Gas station worker robbed of thousands on way to bank

By Matt Collette, Globe Correspondent

A gas station employee carrying tens of thousands of dollars in cash was pepper-sprayed and robbed this morning as he walked towards a Saugus bank to make a deposit, police said.

As the victim passed a white van in the parking lot of the Sovereign Bank on Route 1, two men allegedly opened the van's doors, sprayed him, and stole his bag, which contained deposits from several area gas stations, said Saugus Detective Lieutenant Domenic DiMella. DiMella said the amount of cash totaled in the "six figures."

One suspect was an older white man with grey hair and an athletic, stocky build; the other was a white man wearing a mask, DiMella said. Police have not released information about the identity of the victim.

Shortly after the robbery, police found the van abandoned about 500 feet south on Route 1, near Roller World, DiMella said. No arrests have been made.

The van had been stolen from Cambridge Chevrolet Honda on May 1 and the license plates had stolen Feb. 2 from a car parked on Route 1, DiMella said.

The branch was temporarily closed, but reopened soon after the incident, said Ellen Molle, a spokeswoman for Sovereign Bank.

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