A 54 year-old Port Norfolk man is facing a slew of serious charges — including armed robbery and kidnapping— after he allegedly held-up the Tedeschi’s convenience store in Neponset at gunpoint last Thursday morning. The suspect made good his escape just before police arrived, but was nabbed the very next day as he brazenly walked near the scene of the Neponset Avenue crime scene.

Police say that Michael Carella was the gunman who accosted a store manager and another employee outside the Tedeschi’s just after 1 a.m. on Thursday. The suspect — a white male wearing a white baseball cap and a black hooded sweatshirt, ordered the manager to re-open the locked door of the store” or I will shoot you.” The robber put a pistol to the back of the manager’s head, according to a police report, and forced him to open a safe near the store’s main counter, where he stuffed an “unknown amount” of cash into a red book bag.

The suspect ran from the store as police approached the scene and dashed through nearby Garvey Park, eluding capture. Police viewed a surveillance tape of the incident and interviewed store employees, who said they recognized the suspect as a “relatively frequent customer.” Carella was positively identified from a photo line-up, according to a police report.

Almost 24 hours later, Carella was walking along Neponset Avenue at about 12:30 a.m. when he was spotted by a pair of alert C-11 cops. He was taken into custody without incident and a search warrant was obtained for his residence at 40 Walnut Street in Port Norfolk, just a few blocks from the Tedeschi’s store. A search of Carella’s apartment found a red canvas bag and clothing items that matched the description of those seen in the incident, but no cash.

Carella was arraigned Friday in Dorchester District Court and was ordered held on $150,000 cash bail. He is due back in court on Aug, 29.