By Jim Clark

Police officers responded to a call last Friday morning reporting a robbery at knifepoint at a pharmacy on Broadway.

A description of the suspects, two males and two females, and the suspect vehicle was provided to the responding officers. The suspect vehicle, a rental car, bore a Florida license plate.

After the robbery, the suspects fled the store’s parking lot and left the area. A search of the area was immediately made by patrol units but to no avail.

Police officers questioned the victim of the robbery, a store employee, as well as a witness to the incident.

The victim reportedly stated that he observed two males grab five items off a shelf and begin to walk out the front door. He specified that one of the men had taken two containers of protein powder and the other man had taken three containers of Rogaine.

The victim said he approached the suspects as they walked out the front door and asked them to stop and return the items they had just stolen.

They reportedly ignored his demand, and when he got too close to the men, later identified as William Oliva, pulled out a switchblade knife and rudely told the victim to back off as he waved the knife at him.

Upon being threatened with the knife, the victim, who said he had been robbed and stabbed in previous robberies, let the suspects run into a waiting car that was occupied by two white females, a heavy-set one driving and a thinner one in the passenger’s seat.

According to the victim and witness, before the suspects got into the car, Oliva literally ran out of his flip-flops and left them on the ground.

They then fled the parking lot and took a right on Broadway. The victim and the witness took note of the license plate on the car and reported it to police.

A witness videotaped the car’s departure on her cell phone and provided police with both still photos and video of the vehicle clearly showing the plate number and Oliva inside the car.

The store manager, who provided a copy of the surveillance video from inside the store, corroborated the victim’s and witness’s account.

Police identified the person who rented the suspect vehicle, Kimberly Graffeo, from Florida and Medford, having dual addresses on her license. She reportedly rented the car on or about February 28 in West Palm Beach, Florida. In running her license image police saw that she was a heavy-set female in her 30’s, which matched the description given by witnesses regarding the driver of the suspect vehicle.

Somerville Police was informed by Medford Police that the aforementioned suspect vehicle rented by Graffeo had been located at a Woburn Street location. Somerville Police responded to the location and had the suspect vehicle towed back to the S.P.D. for processing.

At approximately 5:30 p.m. a call was received from Medford Police informing them that they had received a phone-call from Graffeo in which she stated that she had driven her boyfriend, Oliva, to the pharmacy in Somerville earlier that day and that he had committed a robbery in which he pulled out a knife. Graffeo was inside the Woburn Street residence, along with Oliva, when police towed the car away.

Based on this information, in which Graffeo implicated herself and Oliva in an armed robbery, Somerville Police notified Medford Police that they had probable cause to arrest them both for armed robbery.

Subsequently, Oliva was found hiding in a snowbank in the rear of the Woburn Street residence and placed under arrest. Within minutes, Graffeo was also arrested at the same address. They were both booked at the Medford police station and then transported to Somerville police for booking on charges of armed robbery.

Police have received information as to the identity of the two remaining suspects in and will be filing applications for warrants/complaints charging them with armed robbery.

The recovered flip-flops were tagged into evidence.