Boston police arrested a 20-year veteran of the department yesterday on charges that he robbed a Roslindale gas station using his service revolver.
Police arrested Michael T. Jones, 44, of Dorchester an hour after receiving a call about an armed robbery at the corner of Washington and Albano streets.
Police received a call shortly before 4 p.m. that a man had fled the gas station after robbing the clerk at gunpoint. Police issued a "be on the lookout" alert on the radio.
Elaine Driscoll, department spokeswoman, said a "vigilant citizen" listening to a police scanner heard the message, spotted the car driving by on Canterbury Street, and contacted the department with the license plate number.
"Witnesses were very helpful," Driscoll said. "They gave a very detailed suspect description as well as the description of the suspect's vehicle."
The officers went to the residence on Gleason Street in Dorchester where the car was registered. Driscoll said they realized that the owner could be a fellow officer. There are two men named Michael Jones who work in the department, she said.
When they arrived, they found Jones sitting in the driver's seat of the vehicle, police said.
Officers ordered him out of the car and took his firearm, which was also in the car, as well as clothing that matched the description of that worn by the gunman, police said.
Witnesses later identified Jones as the gunman. He was arrested and charged with one count of armed robbery, one count of armed assault, and two counts of assault by means of a dangerous weapon. Jones had most recently worked as a patrolman in District E-18 in Hyde Park.
In a written statement, Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis commended officers for the swift arrest, which was made "in less than one hour from the time the incident was reported."
"The internal investigation on this case is well underway and the punishment will be aggressive and certain," he said in the statement. "It is reprehensible when an officer violates the law that he is entrusted to uphold, and I will not stand for it."
Jones, who joined the department in 1988, has one internal affairs complaint against him, filed in the 1990s, said Driscoll. Police could not say last night why the complaint had been filed and said a complete review of his file is underway.
Jones had been calling in sick since Jan. 2, and had been on sick leave from 2004 to 2006, Driscoll said. In 2006, he returned to light desk duty in Hyde Park.
Union officials did not return phone calls last night.
The incident is the latest in a string of arrests of city police officers.
Roberto Pulido, Carlos Pizarro, and Nelson Carrasquillo were arrested in Miami in July 2006 after they allegedly protected truckloads of cocaine shipped to Boston in an FBI sting operation.
The three received tens of thousands of dollars for their services, according to prosecutors.
Pulido pleaded guilty in November to charges that he conspired to ship more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and 1 kilogram of heroin. He pleaded no contest to carrying a gun in a drug-trafficking crime.
The 10-year police veteran, who resigned from the force, faces a prison sentence of 15 years to life when he is sentenced Feb. 6.
The other two officers had previously pleaded guilty.
Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com. Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com.
