A man who police suspect robbed a Brookline bank Friday afternoon was arrested after police found him hiding in the trunk of his car.
The Brookline Bank at 1016 Beacon Street was robbed at about 2:15 p.m by a man who said he had a gun, police said.
The Boston University Police Department sent out an alert to students soon after the robbery.
The robbery suspect said he had a weapon but did not reveal the weapon during the crime, the alert said.
BUPD Captain Robert Molloy said the weapon in question was a gun and that the robbery suspect was seen running toward Park Drive after the crime.
The suspect, described in the alert as a slim white male with a scruffy beard, fled from the bank on foot. Police pursued the man, but lost him when he drove off in a black Toyota Camry, according to Brookline Police Lieutenant Philip Harrington.
Brookline Police later located the Camry and, believing it was empty, towed it to the police station. Police then investigated the vehicle and found the suspect hiding in the trunk, said Harrington.
Multiple news outlets identified Michael Lenane, 29, of Roxbury, as the suspect. He was arrested for armed robbery.
BU students could have been at risk, Harrington said, so he was glad they were made aware of the crime.
“The police are fortunate no one was hurt,” he said.
Because of potential violence and the bank’s proximity to South Campus, BUPD decided to inform students of the off-campus crime.
“It was so close to our area we thought it was best to send out an alert,” Molloy said.
This is the second alert of an armed robbery with a concealed weapon sent to students within five days.
On Monday, two men threatened to shoot two students coming out of the Fitness and Recreation Center before they robbed them of their iPhones.
The robbers &- still at large &- were described as African American, one about 6’0″ and 220-230 pounds and the other about 5’8″ and 180-190 pounds.
Both the bank robbery and the iPhone robbery occurred mid-afternoon.
Molloy said BUPD is concerned about this trend. Since the iPhone robbery, two additional plain-clothed patrols have been employed from the hours of 4 p.m. to 12 a.m.
BUPD is still studying video surveillance from outside FitRec with the help of the Boston Police Department, Molloy said.
So far, no images of the thieves as described by the victims have turned up.
“The cameras from FitRec don’t really capture the whole sidewalk up and down,” said Molloy.
BUPD and BPD have now expanded their search to include video surveillance from outside of businesses on Commonwealth Avenue.
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