CLAREMONT — After the 35-year-old suspect in an armed robbery evaded police for approximately one day, they located him Thursday afternoon near the abandoned salt sheds on Mulberry Street, according to a police report.
Claremont Police arrested James Doherty Jr., of Claremont, on several felony and misdemeanor charges, including some stemming from a Wednesday robbery. Police say he shoplifted from a store, threatened two employees with a knife and pushed one of them to the ground.
Around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, police responded to a shoplifting report that an individual entered Runnings, a retailer on Washington Street, and stole an airsoft pistol, Police Chief Brent Wilmot said Thursday.
Two Runnings employees followed the suspect off the property on a path toward the Market Basket grocery store, half a mile up the street. Doherty allegedly threatened them with a knife and later pushed one of them to the ground between Runnings and Market Basket, Wilmot said.
“Those are two separate incidents,” Wilmot said of the alleged threat and the alleged assault.
After Doherty entered Market Basket, police arrived and began searching the store, said Wilmot, as officials evacuated customers. One customer told police the suspect may have gone toward the restroom, and police detained someone who fit Doherty’s description.
An employee at Runnings told police they had the wrong person, and by then Doherty had left the store through a back exit. Police searching its perimeter located evidence associated with Doherty and believe he had taken additional merchandise before leaving the property. Customers were able to return to the store.
“Substantial efforts were made with numerous law enforcement agencies, including a police K9 unit, to locate Doherty on Wednesday night, but those efforts were unsuccessful,” a Thursday Claremont Police news release stated.
While generating investigative leads on Doherty’s whereabouts, police said they encountered him in the city on Thursday, and he fled toward a swampy area behind buildings. After a brief foot pursuit, officers took him into custody.
Doherty has a separate pending case for an alleged theft by unauthorized taking offense that occurred back in April. The complaint filed in that case claims that Doherty stole over $1,300 worth of merchandise from the L.L. Bean in Lebanon. A September bail order called for his release with the condition that he not visit any L.L. Bean location.
Doherty was arrested Thursday on the following charges: armed robbery; criminal threatening with a deadly weapon; simple assault; two counts of theft by unauthorized taking; disorderly conduct; possession of controlled drugs; violation of bail conditions; violation of a protective order; felon in possession of a dangerous weapon; and resisting arrest.
