COPS: PIZZA PERP GRABS DOUGH

Pie in the sky plan goes awry

An armed bandit is behind bars after allegedly sticking up at least a half-dozen stores in Boston, including the pizza place where he once worked as a deliveryman, cops said.

Police arrested Thomas D. Huggins of Dorchester Tuesday — hiding in a closet and struggling with officers before telling them where his 9mm Ruger handgun was, cops said. He was arraigned yesterday on robbery charges in Dorchester District Court and held on $200,000 cash bail. He’ll be arraigned in Brighton District Court today on more robbery charges.

Police said they believe Huggins staged at least a half-dozen armed robberies in Brighton and Mattapan since the day after Christmas. On Saturday, they said, Huggins robbed two stores in the same building block in Mattapan Square.

At 1:46 p.m., Huggins reportedly went to the Cricket store on River Street with a handgun and took $320 from the cash register and a Samsung Galaxy S8 before fleeing down the street — in the direction of his old employer, Papa John’s.

Chris Jeanbaptiste, a cashier at Papa John’s, said he recognized Huggins, a former delivery driver, when he came into the store. Huggins allegedly went to the back room while Jeanbaptiste was busy, pistol-whipped the store’s manager and demanded money from the safe, which the manager could not open. Jeanbaptiste walked in on the scene. “He was holding a gun on my boss,” Jeanbaptiste told the Herald.

Huggins allegedly took $150 from the manager and brought the two men to the front of the store — where the store’s deliveryman had just returned. After locking the door, Huggins allegedly took $180 from the cash register and $320 from the deliveryman, holding the men at gunpoint in the shop’s freezer.

Huggins kept the men in the store for 20 minutes, while police were responding to the robbery of the Cricket two doors down, acting “very paranoid,” Jeanbaptiste said. Then Huggins allegedly put on a black Papa John’s T-shirt, grabbed a red pizza carrier and smeared flour on his face — disguising himself with his old job title.

“It was like something straight out of a book, I genuinely didn’t think that he’d get away with it,” Jeanbaptiste said, adding several police cars were visible outside but the officers were dealing with the other robbery. “He just walked down the street before anyone was able to get him.”

The BPD fugitive squad tracked him down and arrested him Tuesday after a struggle, in the home of an acquaintance.

Staff photos by matt west SLICE OF JUSTICE: Mattapan Papa John’s cashier Chris Jeanbaptiste, above, says former deliveryman Thomas D. Huggins robbed the River Street pizza place at gunpoint. Cops say they later tracked down the suspected pizza perp Tuesday, along with a 9mm...