Abington: Clerk with bat fights back against armed robber

In Abington, two armed robbery suspects were arrested Friday, and one of them was hospitalized after being beaten with a

(From left: 42-year-old Jon Harrington of Weymouth, , 38-year-old Bruce Provan of Weymouth)

baseball bat by one of his would-be-victims.

Abington Police Chief David Majenski says they received a description from Weymouth police of a pair of suspects who allegedly robbed a car wash in Weymouth at around 10:00 p.m. Thursday. An Abington police officer then went around to local businesses in Abington, including the 7-11 on Brockton Ave.

“He went and said, ‘Jeez, we had a robbery, the next town over. Just be vigilant’. And this clerk was just that,” said Majenski.

Chief Majenski says the clerk put a baseball bat behind the counter, and was ready to use it when one of the suspects, 38-year-old Bruce Provan of Weymouth, came in the store early Friday morning and pulled a handgun.

“He’s pointing it at the clerk, and the clerk kind of acts like he’s going to go get cash out of the drawer kind of reaches down but he has the bat that he had previously put there. And then he goes and strikes the individual, and ends up chasing the suspect with the firearm right out the door,” said Majenski.

The clerk followed Provan to a pickup truck driven by Provan’s alleged accomplice, 42-year-old Jon Harrington also of Weymouth, who allegedly struck the clerk with a 2×4 piece of lumber. After a struggle, the suspects fled the scene.

Police apprehended and arrested the men separately Thursday morning. Provan was taken to the hospital, treated and released into police custody.

Chief Majenski says that while the clerk was lucky in this case, he doesn’t advise residents to start attacking armed robbers.

“I would never encourage residents or store clerks to do that,” said Majenski. “In this case, I can’t say that I’m unhappy with the results. But certainly, I would never encourage that.”

Both men were scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Brockton District Court on charges of armed robbery.