken from the Tedeschi market.

At 7:49 a.m. Tuesday, police recovered a machete behind the Salvation Army, 395 Main St., which is near Dudley Plaza.

Home delivery and Digital Access customers of The Eagle-Tribune get deals for restaurants, hotels, attractions and other businesses, locally and across the country.

Play sudoku, the daily jigsaw, word search and more.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.