Crime & Safety
Court to Rule On Finderne Man's Robbery Conviction
Victor Rouse serving eight-year sentence for mugging woman in alleyway.
A state appellate court is expected to rule Wednesday on a Finderne resident’s appeal of his conviction and sentence for mugging a woman in a Somerville alleyway in 2009.
A Superior Court jury in December 2010 found 43-year-old Sunnyslope Road resident Victor Rouse guilty on a robbery charge in connection with the Dec. 7, 2009, incident.
Rouse, sentenced on Feb. 4, 2011, to eight years in prison by Superior Court Judge Paul Armstrong, has the earliest possible parole date of July 24, 2016, from Bayside State Prison in Leesburg.
Rouse was previously sentenced to one year on a resisting arrest charge in 2008.
Authorities say Rouse approached the woman in an alleyway on East Main Street and asked her for a cigarette. The woman gave him a cigarette, and then he asked if she had any money.
When the woman said she didn’t have any money, Rouse pushed her against the wall and demanded money, authorities said.
The woman, however, was able to flee and flag down a passing Somerville police officer. Less than a half hour later, police arrested Rouse.
Rouse was found guilty after the jury deliberated for four hours.
