City man sentenced in robbery

By Randall Beach
Register Staff
NEW HAVEN — A young city resident Friday received a 12-year prison sentence, to be suspended after he serves five years, for the armed robbery of two people who were walking on Whalley Avenue last March.
But as Davdriqous Tell, 22, was being sentenced, the judge and prosecutor noted he had been originally charged in two other crimes that have become rampant in New Haven: stick-ups of food delivery men.
Although the charges in those two incidents were nolled Friday for lack of evidence, Superior Court Judge Richard Damiani decried the prevalence of such offenses.
"They get called and it's a set-up," Damiani said. "They get robbed and beaten. It happens so quickly they can't make an I.D. People who do this will go to jail, like Mr. Tell."
Senior Assistant State's Attorney Maxine Wilensky said, "We need to send a message that the city of New Haven will not tolerate attacks on hard-working citizens trying to eke out a living."
But defense attorney Thomas Ullmann noted Tell was being sentenced for a different offense. He said the descriptions of the robber in the food delivery stick-ups did not match Tell.
"He admitted culpability right away" in the robbery of the two pedestrians on Whalley Avenue, Ullmann added.
Wilensky said in that crime, which occurred at about 11:30 p.m. March 26, the two victims were on Whalley Avenue near Pendleton Street when they were confronted by four people, including Tell.
Tell was the one who pulled out the gun, Wilensky said. She noted police chased him and saw him toss aside a metal object. Police later found a .25-caliber pistol in that area.
Police suspected Tell in the two food delivery hold-ups because they occurred only two weeks earlier near the site of the other stick-up, according to Wilensky.
Both delivery men were robbed and the pizza man was slightly injured, Wilensky said. Those two robberies occurred March 11.
Tell did not comment when given the chance to speak in the courtroom Friday. Neither of the victims appeared to give statements.
While imposing the sentence on a first-degree robbery charge, Damiani also ordered three years of probation. He said if Tell is unable to pay restitution of $676 during the first six months of probation, he must do 100 hours of community service.
Randall Beach can be reached at rbeach@nhregister.com or 789-5766.