The quiet town of Harvard, Massachusetts, became the scene of a brazen midday robbery on Friday when a FedEx driver was accosted by two masked individuals while making a delivery. According to the Harvard Police Department, the incident occurred around 12:43 p.m. The driver recounted that as he exited his van to deliver a package, a white, late-model Acura TLX with heavily tinted windows and a partial Connecticut license plate containing the letters “BN” pulled up beside him. Two masked men emerged from the Acura and approached the driver from behind, swiftly snatching the package from his hands. Surveillance footage captured the forceful taking of the package, although no firearm was visible in the recording. However, the suspects allegedly made verbal threats towards the driver, insinuating they were armed.
Initial investigations suggest that the robbery was a targeted operation focused on this specific delivery. A neighbor reported observing the suspects’ vehicle parked near the delivery location for several hours prior to the incident, further solidifying the theory of premeditation. This detail points to a level of planning and surveillance that elevates the crime beyond a simple opportunistic theft. The suspects’ apparent knowledge of the delivery schedule and their willingness to wait for an extended period suggests they had specific intelligence regarding the package’s contents or its recipient, raising questions about a potential inside connection or a broader criminal network at play.
The incident’s aftermath unfolded in a dramatic multi-state police chase that culminated near Providence, Rhode Island. WPRI in Providence reported that four suspects were apprehended in connection with the Harvard robbery following the dramatic pursuit. Traffic cameras along Interstate 95 captured the climax of the chase as the suspects’ vehicle crashed near Elmwood Avenue. The violent end to the pursuit left one occupant injured and remaining at the crash site, while the other three individuals fled the scene on foot.
According to Providence Police Colonel Oscar Perez, the three fleeing suspects were swiftly apprehended shortly after abandoning the wrecked vehicle. The injured suspect was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Cranston Police Colonel Michael Winquist confirmed the connection between the apprehended individuals and the Harvard robbery, stating the suspects were driving a white Acura with Connecticut license plates, matching the description provided by the FedEx driver and witnessed by the neighbor in Harvard. The crash occurred on the Providence-Cranston line, further connecting the apprehended individuals to the interstate pursuit.
The recovery of the stolen package remains unconfirmed in current reports, adding another layer of complexity to the case. The nature of the package’s contents, its intended recipient, and whether it played a significant role in motivating the robbery are critical questions that investigators will need to address. This information is crucial not only for understanding the suspects’ motives but also for potentially identifying any broader criminal network involved in orchestrating the heist. The potential value or significance of the package could also shed light on the level of risk the suspects were willing to undertake, including a multi-state chase and the potential use of firearms.
Adding to the gravity of the situation, law enforcement officials deployed search dogs in the area of the crash to locate any discarded firearms. This suggests that authorities took the suspects’ implied threat of being armed seriously, and the possibility of a concealed weapon adds another layer of danger to an already volatile situation. The ongoing investigation will likely involve forensic analysis of the recovered vehicle, interviews with the apprehended suspects, and further scrutiny of the surveillance footage from both the robbery scene in Harvard and the subsequent chase in Rhode Island. Determining the precise motivations behind this targeted robbery and the potential involvement of others will be key to bringing all those responsible to justice and preventing future incidents of this nature.