Detail officer credited with stopping armed robber

BOSTON — An officer on detail in Hyde Park is being credited with stopping an armed robber in his tracks.

On Saturday afternoon, a man walked into a Rockland Trust wearing a mask and carrying a gun, demanding the bank teller to fill a bag with money.

The man, identified as Paul Whooten, ran out of the bank with nearly $14,000, prompting a chase with a detail officer who had been outside the bank. After the officer called for back up, police caught up with Whooten not too far from the original scene.

Police later found out the gun the suspect had been wielding was fake and that this was not the first time Whooten had been accused of robbing a bank.

Another man, identified as Richard Berger, was also arrested in connection to the robbery. Police said he was seen fleeing from the scene and charged him with intent to rob while armed. Whooten has been charged with armed robbery.

Berger’s family, however, maintains he is innocent.

“He shouldn’t get blamed for somebody else’s crime,” said Lilian Berger, the suspect’s wife.

Both Berger and Whooten faced a judge on Monday and were held on $10,000 bail. According to police, both men have previously been convicted of armed robbery and have served years in prison.

Whooten has been convicted of armed robbery four times since 1995.

“His record is full of theft-related offenses that escalated to continued and repeated armed robberies continuously over time,” said the Suffolk County DA.

Lilian, however, tells Boston 25 News her husband is innocent and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“He wasn’t an angel that day, he didn’t have a license,” said Lilian. "But he didn’t rob a bank.”

She says Whooten asked her husband to drive him to the store next to the bank on the day of the robbery. Despite not having a license, he obliged, according to his wife.

While Berger has spent decades in prison for previous crimes, Lilian says her husband had been working to turn his life around for the past two years.

Both men are due back in court on Jan. 29 for a probable cause hearing.

Boston Police aren’t commenting on the case as it is an ongoing investigation but did say the detail officer is brand new to the police force.

The officer, despite being new to the department, comes from a long line of policemen and is currently working alongside his father. His grandfather and great grandfather were also Boston Police officers.

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