ROBBERY: Armed hotel room invasion… 78-year-old puts up good fight… knife wielding intruder fled with pocketbook…
Top photo: Just moments after the violent robbery, Patrolman Dan Ruth and Sergeant Thomas Twomey secure the scene and put out the suspect’s description and direction of travel…
HYANNIS – At about 8:30pm, multiple Barnstable Squad cars rushed to the Americas Best Value Inn & Suites on East Main Street after a violent armed hotel room invasion and robbery.
Officers arrived at hotel room number 80, secured the scene, and radioed the suspect’s direction of travel and description.
A “light skin” black male muscled his way into room 80 after the door was unlatched. He then held a knife up to the elderly female as he continued to force his way into the room. The elderly couple, here on vacation from Pennsylvania, the female reportedly 77-years-old, the male 78-years-old, were attacked and pushed around by the violent intruder. The couple reportedly put up quite a fight before the senior male victim was pushed to the floor, receiving an abrasion to his knee. Resistance from the elderly out-of-towners quite likely spooked the armed intruder, causing him to flee with just the woman’s tan pocketbook and nothing more… The pocketbook is said to have only contained about $90 in cash…
Within seconds, officers were setting up a tight perimeter in the area of the railroad tracks and Pufferbellies. Security from the nearby Steamship Authority parking lot on Yarmouth Road informed police they observed the suspect jumping a fence and landing on the hood of a Jeep parked on the other side. Officers scrambled to DJ’s Wings and other surrounding parking lots, attempting to box the suspect in.
Patrolman Jeff Jackson and his K-9 partner Elvis took a position on the Route 28 side of the perimeter and began tracking back toward the original scene. Officers thoroughly searched the entire railroad yard, an empty boxcar, and surrounding parking areas but were possibly just moments too late. The dangerous armed robber currently remains at large.
Back at the scene, a crime scene investigator took photos and dusted the door for prints. Police have other leads that HN is withholding for the time being…
The male victim’s injuries were superficial and he refused to be transported to CCH after being checked out on scene by Hyannis Rescue.
The following video highlights the crime scene just moments after it happened. It shows the initial officers on scene putting out details regarding the suspect’s direction of travel and description. It then shows a Barnstable K-9 team hitting the ground tracking from the outskirts of the perimeter… [Press play]
Check back for additional details as this story updates...
8/31/2014
Robert Bastille,
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