-- Boston police are looking for a trio of bandits who pulled off a pair robberies in southwest Boston last week. The group knocked over a Hyde Park convenience store with a fourth man on Wednesday in broad daylight and took down a Jamaica Plain bodega on Thursday night. They threatened clerks with silver handguns and netted nearly $6000 from the two stick-ups. [BPDNews]

-- The notorious goatee bandit was thwarted by an off-duty Cambridge cop, authorities say, ending weeks of speculation that Eric Gagne had embarked on a life of crime. Patrolman Paul Puzyn was in line at the Cambridge Portuguese Credit Union Sunday morning when the suspect got into a loud argument with a bank teller before attempting to flee with his loot. Puzyn tackled the man, identified by authorities as Gilbert Matos, 25 of Belmont, causing him to lose the loot bag. A witness's description of the getaway car helped authorities arrest Matos the next day. He faces charges in connection with 8 bank heists. [Cambridge Chronicle]

-- Cambridge cops captured another alleged bank robber yesterday as a cloud of red ink from his loot bag drew police attention while he fled the scene on bicycle. [Cambridge Chronicle]

-- In Somerville, a man went on a paintballing spree. He wounded one and left Park Street looking like a Jackson Pollack. [Somerville Journal]

All charges alleged until proven under law.