By KATY SAVAGE
[email protected]
WEATHERSFIELD and WESTMINSTER, Vt. — Store owners and employees in Weathersfield and Westminster, Vermont are shaken after an armed robbery Friday night resulted in a suspect being shot by police in Brattleboro.
Mark Triolo, 46, of Texas was shot by police on Black Mountain Road in Brattleboro around 9 p.m. Friday after allegedly robbing the Sunoco Gas Station on Route 131 in Weathersfield and Allen Brothers Farms in Westminster that night, police said.
Triolo was being treated for multiple gunshot wounds to his legs and torso at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center on Saturday. He was listed in “stable” condition.
An undisclosed amount of cash was stolen from both the Sunoco station and Allen Brothers. No employee was hurt from either store.
Sunoco employee Katelyn Young said a woman who worked that night was “very traumatized,” after the robbery.
“She is no longer working for the company,” said Young, who explained the employee had given her notice to resign before the incident, but left early.
Two women worked in the Sunoco building by themselves Friday night — one worked at the Dunkin’ Donuts.
Young, who was not on duty that evening, was immediately concerned about the women in the store.
“I jumped in my car and drove up here,” she said.
“We’re taking extra precautions,” Young said on Saturday afternoon.
Young said she’s keeping a side entrance to the building locked starting at 5 p.m. Police are also watching the building regularly.
“Police are stopping in and calling every hour, on the hour,” Young said.
The robberies are still under investigation.
Allen Brothers co-owner Stacey Allen said her alarm system notified her of the incident around 8:15 p.m. on Friday.
“My main concern was the staff and just the fact that they were all okay,” she said.
Three employees were working at the time, said Allen. The suspect was caught on the store’s video camera showing two of the employees his gun, said Allen.
This was the first time Allen Brothers had an armed robbery.
“I’m extremely proud of how well the staff handled it,” said Allen on Sunday morning.
She said the store is reviewing its security policies.
“When something like this happens it’s always a good opportunity to examine what you’re currently doing,” she said.
Triolo was driving a stolen SUV with Texas license plates, police said. He was located at a Mobil station in Brattleboro around 8:41 p.m., just after the robbery was reported in Westminster. Brattleboro police officers approached Triolo’s parked vehicle on foot, but he fled, driving south on Route 5, police said, causing police to lose sight of him.
Less than 10 minutes later, a Black Mountain Road resident in Brattleboro called police to say a vehicle had pulled into his driveway and shut the headlights off.
Police later found Triolo on foot in a wooded area close to the resident’s driveway. Triolo was shot and multiple rounds were fired from four officers after Triolo did not respond to verbal commands from police telling him to stop and show his hands.
Triolo was not armed at the time of the shooting, police said. Crime scene detectives later found a semi-automatic handgun — a Daisy Powerline 340 pellet gun — in the front seat of the SUV. The gun was not loaded, police said.
Police said Triolo had loose cash on his body at the time he was taken into custody and transported to the hospital for medical treatment.
Six police officers were involved in the shooting — Brattleboro Sgt. Chase Stanley, Brattleboro police officers Michael Cable and Sean Wilson, and Vermont State Police Trooper Jason Lengfellner fired their guns. Brattleboro Police Sgt. Adam Petlock and Vermont State Police Trooper Joshua Gagnon were at the scene, but didn’t fire their guns, police said. The officers are on paid leave as the investigation continues.
Triolo is also the suspect in an armed robbery at Small City Market in Vergennes, which occurred on May 1. He currently has active arrest warrants from Texas for parole violation and New York for robbery with a handgun in Queensbury on April 30.
The incidents are still under investigation and more information will be released as it becomes available.
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