MANCHESTER — A man wanted for the gunpoint robbery of a Subway Sandwich Shop clerk and two customers earlier this week was arrested Friday morning, thanks to tips from the public, police said.

In Circuit Court-Manchester District Division later in the morning, Timothy Potter, 40, was ordered held on $100,000 cash-only bail. Potter was charged with three counts of armed robbery, involving the clerk and the two customers. A probable cause hearing was set for March 29.

Bail is unlikely because there was a parole warrant issued Feb. 21 for Potter, whose most recent criminal conviction include two charges of habitual offender in 2008, carrying sentences of one to five years in prison. Police prosecutor Steven Mangone said other convictions include another habitual offender offense, drug possession and sale, issing bad checks and violation of probation.

Although Potter told Judge Gregory Michael Friday that he was staying at the New Horizons homeless shelter at 199 Manchester St., police arrested him after going to another shelter.

Police arrested Potter at 4:45 a.m. Friday after they went to the Wayward Home at 286 Concord St., looking for him.

Lt. Maureen Tessier said tipsters told police Potter could be found at the Wayward Home. Outside the shelter Friday morning, officers saw Potter walking along the fence line of the parking lot, she said.

Potter, seeing police, quickly changed direction and hopped the fence, Tessier said, but officers, including police dog Monty, caught up to him. Potter was arrested at Maple and Nashua streets.

The police dog searched the area for any evidence and found a silver pellet handgun under a metal trash bin nearby, according to Tessier.

She said the gun fits the description of the one used in the Subway robbery, but police can't say definitively that it is the weapon.

Subway was robbed shortly before 8:40 p.m. Tuesday in what police described as a violent incident.
The clerk at the Subway Sandwich Shop, 1000 Elm St., told police that the robber behaved like an ordinary customer as he entered the store and ordered a sandwich. When the sandwich was done and the clerk began to ring up the order, she said the man took a gun from a right-side pocket and began saying things that led her to believe he was robbing the store.

She told police she fled to a rear work area and tried to call for help, but the robber followed her, assaulted her and took her cell phone.

He then returned to the front of the store, removed cash from the register and pointed the gun at two customers, ordering them to the floor. He demanded their wallets and fled east across Elm Street and onto Concord Street. He was last seen running behind the Firefly Restaurant at 22 Concord St.

Police released a detailed description of the robber and also released surveillance footage. Tessier said police were able to identify Potter as the robber after receiving calls. Callers, she said, continued contacting police with tips about where he could be found.

Although the Subway robbery happened shortly after two other violent armed robberies at Manchester convenience stores, police said Potter was not a suspect in those holdups.

Friday police arrested Dominick Stanin, 44, of 95 Pleasant St., Manchester, and charged him with robbing a 7-11 and a Shell station on Monday. After Stanin was identified as the suspect, he was found near 123 Pleasant St. by state parole and probation officers and Manchester police. He was taken into custody without incident. Stanin has been charged with two counts of robbery: one for each store. He will be arraigned at Circuit Court, Ninth District, on Monday.