Fairfax County Cops

Fairfax County Cops

Police: Man got ride from cop after Natick gas station break-in



A Boston man who authorities said got a ride from a cop minutes after breaking into a Natick gas station earlier this year was arraigned in Framingham District Court yesterday.

Athen Whigham, 44, was arrested on a Natick warrant as he was about to be released from custody in Suffolk County, where he has been held since a March arrest for a Boston armed robbery.

Whigham is charged with breaking into the Hess gas station on Rte. 9 on Jan. 15.

Prosecutor Dannon Stacer said Whigham smashed a glass door to get into the gas station. After failing to get the cash drawer from the register, he stole $120 worth of cigarettes and left.

Whigham was then seen walking on Rte. 9 in Wellesley, where an officer picked him up and drovve him to the Brookline border, Stacer said.

After dropping off Whigham, the officer got an alert that Natick Police were looking for a man whose description matched Whigham.

“The officer viewed (security) video and identified the defendant as the same person,” Stacer said.

Natick Police issued a warrant for Whigham’s arrest, but he had not been arrested.

Whigham, of 105 Chauncy St., was charged with breaking and entering, larceny from a building and malicious destruction of property worth more than $250.

Stacer asked Judge Douglas Stoddart for $5,000 bail, citing Whigham’s long record, which includes several armed robberies.

Whigham’s lawyer, Mark Helwig, argued that Wellesley Police had no right to stop and ask for Whigham’s name. He also said it “was a case of mistaken identity.”

Stoddart ordered Whigham held on $2,500 bail. He is due back in court on July 9 for a pretrial conference.