Boston Police report [2] officers took time off from a drug investigation this morning when they saw this older white guy running across the parking lot of the Tedeschi store at Columbia Road and East Cottage Street this morning - chased by two other guys, one of whom appeared to be trying to make a phone call.
Police say the officers quickly caught up with the pursued guy and stopped him for a little chat:
At that time, officers noticed the white male suspect holding money in his right hand and a firearm in his left jacket pocket. Officers then received information from a police dispatcher that an armed robbery had just occurred in the area. As the dispatcher relayed the message, the suspect Gary Accomando, 58, blurted out "I did the robbery, but the gun is not real". Officers retrieved what appeared to be a silver colored firearm from the male suspect's left jacket pocket.
The chasers IDed him as the robber - and said he'd robbed the store a couple days earlier.
Accomando was charged with armed robbery and assault by means of a dangerous weapon.
Innocent, etc.