Robbery arrest in Lowell

I was off yesterday so I didn’t get a chance to blog on this, but in case you missed it, Detectives Cory Erickson and Jim Cassella made a pretty heads-up arrest of a robbery suspect Friday morning.

Capt. Richardson emailed me about the arrest, which was made in connection with a robbery at Guerrero’s Market, 32 Westford St., that occurred at 9:52 a.m.

The suspect was a Hispanic male in a gray sweatshirt who pulled a gun and demanded cash from the register.

This robbery didn’t go the way most do.

Gun in his face

A man was getting his gym bag out of his car at the Greater Lowell YMCA today about 11:42 a.m., when he noticed in the reflection on his car’s window that someone was standing behind him.

The man, who police did not identify, turned around and found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

“As the victim noticed his reflection in the window of his car, he turned and the suspect put a black handgun to his face, demanding his wallet,” Capt. Kelly Richardson told me via email.

The suspect also rummaged through the glove box of the victim’s car, but ended up taking nothing. The suspect is described as as dark-skinned male, who wore a gray hoodie.

“Suspect calmly walkd away down to the railroad tracks,” Richardson wrote.

Mother’s Day carjacking – flowers included

I guess even bad guys love their mother?

Boston Police say Brian Cunneen, 21, of Lowell, and Shawn Hickey, 40, of Boston, robbed a cab driver on Mother’s Day at about 6 p.m. Boston Police say that Hickey shot the cab driver with a BB gun, and then carjacked and crashed the cab nearby.

Boston Police say that as Cunneen, pictured at left, ran from the crashed, carjacked cab, he suddenly turned around, ran back, and grabbed a red, yellow and orange bouquet of flowers out of the back seat.

Then he took off running.

Neither Boston Police nor Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk DA Daniel Conley, could confirm for me that the flowers were a Mother’s Day gift.

“It looks like no one asked those knitty gritty questions,” Wark said.

The cab driver told police he was in the area of Rutherford Avenue and Washington Street in Charlestown, about 6 p.m., with two men in the back of his cab, when Hickey pointed a gun at the driver and demanded cash, according to police.

The cab driver told police he got out of the cab, and began fighting with the two men, which prompted Hickey to shoot the cab driver twice with what turned out to be a BB gun, police said.

Robbery in downtown Lowell

Police are searching for two men who used a metal pipe to steal a backpack and wallet from two men at an ATM on Central Street a few minutes ago.

UMass Lowell Police first asked city police to help them find two men, a white male with a shaved head in a gray sweatshirt, and an Hispanic male with short hair in a dark gray sweatshirt, after someone at the UMass Inn and Conference Center, 50 Warren Street reported being robbed.

They suspects were last seen heading toward Middlesex Community College.

Police say a blue backpack and a wallet were taken in the incident.

City police just went to take the report though, because apparently the robbery happened at an ATM on Central Street, and not on UMass Lowell property.

Anyone with information is asked to call Lowell police at 978-937-3200 or Crimestoppers at 978-459-TIPS (8477). Information can also be sent to police via Text-a-Tip, by texting TIP411 (847411) with the subject “LPDTIP.”
Tipsters can remain anonymous, but can receive up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.

Police say they solved Billerica robbery

Just one day after posting a video of a man in a black hoodie robbing the 7-Eleven at 314 Boston Road, Billerica Police have announced that they have a warrant for a suspect’s arrest.

The suspect used to live next door to the store.

Police say staff at the store helped police identify the culprit.

Christopher D. Hughes, 26, is pictured at left. He is now wanted on a warrant charging unarmed robbery and assault and battery.

His last known address was at 70 Cardigan Road, in Tewksbury, according to police, but prior to that police say he lived at 317 Boston Road in Billerica.

Billerica Police reported today on their twitter account that there have now been seven robberies in Billerica so far this year and that six of them have been solved.

You can still watch the video of the robbery by following this link or by looking in my previous entry.

UPDATE: Christopher Hughes turned himself in at the Lowell Police station today about 6 p.m.