Yesterday morning around 9:21AM, officers from District E-5 (West Roxbury) responded to 1920 Centre St. in West Roxbury/Hyde Park Savings Bank for a bank robbery.
On arrival, officers spoke to bank employees/witnesses who reported that the suspect, described as an approximately 6’ tall, thin white male wearing a black ski mask and blue hooded sweatshirt, walked into the bank and demanded that the teller give him money. The bank employee handed an undisclosed amount of money to the suspect after his demand. According to witnesses the suspect then fled out of the bank and was witnesses getting into a brown Ford Taurus sedan bearing a given Massachusetts registration and fleeing down the street in the direction of Corey Street.
Officers immediately broadcast the description of the suspect, his car and the direction of flight to units across the City. A short while after the description of the car and suspect was broadcast, an officer assigned to District B-3 (Mattapan) observed a car matching the suspect car description and bearing the broadcast Massachusetts registration at the intersection of Norfolk and Babson streets in Mattapan. The officer immediately broadcast his location, requested additional units and conducted a traffic stop of the suspect motor vehicle. The operator of the vehicle was removed and provided Miranda warnings before being interviewed. Post Miranda, the operator revealed to officers that he had indeed driven a friend to the bank so that “he could cash a check.” According to the operator, his friend returned from the bank to the car in a rush and instructed him to drive away quickly because “there’s a guy a guy in there [the bank] that I had a fight with.” The driver further reported that he drove away and eventually dropped off the suspect at the Shaw’s Supermarket located at 4 River Street. The operator went on to tell officers that the suspect may be heading to an address in the Savin Hill area.
Plain clothes officers from District B-2 working in an unmarked car, based on this information, responded to the address that the suspect was said to be returning to and established surveillance. After waiting there for a few minutes, officers observed a taxi cab pull up to the address with an individual matching the suspect description in the back seat. Officers observed the passenger sitting up initially and then bending over reaching toward the floor area and lower parts of the door. Shortly after the car pulled up to the address, the suspect got out of the cab and was observed to be holding the blue hooded sweatshirt that he had been wearing during the robbery. Officers immediately approached the suspect once he got out of the cab and identified their office and asked to speak to him. The suspect immediately took off running but was caught after a short foot pursuit and placed in handcuffs.
Once the suspect was placed under arrest, a pat frisk revealed him to be in possession of an amount of money consistent with the money that was robbed from the bank. The suspect, Christopher A. Higgins of Dorchester was arrested and charged with Unarmed bank Robbery. The operator of the car who was initially stopped after interview was released without being charged with any crime.