George Doherty told Gloucester police Tuesday morning that his alleged crime the night of Feb. 20 was a “spur of the moment” action.
He said he had left the home of a female friend on Veterans Way after finding a bottle of Xanax on the ground, drinking heavily, and arguing with her, he told police.
He walked down Washington Street, then stopped to sit for a moment at Oak Grove Cemetery. But he began experiencing withdrawal from drugs and alcohol, he said, and realized he was desperate for money.
It was then he decided to burst into the nearby Paprika Grill, brandishing a knife and demanding cash from the owner and an employee while covering his face with a jersey he had been wearing.
Doherty, 26, of 16 Columbia St., Apt. 1, is being held on charges of armed and masked robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and larceny of more than $250 for robbing the eatery at 8 the night of the Presidents Day holiday.
Doherty was arrested Tuesday and arraigned in the afternoon in Gloucester District Court, where Judge Joseph Jennings III granted assistant district attorney Aimee Conway’s calls for no bail and a dangerousness hearing. The judge set the hearing for Tuesday, March 14, again in Gloucester District Court.
A conviction for armed robbery without the use of a gun can bring a sentence of up to 10 years in state prison.
Good Morning Gloucester 