JOHNSTON, RI — Officers from the Johnston Police Department responded to a reported armed robbery at the Cumberland Farms located at 663 Killingly Street at approximately 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Upon arrival, officers met with store employees and began gathering information and reviewing video surveillance.
The investigation revealed that the suspect, a male dressed entirely in black, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a black ski mask, entered the store and approached the counter.
He kept one hand inside his pants pocket, implying he was armed, and told the clerk, “Open the drawer or I will shoot.”
The suspect then jumped over the counter, removed cash from the register, and fled the store on foot.
A total of $426 was reportedly taken.
No firearm was displayed, and no one was injured.
During the course of the investigation, Johnston Police detectives learned that the Providence Police Department and the Cranston Police Department were actively investigating a series of similar armed robberies that occurred in their cities.
Detectives from Johnston immediately began working closely with Providence and Cranston investigators, comparing information, examining surveillance footage, and analyzing similarities between the incidents in each community.
Through this coordinated effort, it became clear that the same individual responsible for the robberies in Providence and Cranston was also responsible for the robbery in Johnston.
The suspect, Khivory Alston, 36, of Providence, was subsequently apprehended by members of the Providence and Cranston Police Departments.
He is expected to be arraigned in Third Division District Court on Friday on a Johnston Police Department charge of first-degree robbery.
