A man suspected of multiple robberies was arrested Tuesday after he wrapped a glue gun in black tape and tried to rob a bubble tea shop in downtown Brooklyn, police said.
A community member spotted Gregory Price, 59, near Atlantic Avenue and Court Street shortly after noon, cops said. Recognizing him from surveillance footage distributed by the NYPD, the person called the neighborhood coordination officer. The NCO, who was off-duty, quickly notified the precinct’s anti-crime team, according to police.
The team of three officers and a sergeant, in plainclothes, responded to the scene and saw Price put on a ski mask and go into a bubble tea shop on Court Street, between State and Schermerhorn streets, police said. Price then handed the 28-year-old female employee a bag, demanding money, cops said.
The officers approached Price and saw that he had a black object, resembling a handgun, in his right hand. They ordered him to drop it, but he didn’t comply and ran to the back of the store, according to police. After following him into the bathroom of the store, the officers took him into custody without further incident, the NYPD said.
The object ended up being a glue gun wrapped in black tape, which cops recovered from the scene, along with the ski mask.
Price was charged with robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest, among other charges. He is being investigated in connection with three robberies in March and February, but has not been charged in those cases as of Tuesday, a police source said.
He has been convicted three times in robberies dating back to the 1980s and was released on parole in January, according to Department of Corrections records.
