A man who police say was wanted in a string of armed bank robberies spanning two states was arrested while gambling at a Massachusetts casino, officials said.
Massachusetts State Police said 31-year-old Joseph Hickson, of Walpole, was arrested Wednesday afternoon by detectives from the Gaming Enforcement Unit at Plainridge Park Casino after a joint investigation into armed bank robberies in Franklin and Walpole, Massachusetts; and East Providence and Cranston, Rhode Island, according to a news release.
East Providence Police said Hickson was allegedly involved in a Tuesday robbery at the Washington Trust Bank on Newport Avenue in East Providence and his description matched the suspect in a string of unsolved robberies in other towns in R.I. and Mass., according to a Facebook post. The post noted more information from Cranston and Franklin police is expected to be released and the FBI and Rhode Island attorney general's office were involved.
In a Thursday morning Facebook post, Franklin Police identified Hickson as the suspect a May 16 robbery at the Digital Federal Credit Union on West Central Street where a man approached a teller with a note and reportedly fled with an undetermined amount of cash. Police had said no weapon was shown in that robbery.
Franklin PD investigating bank robbery >>
According to the MSP release, an East Providence detective alerted MSP Gaming Enforcement officers that Hickson's vehicle was spotted in the Plainridge casino's parking lot.
Hickson was arrested while gambling inside the casino "without incident" around 2:45 p.m. and transported to the MSP barracks in Foxborough where he was booked as a fugitive from justice, police said.
East Providence police said Hickson is being held on a first-degree robbery warrant for the East Providence robbery.
Hickson's vehicle, a black Hyundai, was towed from outside the casino to the Foxborough barracks, the release said.
He was arraigned Thursday in Wrentham District Court where he was ordered held without bail. He will be taken to Rhode Island to face additional charges there.
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