Cops: Robbery suspect caught

A man who allegedly robbed a Highland Avenue packy with a paintball gun yesterday was caught by police after he slammed his getaway car into a telephone pole.

Michael Mitrano, whose name and address were not available at presstime yesterday, is being charged with armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and recklessly operating a vehicle after police say he went in O'Brian's Liquors with a paintball gun that looked like a shotgun and demanded money.

Police said they received a report of the hold-up at the liquor store at 158 Highland Ave., near the Central Street intersection, shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday.

At the time the call came in, Police Sergeant Bernard Cotter was traveling westbound on Highland Avenue and spotted a gray car that could have been involved in the incident, said Police Captain John O'Connor.

"One of our officers happened by just after it occurred," O'Connor said.

Cotter followed the car, but hadn't even activated the siren on his police cruiser when Mitrano turned right onto Willow Avenue and then took a sharp left turn onto Morrison Avenue.

Mitrano then lost control of the Nissan Altima he was driving, drove onto the sidewalk and drove straight into a telephone pole in front of 120 Morrison Ave. near Davis Square, O'Connor said. Both front-seat airbags deployed in the Altima, and Mitrano appeared to be uninjured.

When Cotter exited his cruiser and approached the Altima, Mitrano was "going for a knife in his pocket," O'Connor said.

Cotter pulled Mitrano out of the car and handcuffed him, O'Connor said.

Another police officer responding to the armed robbery call, Detective Ross O'Meara, ran his police cruiser into a parked car on Highland Avenue near Cedar Street while attempting to dodge a taxi cab that pulled out in front of him, O'Connor said.

O'Meara was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital via ambulance for lacerations on his head, O'Connor said.

Police found the paintball gun that looked like a shotgun in Mitrano's car. They also found cigarettes and money that had been reported stolen from O'Brian's Liquors.

Employees from the liquor store arrived at the scene of the crash on Morrison Avenue and positively identified Mitrano as the culprit, O'Connor said.

Mitrano was placed in a prisoner wagon and booked at the Somerville Police Station at 11 a.m.