BOSTON, Feb. 4, 2016—A Roxbury man was arraigned today in connection with an armed robbery after he was identified in part through distinctive footwear that he allegedly attempted to flush down the toilet of a courthouse lockup, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

RANDY BROXTON (D.O.B. 5/23/85) was arraigned today in Roxbury Municipal Court on a charge of armed robbery while masked connection with the Dec. 27 robbery of a Dudley Street market.  Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Halprin requested bail of $35,000.  Judge Kenneth Fiandaca set $25,000 bail and ordered Broxton to wear a GPS monitor, remain within Massachusetts, stay away from the location of the robbery and stay away and have no contact with the victim in the event he is released on bail. 

Broxton has remained in custody since his Dec. 31 arraignment in South Boston Municipal Court on a charge of breaking and entering.  During that court appearance, his open bail was revoked in an earlier Roxbury Municipal Court case charging breaking and entering in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony.

Boston Police responded to Brown’s Food Market on Dudley Street for a report of an armed robbery on the morning of Dec. 27.  A security camera inside the store captured one suspect walk inside and point a semiautomatic firearm at the store’s clerk and then a second man walk behind the counter and retrieve cash and two cartons of Newport cigarettes.  The second man wore a black-and-white checkered coat with a hood and distinctive lime-green, blue, and yellow sneakers.

On Dec. 30, Broxton was arrested on an unrelated case out of South Boston charging breaking and entering.  At the time, he was wearing sneakers matching those worn during the armed robbery, prosecutors said.

After learning that detectives intended to obtain a search warrant to seize the sneakers during his arraignment in South Boston Municipal Court the next day, Broxton was observed by court officers attempting to destroy the sneakers by ripping pieces of the shoes apart and flushing them down the toilet of his cell, prosecutors said.  Broxton’s alleged actions were captured by a camera inside the courthouse.  At the order of a judge, the damaged sneakers were secured while detectives obtained a warrant to seize them.

A person familiar with Broxton identified him as the person in an image captured during the robbery.  Broxton also allegedly made incriminating statements regarding the robbery, prosecutors said.

Broxton was represented by Arnold Abelow.  He returns to court March 8.

–30–

All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.