Robber Sprays Liquid Inside Newton Bank
NEWTON (CBS) - A 37-year-old Boston man is under arrest after police say he robbed the Village Bank on Wyman Street in Newton and doused an employee with some kind of liquid.
The robbery was reported just after 9 a.m. on Friday.
According to witnesses, a customer came into the bank and told an employee there was a suspicious person pacing back and forth outside wearing sunglasses and a hoodie despite cloudy weather.
Just as the teller went to alert other employees, the robber rushed into the bank yelling "get down, get down," according to Newton police spokesperson Lt. Bruce Apotheker.
"With some sort of liquid object in a plastic sports bottle… he started flinging this substance at people inside the bank," Lt. Apotheker said.
That substance, described by hazmat crews as a green liquid, struck a 27-year-old employee. He needed to be taken to Newton Wellesley Hospital.
The suspect, identified by police as Lashon Payton, jumped on the counter, grabbed some cash out of a teller drawer, and took off.
Police were notified and two officers working a detail nearby spotted the suspect. They were able to chase him down and place him under arrest. He currently faces a charge of armed robbery. More charges are expected to be filed.
The victim who was sprayed was quarantined as a precaution and decontaminated. Rescue crews who transported him were also quarantined for a short time. That victim has since been released from the hospital.
Crews are testing the liquid to determine exactly what it is, but they say it is non-toxic.
