Methuen Armored Car Robbery An Inside Job
METHUEN (CBS) - Three people have been charged in an armored car robbery in Methuen that investigators say was an inside job.
Two guards from the armored car, 23-year-old Justin Levesque of Cumberland, Rhode Island and 26-year-old Eliezer Martinez of Lawrence, were arrested early Tuesday, along with an accomplice, 22-year-old Willie Jose Salazar Vasquez of Lawrence.
Police have recovered $380,000 in stolen cash.
WBZ-TV's Ken MacLeod reports
Levesque and Salazar Vasquez were ordered held on $150,000 bail at their arraignment Tuesday in Lawrence District Court.
Prosecutors say both men admitted involvement in the robbery and both claim it was the others idea.
The arraignment of Eliezer Martinez has been postponed. He was taken to the hospital with chest pains after his arrest.
It all started Monday afternoon near the Big Lots store on Jackson Street.
As one of the truck's guards got out of the vehicle, he told investigators a robber stole his gun and forced him back into the truck.
The two guards said the man forced them to drive into a neighborhood on the Methuen-Lawrence line. There, the thief got out and ran off with a bag of cash.
The guards then drove the truck to the police station to report the robbery.
No one was hurt.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports
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Representatives with Garda - owners of the armored truck involved in the heist - reclaimed their vehicle Tuesday morning from the Methuen Police department parking lot.
They had no comment.
Levesque had worked for the armored car company for less than a month. He was previously a pizza delivery driver.
