Alleged Serial Robber Arrested In Brewster
BREWSTER (CBS) – A man on the FBI's Most Wanted List has been arrested on Cape Cod. Police say he's behind a crime spree stretching from Virginia to New England.
"Any time we have an armed robbery it's a scary situation and when you have one crime like this it's enough to put a community on edge," Brewster Police Capt. Heath Eldredge said.
On Sunday, a man robbed Brewster Farms Country Market. Surveillance video shows the man waving a large caliber handgun at the clerk.
Police say the man is 27-year-old Michael Sletzinger. In the video, he is wearing a distinctive blue hat. Brewster Police did some digging and found out someone with the same kind of hat has been robbing stores in Virginia and Maryland.
Police also believe he stole two handguns from a gun store in Virgina.
Brewster police said after they put images of the armed robber on social media, tips about his identity came in to the station. He was arrested at his family's summer home in town.
The Patel family who owns the Brewster Farms Country Market said after the arrest, customers told them they had tipped off the police.
"We like the community over here," said Saumil Patel the owner's son.
Saumil said his father felt that "everything is fine now" following Sletzinger's arrest. When the armed robbery happened, they were concerned about their safety. The family is shocked that the FBI wanted him for armed robberies in four states.
"Still right now, it's like my mind, everything. I am scared," said Sunny Patel who is related to the store's owner. Sunny was in the back of the store when police said Sletzinger held-up the store.
Sunny said he ran up to the front. "I see the gun and he say, 'go back, otherwise I shoot you,' so I run," said Sunny.
WBZ-TV's Katie Brace contributed to this report.