Massachusetts

PD: Market Basket Robber Throws $3,000 in Cash in Air While Fleeing Scene

Three people are facing charges after allegedly robbing a Market Basket grocery store while armed.

Ricardo Flores, 45, of Boston, Derek Rodriguez, 38, of Lowell, and Selena Aleandara, 23, of Methuen, were arrested Tuesday night after an armed robbery at the store on Essex Street in Lawrence.

Police say Flores, once convicted of federal bank robbery, entered the grocery store at around 7:30 p.m., demanded cash and threatened to shoot anyone who pushed the alarm button.

Flores allegedly threw more than $3,000 in cash into the air as he ran the store into the parking lot toward a white vehicle waiting for him.

Investigators said inside the car were Aleandara and Rodriguez — a couple that has been dating for six months.

In court Wednesday, Aleandara's attorney said she was involved in the crime through her boyfriend.

The vehicle was stopped about 10 minutes later in Methuen.

Flores reportedly tried to pull a knife on responding officers after he tried to flee on foot.

"At one point, retrieving a black folding knife in his hand, officers were able, eventually, to subdue him and place him into handcuffs," said Katherine Fennell Kelly, an Essex County assistant distict attorney.

All three have been charged with armed robbery. Flores was also charged with armed robbery while masked, resisting arrest and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Flores and Rodriguez are being held pending a dangerousness hearing.

Aleandara is being held on $5,000 cash bail.

Contact Us