Court Upholds Middlesex County Man's Conviction In Dayton Park Pharmacy Robbery

A state appellate court has upheld the conviction of a South Brunswick man who robbed the Dayton Park Pharmacy in June 2010.

The court said Joseph Mezynski’s arguments that he was unlawfully detained and that he was illegally denied a motion for acquittal “lack sufficient merit to warrant extensive discussion.”

Mezynski was found guilty of first-degree robbery, and he subsequently pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary and fourth-degree attempted theft, according to court records.

He was sentenced to a 10-year term of imprisonment with an 85 percent period of parole ineligibility on the robbery, according to court records.

Mezynski, who was 27 at the time, was arrested at 4:30 p.m. on June 9, 2010 and charged with robbery, theft, and burglary.

Sgt. Jim Ryan, acting on a tip, stopped Mezynski in a vehicle on Georges Road approximately a block from the pharmacy. During the motor vehicle stop, Mezynski was arrested for the robbery, police said.

Mezynski entered the pharmacy around 9 a.m. on June 7 and produced a note indicating he had a gun and demanding medication. He grabbed several medications and fled out the store. Police later recovered several empty bags of medicine from the pharmacy in a nearby neighborhood, police said.

The investigation also linked Mezynski to a burglary to a Georges Road home on June 6, 2010.