Past Crimes Catch Up: Convicted Killer of Boston Police Officer Arrested in Rhode Island Bank Robbery

2024-03-22 04:44:44

NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A man who was convicted of killing a Boston police officer more than 30 years ago was arrested in Rhode Island Thursday after he allegedly robbed a woman outside a bank.

North Providence Police said 60-year-old Joshua McCullough punched a woman in the chest outside the Citizens Bank on Charles Street Tuesday night and stole a deposit bag from her. There was $12,665 in the bag, according to police. The woman was making a deposit for her employer.

McCullough was arrested Thursday morning after police identified him as the suspect. They said the Jeep that was spotted leaving the scene was parked in his driveway.

Joshua McCullough

North Providence Police Department

Back on February 19, 1993, McCullough, then named Terrell Muhammad, shot and killed Boston Police officer Thomas Rose at a precinct while in custody for suspicion of theft. He was sentenced to 26 to 30 years in prison but was released in 2009 after serving only 15 years. He also served six years for manslaughter after shooting Dorchester clerk Angela Skeete in 1986.

“I wasn’t surprised. I knew it was only a matter of time before he would offend again,” said one of Officer Rose’s children, Allyson. “My dad would still be alive if he stayed away for his first offense.”

She said it is not surprising though it boils her blood that the man convicted of killing their dad is now the prime suspect in a new violent, crime in Rhode Island.

That’s why they’ve been calling for the repeat offender to stay behind bars.

Boston Police officer Thomas Rose

CBS Boston

“I can’t even explain the feeling, you see this man, he murdered your father, he shot him,” said Allyson Rose. “And he’s out living his life, my dad’s been gone my whole life.”

The Rose family has said it before, and they’ll say it again: something needs to change before more lives are lost.

“I really think it’s time for a wakeup call,” said Allyson Rose. “It’s clear there’s a sick pattern here with this guy, if they keep letting him out, he’s just going to keep doing it again and again and again until more people are hurt or more people are killed.”

McCullough is being charged with first-degree robbery and felony assault.

He is being held in jail without bail.