Officer on detail spots robbery suspects

Police arrested two teenagers about 9 a.m. yesterday, minutes after a 14-year-old boy reported being robbed at gunpoint near Boylston and Ipswich streets. A Boston police officer working a detail in the neighborhood heard a radio report of the robbery and then saw two young men fitting the robbers' description running down Park Drive, Boston police spokesman David Estrada said. Police stopped them and learned that one of them was carrying a black handgun. Andre Love, 17, of Dorchester was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and armed robbery, and a 16-year-old whose name was not released was charged with assault and battery, Estrada said. The victim's MP3 player was returned to him, Estrada added.

A State Police search for two suspects in a carjacking on Interstate 90 last night resulted in the delay of several MBTA trains and the ire of commuter rail passengers. A toll collector at the Allston-Brighton tollbooth reported a carjacking in progress after two males displayed a handgun as they jumped in the back of a Nissan Maxima, which was driven by two other males and was stopped in a toll line. The car traveled a short distance and sideswiped another car before stopping, after which the suspects fled on foot toward a railroad depot, State Police said. Police said trains were delayed as they searched the tracks. No arrests were made, and the incident is still under investigation.

Massachusetts will receive $3 million from the US Department of Agriculture in recognition of the state's successful administration of food stamps, according to a statement released by Senator John F. Kerry and Senator Edward M. Kennedy yesterday. The funding is divided into two awards; $1,726,484 for the most improved program access and $1,290,453 for timely application processing. The awards were authorized by the 2002 Farm Bill, which grants high-performance bonuses worth $12 million to eight states that have displayed good performance in providing access to their programs. An additional $6 million was awarded to the six states that processed food stamp applications in the timeliest manner. A total of $18 million dollars was distributed to 14 states.

Governor Deval Patrick yesterday appointed Representative Michael E. Festa, a Melrose Democrat, as his new elderly affairs secretary. Festa, who has represented his district for eight years, has been acting vice chairman of the Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight since 2005. He will take the new post Oct. 9. The governor appointed Sandra K. Albright, chief executive officer of a senior services center in Dorchester, as undersecretary.

The pursuit of a man who allegedly robbed a bank in Hanson yesterday ended when he smashed his car into another in Whitman, seriously injuring a teenage driver, police said. Whitman police Officer Frank O'Rourke said that after the robbery was reported, a Whitman detective spotted the suspect's vehicle in East Bridgewater. Police pursued the car, which hit a car on Route 14 in East Bridgewater before heading into Whitman on Washington Street, where it crashed about 1:40 p.m. and the suspect was arrested, O'Rourke said. Robert Dunbar, 27, who said he was homeless, is to be arraigned today in Brockton District Court. Stephanie M. Guarino, 17, of Abington sustained serious injuries in the crash and was flown to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, police said.

Secret indictments were returned yesterday against four men in the July 4 slaying of a Randolph man at a house party in Randolph, authorities said. One suspect, Jeanmarie Thebaud, was already in custody, following his arraignment in Quincy District Court in August in the shotgun killing of 23-year-old John Lubin. Another suspect, Kerry Lorquet, was in custody on an unrelated Suffolk County matter. Thebaud's brother, Jonathan, and Destin Jean were arrested yesterday by Randolph police and State Police attached to the Norfolk district attorney's office. They are due to be arraigned today in Norfolk Superior Court. All four were indicted on murder charges, according to a release from David Traub, spokesman for Keating's office. Authorities have said that Jeanmarie Thebaud told acquaintances the shooting was in retaliation for Lubin's role in the 2004 murder of his cousin.