Police Accuse Lowell Man Of Robbery With 6-Year-Old Girl In Getaway Car
MANCHESTER, N.H. (CBS) -- A 22-year-old Massachusetts man is accused of attempting to rob a Manchester convenience store Sunday then fleeing in a car with a 6-year-old girl in the back seat, police said.
At about 11:15 a.m. Sunday, Manchester Police officers were dispatched to Crosstown Variety at 77 Bremer St. for a robbery in progress, the police said in a prepared statement.
The robbery suspect, Brian Cunneen, 22, of Lowell, Mass., approached the clerk displaying a handgun and ordered the clerk to give him money from the register. A customer walked up behind the suspect unaware the store was being robbed until the clerk told the customer to call 911.
Cunneen then left the store empty handed, and a witness reported seeing him get into a vehicle parked a couple blocks east of the store on Bremer Street.
The vehicle was followed by a witness, who also called 911 to report the robbery, onto the Everett Turnpike southbound. The witness continued updating Manchester Police on the vehicle's direction of travel.
As the suspect's vehicle stopped at the "Cash Only" lane to pay the toll in Bedford, Manchester Police and New Hampshire State Police converged on the location. The vehicle was stopped after leaving the toll booth. The driver and Cunneen were both arrested, police said.
Cunneen was charged with armed robbery, and the driver, John Hickey, 27, of Lowell, was charged with criminal liability to armed robbery, police said.
A 22-year-old Lowell woman and her 6-year-old daughter were passengers in the vehicle when the suspects were arrested. The woman and girl were removed from the vehicle at gunpoint, Manchester Police told WBZ NewsRadio.
The woman was not charged and the girl was kept in her custody, police said.
Cunneen and Hickey face arraignment Monday in the 9th Circuit District Court in Manchester. Both suspects declined to speak with a bail commissioner and are being held at The Hillsborough County House of Corrections, police said.
The incident is under investigation and more charges could be filed.
