Police identify Mattapan teen arrested after South Boston robbery

By Jeremy C. Fox, Globe Correspondent

The teenager arrested Friday night after an armed robbery in South Boston has been identified as Joe Fisher of Mattapan, Boston police said.

Fisher, who is 17, faces seven charges related to the robbery and the police pursuit that followed, according to a statement on the Boston Police Department’s website.

The charges include armed robbery while masked, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, operating a motor vehicle without being licensed, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident with injuries, and refusal to submit to a police officer, police said.

Police say that Fisher was part of an armed trio that stole cash and cigarettes from the Neighborhood Convenience Store at 165 D St. on Friday at about 9 p.m.

Youth Violence Strike Force officers were patrolling South Boston on Friday night when they saw three men wearing masks sprint from the store. The witnesses then confirmed with an employee that the three men had robbed the store, police said.

Officers searching the area later saw three men who fit the suspects’ descriptions get into a dark sedan near West 7th Street, police said. The officers turned on sirens and flashing lights, but the sedan sped away.

Police said Fisher was driving when the sedan collided with an MBTA bus and other vehicles on Dorchester Avenue near the Andrew Square MBTA station. The suspects then rear-ended a white sedan and caused it to crash into a lamp post, according to one witness, and the three suspects then fled on foot toward the station.

The woman driving the white sedan was taken to Boston Medical Center with minor injuries, police said.

Officers caught Fisher, but were unable to capture the other two, who escaped on a Red Line train. The two suspects were later seen on video at the JFK-UMass stop and appeared to be headed toward the Ashmont stop.

A subsequent search of the sedan found a handgun and a shotgun, Officer James Kenneally, a police spokesman, said Saturday.

Police continued to investigate the robbery and ask that anyone with information call detectives assigned to District C-6 (South Boston) at (617) 343-4742. To assist the investigation anonymously, call the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or text the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).