Open and gross lewdness while armed.

Sunday morning, about 1 a.m., police were called to an apartment complex on Princeton Boulevard for a report of a suspicious person on a balcony.

The caller gave police a description of the suspicious person, and Officer Dan Demaris soon arrived to find a man fitting that description in a parking lot nearby.

That man, later identified as Travis Bell, 24, of 29 Nelson St., in Lowell, fled from Demaris, but was arrested after a short foot chase and brief struggle, according to police.

During a follow up investigation, officers learned Bell had been seen masturbating in one of the building’s doorways, and that he had been buzzing apartments in the building and saying “inappropriate things” to women who would answer, according to police.

Officers found a knife in Bell’s pocket, according to police.

Why you should read my blog

I took two photographs of Ricardo Colon as he was getting arrested tonight. He asked who that “geek” and *expletive deleted* taking pictures was.

If only he had known.

Last night, about two hours after the Country Farms at 56 Aiken Avenue in Lowell was robbed at gunpoint, I identified Mr. Colon, who is 24, as a suspect police said was arrestable for armed robbery while masked.

Here’s a link to the entry if you don’t recall.

If Colon read the good ole blog, perhaps he would have known multiple detectives, armed with an arrest warrant, would be showing up at his home this evening. I guess he’s not a fan.

Billerica Realtor faces life in prison

If the Suffolk DA and Boston Police homicide detectives are correct, Billerica Realtor Michael Balba has some dark secrets.

And they’re not about a leaky roof or a ranch house with a faulty foundation.

Mugshot courtesy WHDH-TV.

Michael Balba, 55, of Billerica, who it appears works as a realtor in town, is being held on four counts of perjury following his indictment by a Suffolk County grand jury investigating the slaying of 22-year-old college student Rebecca Payne.

Payne was found shot to death in her Mission Hill apartment on May 20, 2008.

A 30-year-old Boston man, Cornell Smith, was indicted for first degree murder, armed assault in a dwelling, and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with the killing.

Suffolk County DA Daniel Conley announced both indictments on Sunday.

Conley said in a prepared statement, viewable here, that Balba was arrested on Saturday by Boston homicide detectives. He didn’t say where the arrest occurred, and neither Boston nor Billerica police would comment. I’m not sure if he was arrested in Billerica.

Someone who answered the phone at a listed number for Michael Balba in Billerica tonight declined to comment, saying only that Michael Balba wasn’t home. I left my number in case a family member or attorney wants to tell Balba’s side of this sometime soon.

Balba faces up to life in prison for each of the four counts of perjury. Perjury, if committed during a murder investigation, is punishable by up to life. Here’s the relevant MGL.

Armed robbery in Centralville

Police just went off at Country Farms, 56 Aiken Avenue, in Lowell, because a Hispanic male in a red bandana and a black hoodie pulled a black handgun and robbed the store.

He got away with cash and a cell phone, according to radio broadcasts.

Police are looking for a two-door, green motor vehicle the suspect was seen getting in. The vehicle is driven by a woman. The vehicle was last seen fleeing up Exeter Street.

Police have a green motor stopped nearby, but it’s not clear if its the right car yet. Three people in the car. This car was eventually let go.

A state police helicopter was randomly in the area, patrolling over Littleton, and the chopper has volunteered to join the search.

MedFlight called for Tyngsboro crash

A 27-year-old Tyngsboro woman who’s 2002 Buick drifted off the side of Parham Road in Tyngsboro early this morning was flown to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with serious, but reportedly non life-threatening injuries.

Tyngsboro Police said they were called to Parham Road near Birchmont Avenue, near the Dracut line, at 1:59 a.m., after witnesses reported the Buick drifted off the right side of the road and snapped a telephone pole in two.

Alaina  Herr, 27, of Village Lane, was unconscious in the vehicle and severely injured. She was flown to Beth Israel by MedFlight. She was still in surgery this morning at 9 a.m., but a hospital spokesman told me just now that she has been stabilized.

Deputy Police Chief Richard Burrows tells me alcohol does not appear to be a factor.