Suspect in Boston Market
robbery arrested

It didn’t take long for the identity of the man who allegedly robbed a local Boston Market at gunpoint on June 29 to reach police.
According to Capt. Jack McGinnis of Northeast Detectives, investigators had an arrest warrant for Lamea Hall, 29, of the 500 block of E. Upsal St. in Germantown, in hand almost before they publicly released video surveillance tape from the restaurant heist.
Facing life as a fugitive, Hall instead surrendered to police on July 8, when he and his lawyer showed up at Northeast Division headquarters at Harbison Avenue and Levick Street.
Hall is charged with robbery, unlawful restraint, weapons violations and related offenses.
Civilian tips helped investigators identify Hall in the days after the crime. Once cops got a name, they pulled a file mug shot of the suspect and showed it to store employees, who identified Hall as the bandit.
Police said Hall entered the Boston Market at Torresdale and Cottman avenues shortly after its 9 p.m. closing time and pulled a shotgun on five employees.
He forced the workers into the rear of the business, where he ordered one to open the safe and then herded them all into a walk-in freezer.
One of the employees called 911 on a cell phone.
Patrol cops soon arrived but remained outside for fear that the suspect was still inside the building with the loaded weapon. SWAT officers arrived at the scene to secure the building and release the restaurant workers.
There were no injuries reported. ••