RACINE - Police arrested a 30-year-old Racine man early Friday morning for armed robbery after an officer saw him running away from a gas station wearing a mask.

Anthony S. Lindsey of 721 Center St. was taken into custody around 6:45 a.m., a little over two hours after he allegedly robbed the Total 24 gas station at 930 Washington Ave., according to police spokesman Sgt. Bernie Kupper.

Kupper said a Racine police officer was driving south on Washington Avenue past the gas station around 4:30 a.m. Friday when he saw someone running at full-speed from the store. The officer slowed his squad and noticed the man wearing a black mask over his face, attempting to pull it off and shove something into the front of his pants.

The man then ran behind the squad, into a nearby parking lot and into the yards of neighboring homes. The officer went to Total 24 and a clerk ran out to tell him the store had just been robbed by a masked man with a gun.

Kupper said the officer stayed with the victim and called other officers to respond. Police set up a perimeter around the neighborhood and asked the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department's Canine Unit to assist them.

Authorities searched the area and spotted the suspect near 10th Street and Grand Avenue around 6:40 a.m. A few minutes later after a short foot pursuit, a police sergeant took Lindsey into custody in the 900 block of Villa Street.

Lindsey was arrested on charges of armed robbery. Kupper said officers recovered money, a mask and an air gun designed to look like a Smith and Wesson handgun.