Orange man charged with unarmed robbery after grabbing $180 from register at Quabbin Harvest

ORANGE — On Friday, March 13, 2026, at approximately 7:03 p.m., Officers Kyle Johnson and Chris Bisceglia of the Orange Police Department were dispatched to Quabbin Harvest Food Co-op at 12 North Main Street following a report of a robbery.

(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Kyle Johnson for the incident and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)

Officer Johnson said the reporting party was the store’s manager, who told dispatch that a man asked for change for a $100 bill, then grabbed cash from the register when she opened it.

“She described the suspect as a tall, thin, white male, salt and pepper hair, facial hair, crack-head looking, wearing a red baseball cap and grey hoodie,” Officer Johnson said. “She informed dispatch that he fled on a bicycle south on North Main Street, then west on West Main Street. [The reporting party] stated there were no weapons involved.”

Officer Johnson said that he arrived at Quabbin Harvest about two minutes after the call was received by dispatch, entered the store and began speaking with the store manager/reporting party and another employee, who was present during the crime.

“[The store manager] stated the suspect entered the store and asked her if she could break a $100 bill,” Officer Johnson said. “She told him she could break it. [She] opened the cash drawer. She said she counted out $100 in $20 bills then reached her hand out for the suspect to hand her his $100 bill. At that point, the suspect leaped across the counter and grabbed some cash out of the drawer. He also attempted to grab the cash out of [the store manager’s] hand, causing one of the $20 bills to be torn. I asked her if he had a weapon and she said no.”

Officer Johnson then asked the manager if he acted like he had a weapon and she responded by saying he was “just sketchy.”

“I asked her what he looked like,” Officer Johnson said. “She said he was tall, thin, white, and he looked like a crack head.”

At this time, the other employee interjected stating that the suspect had salt-and-pepper facial hair, and was donning a red baseball cap, grey sweater, black shoes and pants.

“[The employee] added that her description of the colors of the hat and sweatshirt may be vice versa, which I interpreted as the hat may be grey and the sweatshirt may be red,” Officer Johnson said.

The store manager then told Officer Johnson that she slammed the drawer shut so the suspect couldn’t take any more money and chased him out of the store, during which she tripped, fell on her knee, and sustained a minor injury. She added that there was a debit/credit card that was dropped by the suspect during the robbery.

“She placed the card on the counter. The card was a blue OnePay Mastercard with the name Andrew Robinson on it,” Officer Johnson said. “I am familiar with Robinson from previous encounters.”

According to police, Andrew A. Robinson, 42, is a resident of Orange, MA.

“Without being asked, [the store manager] went onto Facebook on her phone and looked up Andrew Robinson,” Officer Johnson said. “She found Robinson’s Facebook page, looked at his photo and immediately said, ‘That’s him…one hundred percent!’ She showed me the photo and I recognized the person in the photo to be the Andrew Robinson I am familiar with.”

The store manager then showed the photo to the other employee who responded “Yup.”

Officer Johnson asked the store manager if she was one hundred percent certain the man in the photo was Robinson, and she replied, “yes,” adding that he now has more facial hair and appears more “scruffy” than in his Facebook photo.

“[The store manager] later took a screenshot of this Facebook photo that was used to identify Robinson. This photo was emailed to me and was attached to the case file,” Officer Johnson said. Adding, “Both [the store manager] and [the other employee] saw Robinson leave the area on a bicycle west on West Main Street. I asked them how much cash was stolen. [The store manager] and [other employee] said there were (20) $20 bills in the drawer previous to the robbery and there were now (11) $20 bills. They believed Robinson stole (9) $20 bills for a total value of $180. I collected the debit card left behind by Robinson. I placed it into a Ziplock bag to use it as a scent article for a K9 track.”

Officer Johnson said that while he was gathering information from the victims, Officer Bisceglia was checking the area for Robinson.

“Officer Bisceglia informed me that based on the timing and the route he took, he believed Robinson was likely still nearby,” Officer Johnson said. “Officer Bisceglia requested a Massachusetts State Police unit to assist. Dispatch informed us that C-1 barracks in Athol was sending one to assist.”

Shortly thereafter, two state police troopers arrived on scene to assist Officer Johnson with his K9 track.

“At 7:26 p.m., I deployed K9 Zeus on a track,” Officer Johnson said. “K9 Zeus and I are certified in tracking by the North American Work Dog Association (NAPWDA) and by the United Police Work Dog Association (UPWDA). The track began at the intersection of North Main Street and West Main Street, which was the point the suspect was last seen.”

Officer Johnson used the debit card that was dropped by the suspect as a scent article, he also allowed K9 Zeus to sniff inside the Ziplock bag that contained the debit card to obtain a human scent.

“I then commanded him to begin the track,” Officer Johnson said. “K9 Zeus tracked west on West Main St. K9 Zeus tracked on the right side of the street until the area of about 69 West Main Street where he crossed to the left side. He continued tracking down the left side of the street until he reached 89 West Main Street. He went into the backyard of this property before returning to the street. He continued west beyond the OIC [Orange Innovation Center] building, located at 131 West Main Street. At about this point, Zeus began to display more negatives which indicated that he no longer detected human scent. The track was terminated near 189 West Main Street.”

Officer Johnson said that based on K9 Zeus’ behavior, he concluded that Robinson was somewhere in the area of the OIC building.

“I returned K9 Zeus to the cruiser,” Officer Johnson said. Adding, “I drove to the OIC building and parked my patrol vehicle.”

Officer Johnson said he walked around the area for approximately 45 minutes searching for Robinson, checking both the perimeter and the interior of the building.

“As I exited the laundromat at the back of the OIC building, I observed a male party walking on the railroad tracks westbound,” Officer Johnson said. “The male party was wearing a grey jacket, red pants, black shoes, and had a black baseball cap on. The male was tall and thin and had salt and pepper facial hair. I approached him and asked him if he was walking on the railroad tracks and he said he was. I was able to positively identify this male party as Andrew Robinson. I told him to walk to me and place his hands behind his back. Robinson cooperated with my commands. I secured him into handcuffs that were double-locked and properly fit. I informed dispatch that I had Robinson under arrest.”

Officer Johnson said he searched Robinson and placed all his possessions on the ground.

“I located (9) $20 bills in Robinson’s pocket, among other things. After completing the search, I had Robinson sit on some nearby steps. Robinson asked me, ‘Am I going to be going up to Greenfield tonight?’ I interpreted this as Robinson asking if he was going to Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, where Orange Police Department sends prisoners for holding. Up to this point, Robinson had not questioned why he was under arrest or asked any other questions.”

At this time, Officer Johnson read Robinson his Miranda rights from a card he carries on his person and asked Robinson if he wanted to speak with him.

“He mumbled something that I couldn’t understand,” Officer Johnson said. “I asked him again and he said something to the effect of, ‘Oh, I’ll answer questions, I don’t care.’ I told Robinson that he was under arrest for the robbery at Quabbin Harvest. While I made this statement to Robinson, he stated, ‘Yeah, I know. I understand. I know, I understand.’ I then informed him that he was identified by the employees at Quabbin Harvest. Robinson responded, ‘Oh, yeah, yeah. I understand.’ I then told Robinson I wanted clarity on the Miranda rights and I wanted to confirm he was in fact waiving them. I asked him again if he wanted to answer questions. Robinson responded, ‘I’ll answer anything. I f*cked up, I know.'”

Officer Johnson said he asked Robinson where he had been between the time of the robbery and when they were speaking.

“Robinson said he was by the train tracks. I asked him if that’s where his bike was and he said, ‘It’s over there, yeah,'” Officer Johnson said. “Robinson stated he was in that spot by the tracks since the robbery and he didn’t go anywhere else. I reiterated to him that he was being charged with unarmed robbery and he responded, ‘yup, yup.’ I told him he could potentially be charged
with vandalism due to [one of the employees] reporting the monitor was knocked over. Robinson responded, ‘I didn’t think I
ruined anything, but if I did, I did, maybe I did. I don’t know.'”

Officer Johnson said Robinson was then secured in the rear of Officer Bisceglia’s cruiser and transported to the Orange Police Department for booking.

“I returned to the station to complete the booking procedures with Robinson. While at the station, he was afforded all applicable rights,” Officer Johnson said. “He was provided with an opportunity to use the telephone but he declined. During booking, Robinson stated that he committed the robbery to get money to buy heroin because he was getting sick without methadone.”

Robinson’s bail was set at $5,000 cash.

“Robinson was unable to produce the bail money. He was transported to Franklin County Sheriff’s Office for holding until his court date on Monday, March 16,” Officer Johnson said. “Robinson’s property was inventoried and stored in the booking cabinet. Robinson was in possession of a glass pipe with cocaine residue on it as well as a metal push rod, which is used to pack/scrape the pipe. These items were disposed of.”

Officer Johnson said the $180 cash and OnePay CashRewards Mastercard were entered into evidence.

“On Sunday, March 15, I searched the wooded area along the train tracks behind the OIC building. I located a maroon-colored Pacific brand mountain bike laying on top of some brush,” Officer Johnson added. “The area where I located the bike was within 10 yards of where I first saw Robinson when I arrested him. The bike was photographed and removed, then transported to the Orange Police Department.”

Officer Johnson said he contacted Robinson’s mother to arrange for her to pick up the bike. She informed him that they did not own that type of bike and said that when Robinson left the house on March 13, he did so on his father’s white 10-speed bicycle.

“She could not recall what brand it was but she reiterated that they do not own a maroon mountain bike,” Officer Johnson said. “[Robinson’s mother] said after Robinson left the house that night, he called her and asked for a ride because he got a flat tire on the white 10-speed, somewhere near Lake Mattawa. [She] said she refused to pick him up. At this time, it is unknown how Robinson came to possess the mountain bike or where he left his father’s white 10 speed. It should be noted that directly next to where the mountain bike was located behind the OIC building, there was a glassine corner bag with white residue, believed to be cocaine residue, as well as a piece of blackened foil with black residue, believed to be heroin residue. These items were photographed, collected and disposed of.”

Robinson’s arraignment was scheduled for March 16, 2026, in Orange District Court.

---

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in March, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.

To learn more about News Link Live’s unique business model, please read the following:
An online business model that could replace local newspapers

Why The Leominster Champion Failed

The Medium is the Message by Marshall McCLuhan

The Ego and the ID by Sigmund Freud