BETHEL – Two young Massachusetts men were charged with robbing a Big Apple convenience store at gunpoint Tuesday afternoon after crashing their getaway car while counting the loot, police said.

Daniel Patrick Shannon, 19, of 481 E. Water St., Rockland, Mass., and Brian Edward Kinlin, 19, of 181 Beal Extension in Rockland, were each arrested in Paris and charged with Class A armed robbery and receiving stolen property.

Police said both Shannon and Kinlin, who were caught on videotape from the in-store camera and identified, confessed to the crime and revealed where in their impounded car they hid the stolen gun used in the robbery.

They were then remanded to Oxford County jail after failing to post bail of either $75,000 cash or $250,000 surety.

The incident began at 1:46 p.m. when both men entered C.N. Brown’s Big Apple convenience store on Railroad Street, said Bethel police Chief Darren M. Tripp.

“One subject (later identified as Shannon) brandished a semi-automatic handgun, pointed it at a 30-year-old female clerk from Bethel, and ordered her to give him all the money,” he said.

Neither the clerk was injured, nor a handful of customers inside, whom the second man concentrated on, yelling at them to give him their money, Tripp added.

The clerk “correctly complied with that order. She did exactly what she is supposed to do. Cooperate, comply, get a good description of the robbers, and let them leave. There’s nothing in that cash register worth arguing on. There’s absolutely no reason for being a hero,” Tripp said.

After robbing the clerk of more than $500, the pair fled on foot and were last seen running across the railroad tracks toward the Java House coffee shop, he added.

“They had parked their vehicle at the Java House after driving around Bethel looking for a place to rob. They admitted they had come to Maine Sunday and were staying at a condo at Sunday River. They said they were heading back to Massachusetts today to make a drug buy and come back to Newry,” Tripp said.

Shortly after the robbery, an all-points bulletin was issued for two white males in their late teens, wearing blue jeans and black-hooded sweatshirts.

Oxford County Capt. James P. Miclon, Sgt. Gary Hill and Deputy Justin Brown rushed to the scene as did Tripp and Bethel officer Phil Taylor and State Trooper Dan Hanson.

The store was secured and a search of the Bethel area came up empty. An on-scene investigation began.

Then police caught a huge break.

Shortly after being notified of the robbers’ description, Paris Sgt. Mike Dailey and officer Matthew Dailey were dispatched to a car-tree wreck on Route 26 just south of Stearns Hill Road, Tripp said.

“Upon responding, they met two male subjects who matched the description of the suspects. During the subsequent investigation, the two cops discovered large amounts of cash stuffed in every pocket of clothing on both men,” Tripp said.

Cash was strewn everywhere in plain view inside the car.

The two cops then took both suspects into custody and notified Miclon and Tripp in Bethel. Leaving Hill, Brown and Taylor at the scene, Miclon and Tripp rushed to the wreck.

“It was quite apparent that they were our two suspects from the physical evidence at the scene,” Tripp added.

Police said Shannon was driving the getaway car, his green 1995 Chevrolet Lumina when the wreck occurred.

“We believe that they were counting the money and driving very fast. They were probably full of adrenaline from the robbery and from meeting two cruisers northbound toward Bethel. They were not paying attention and slammed head-on into a tree 15 minutes after leaving Bethel,” Tripp said.

Both suspects sustained cuts and bruises but refused treatment. Police impounded the crushed car.

“During our subsequent interview with them, they both admitted to the crime. One subject, Shannon, told us they had hidden the gun in the vehicle we impounded. He took us out there and showed us where it was,” Tripp said.

The gun was a semi-automatic .22-caliber pistol.

“It was loaded. It had a round in the chamber and the hammer was still cocked back,” Tripp added.

Although police recovered $630 in assorted bills at the wreck, they have yet to learn how much was stolen from the store.

Tripp said he discovered the gun had been reported stolen in Rockland, Mass.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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