COPS: “Affirmative, 100%…” after witness identifies 17-year-old...

Top photo: Suspect squints into cruiser headlights while witness(es) identified him as knife wielding armed robber…

Initial HN coverage:

WEST YARMOUTH: [DEVELOPING] At about 6:20pm, Yarmouth police rushed to the Sav-On gas station at the intersection of Willow Street and Camp Street after a report of an armed robbery.

The Cape Cod Times reports, the gas station clerk said a man held a knife to her stomach and told her in Spanish that he would come back to kill her if she called police. Link: Police investigating armed robbery in West Yarmouth…

Barnstable Police also quickly responded to the area to assist with the search for the suspect.

A description was given out, saying the suspect was possibly a large, 6′ tall Hispanic male, with dark hair and mustache, wearing a hoodie…

A Yarmouth Police K-9 unit had what was described as a “strong track” going and a perimeter was set up in the area.

Banstable SCU units also responded to the area to assist. Members of the SCU focused in on a condo complex on Camp Street, just blocks from the scene.

At least one Massachusetts State Police unit also assisted in the area.

About 15 to 20 minutes into the search, Barnstable SCU officers announced they were trying to catch up to a suspect on foot inside the Foxwoods Condominiums on Camp Street.

The suspect was considered armed and dangerous, and according police radio traffic, police needed to approach with caution, possibly with weapons drawn… (this particular information has yet to be officially confirmed…)

Moments later, members of the Barnstable SCU had the suspect in custody and detained inside the condominium complex.

Yarmouth Police took custody of the suspect and had a witness arrive at the scene where the suspect was detained in order to identify him. A patrol car took two passes in front of the suspect with the witness safely inside. The patrolman inside the car with the witness radioed, “Affirmative, 100%.” Yarmouth Police then arrested the suspect for the armed robbery.

Police reportedly also recovered three 20 dollar bills on Jefferson Ave, not far from the scene of the robbery and in the direction of where the suspect was eventually arrested…

Check back for updates and details as the YPD processes the suspect and details of the case.

ALSO OF NOTE: It’s uncertain whether or not the suspect went along peacefully, but the YPD did request additional officers to assist in the booking area… possibly just due to the size of the individual.

UPDATE: Acquaintances have identified the suspect as Luis Herrera, age 17, additional information to follow…

UPDATE – 2/5/2015, 1:30pm – The following is the actual YPD press release:

YPD and BPD Team Up to Arrest 17 Year-Old Armed Robber

On February 04, 2015 at approximately 6:15PM Yarmouth Police Officers responded to the Sav-On Service Station at 381 Camp Street in West Yarmouth for a reported armed robbery that had just occurred. Additional information provided by Yarmouth Police Department Dispatch indicated that the robber had threatened the clerk with a knife and fled on foot.

Yarmouth Police Patrol Officer Kevin Antonovitch arrived on scene and promptly obtained additional information that was broadcasted to all other Officers. Fellow Yarmouth Patrol Officer Michael Zontini arrived and assisted Officer Antonovitch by speaking with additional witnesses and providing on-scene support. Yarmouth Police Department K9 Unit Patrol Officer Marc Thibeault and his partner Torres also arrived and initiated a track of the suspect.

The initial investigation found that the female employee observed a subject enter the store portion of the gas station and walked to the back of the store with the hood of his sweatshirt over his head while people were in the store and then left. The employee further reported that approximately 10 to 15 minutes later, the same subject came back into the store with his hood over his head and walked around the counter where she was standing. The subject then produced a large knife and pushed it against her side threatening her and demanding the money in the cash register. The suspect obtained the money, threatened to kill the employee if she called police, and fled.

While speaking with additional witnesses, Officer Zontini was approached by a woman in a motor vehicle that had arrived at the gas station who identified the robber as her brother Luis Herrera.

The name and a photograph of the suspect were sent to other patrol units in the area via police radio and wireless mobile cruiser computer. Within a few minutes a Barnstable Police Department Street Crimes Officer that was assisting in the investigation spotted a subject matching the description in the area and when approached, the suspect fled on foot.

A short time later the suspect was captured in the parking lot area of the nearby Foxwood Condominium complex and identified as Luis Herrera.

Yarmouth Police Department Detective Scott Lundegren and Patrol Officer Zontini subsequently conducted a show-up line up at the scene of the robbery which confirmed Herrera as the robber.

Herrera was placed under arrest and transported to Yarmouth Police Department Headquarters.

Members of the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Department Crime Scene Unit provided crime scene processing and evidence collection services.

Herrera—who is considered a juvenile in Massachusetts—was transported by the Yarmouth Police Department to a Juvenile Detention Facility in Brockton and held overnight. Herrera was picked up this morning by the Yarmouth Police Department and transported to the Barnstable District Juvenile Court for arraignment today.

LUIS FERNANDO HERRERA, age 17, of 14 Coolidge Rd, West Yarmouth was charged with Armed Robbery, Armed Assault To Murder, and Intimidating A Witness (two counts…).

Photo (left): YPD booking image…