Randolph police cruisers crash during search for armed robbery suspect
Two Randolph police cruisers collided while they were searching for an armed robber who held up Prestige Gas on Tuesday.
Afternoon robbery in Randolph
Police said they responded to the gas station at about 1:20 p.m. after a robber armed with a black semiautomatic handgun held up the store, then fled the scene on foot.
The suspect is seen on surveillance video wearing a Red Sox baseball hat over a ski mask as cash is being stuffed into a gray plastic bag.
"It's scary. For him, it was scary," said store owner Simon Massih. "He came in, and he had a mask and a glove, and he had a gun, and he put it at the cashier. He take the money, and he left."
But the search for the suspect turned into a crash as two Randolph police cruisers collided at Mitchell and Royal streets.
The impact startled neighbors out of their homes.
"I just happened to come out into my kitchen, and I looked, and I saw the cruiser on the back of the big trailer and all the commotion," said neighbor Lorraine Smith.
Officers injured
The officers driving the cruisers were taken to the hospital with "various non-life-threatening injuries."
"It's pretty crazy. We don't usually see this stuff around here, but it's unbelievable," said neighbor Jonathan Davis.
Suspect arrested
On Wednesday, police said the suspect, 32-year-old Alain McDonald of Randolph, was arrested and charged with two counts of armed and masked robbery with a firearm.
Police said McDonald is also the suspect in the armed robberies of a gas station in Quincy Saturday night, and a liquor store in Quincy later Tuesday afternoon.
When McDonald was arrested, detectives seized a loaded black Glock 9mm handgun, a large sum of cash, and a baseball cap matching the one worn by the suspect in the Randolph robberies.