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How An Alleged Robber's Interstate Crime Spree Finally Ended In Southern Vermont

Police say Mark Triolo robbed Allen Brothers Market in Westminster before he was found later that night in Brattleboro.
Howard Weiss-Tisman
/
VPR
Police say Mark Triolo robbed Allen Brothers Market in Westminster before he was found later that night in Brattleboro.

A man suspected of robbing numerous convenience stores now faces federal charges. Mark Triolo, 46, of Texas, remains hospitalized after police shot him in Brattleboro Friday night.

Triolo’s choices seemed to be random — the stores he allegedly robbed, the exits he took, the driveway he eventually pulled into. But the officers, and the people he encountered that night, will remember him for a long time.

It was just around 9 p.m. Friday, and one Brattleboro resident was sitting at his desk, playing cards on his computer when he looked out the window and noticed a car pull into his driveway.

“So I thought, maybe he’s just turning around; a lot of people turn around there,” said the man, who did not want his name used because he is still upset about what happened next. “He turns his headlights off. OK. So I’m seeing this. So I yell to my wife, 'Call 911.' Because I know this guy is not delivering pizza. He’s up to no good.”

According to a police report, Triolo — who was wanted in multiple states, for multiple crimes — had pulled into the driveway, after speeding away from a Brattleboro police officer in a stolen SUV.

Triolo had spent the previous few days, the police say, robbing convenience stores in New York state and Vermont.

And after fleeing from a police officer who had spotted him on a major commercial road in Brattleboro, Triolo turned down a few dirt roads and ended up on this dark driveway on Black Mountain Road.

The resident's wife called 911 and a number of police cars showed up almost instantly, he recalled.

And as he sat at his desk, he watched as the police approached Triolo and exchanged some words with Triolo — and then numerous gunshots rang out.

“It was quite exciting Friday night,” the man said. “I was so hyped up with adrenaline that I could not sleep at all. I heard the guy moan after he got shot. That’s how close he was.”

Three members of the Brattleboro Police Department, and a state trooper, shot Triolo multiple times in the legs and torso. Triolo was transported to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and then to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center where he was treated for his injuries.

Triolo was unarmed, and the police say a pellet gun was later found inside the car.

According to the police report, and to newspaper accounts, Triolo is suspected of driving from Kansas, to Tennessee and up into the Northeast. They say Triolo robbed a gas station in Queensbury, New York, before hitting markets in Vergennes and Weathersfield, Vermont.

Vermont State Police and federal authorities say Triolo was on a multi-state crime spree, and he was driving down Interstate 91, looking for quiet, secluded stores to rob, before police finally caught up with him in Brattleboro.

Around 8 p.m. Friday — just before he pulled into the driveway in Brattleboro — Triolo got off the Interstate and found Allen Brothers Market and Farm Stand in Westminster.

Allen Brothers is on a quiet stretch of Route 5, right off the highway.

“Allen Brothers has been established since 1956,” said co-owner Stacey Allen. “So 62 years and this robbery on Friday night was the first time that we’ve ever been held up. So it’s been a blessing, and yet it was a very scary event to have happen.”

The police told Allen that Triolo got off the highway in Bellows Falls and cased out a store. But it was too busy and crowded in Bellows Falls, so Triolo headed down Route 5 and stumbled upon Allen Brothers.

No one was hurt, Allen said, and all of her employees did what they were supposed to do, but she said the event will have a lasting impact on the business.

“When something like this happens it does make you think about what practices you have in place,” Allen said. “And, you know, in our training we really don’t talk about this. But I think right now we are examining what we do, and it’s definitely causing us to have a meeting with all of our staff.”

Allen Brothers does have a pretty good security system in place and after the robbery in Westminster, the police tracked Triolo down in Brattleboro, about 20 miles south.

A Brattleboro police officer spotted him at a market, off the highway. And Triolo took off, pulled into a driveway and turned off his lights.

That’s when the guy who was sitting at his table playing cards on his computer asked his wife to call 911.

Copyright 2018 Vermont Public Radio

Howard Weiss-Tisman is VPR's southern Vermont correspondent.