AUGUSTA — A Farmingdale woman has been indicted on charges related to a home invasion last month in which a resident was awakened in the middle of the night by a masked man who threatened her with a knife.
Mary Catherine A. Tatlock, 30, faces charges of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary in connection with the Sept. 5 incident at the home of Dwight Wheeler on Prescott Road, Manchester.
Ricky Allen Lane, 24, and Michael J. Ruth II, 26, had previously been arrested and charged with the home invasion within a week of the incident. Tatlock was arrested Sept. 19. All were indicted by a grand jury Friday.
Wheeler’s live-in companion, Charlotte Pinkham, 67, told police she awoke around 2 a.m. to see a man standing over her holding a 4-inch knife and demanding money.
Lane and Ruth both confessed to the home invasion, according to an affidavit filed in Kennebec County Superior Court by Sheriff’s Deputy Jesse Duda, though each man claims the other carried the knife.
At the time of his arrest, Ruth told investigators the men targeted the house after a woman named Mary told them she had seen a big jewelry box there, according to the affidavit.
Duda’s affidavit says a plot was hatched to get money for more cocaine.
In connection with the same incident, Ruth was indicted on a charge of criminal mischief for allegedly breaking a lamp and a screen belonging to Pinkham.
He was indicted also on a charge of forgery that allegedly occurred Sept. 5 and a charge of operating after suspension Sept. 9, both in Augusta.
Lane was indicted on two additional robbery charges, one Aug. 28 at the Big Apple, Stone Street, and the other Sept. 1 at Mobil on the Run, Bangor Street, both in Augusta. An indictment is not a determination of guilt, but it is an indication there is enough evidence to proceed with formal charges and a trial in Superior Court.
Tatlock was arrested Sept. 19 on charges in connection with the robbery and remains at the Kennebec County jail in lieu of $5,000 cash or $50,000 surety bail. Ruth is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail and Lane’s bail is set at $1 million.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
badams@centralmaine.com
Note: This article was reposted to make a correction in the headline.
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