AUGUSTA — The blue-masked man with a hood and gloves headed for the front door of The Bank of Maine branch.
It was a dead giveaway.
Trooper Dane Wing, who was driving along Pond Road in Manchester, stopped immediately when he saw what he believed to be a would-be robber, who police have identified as Glen Harrington, 28, of Fairfield.
“That is the type of case that every police officer dreams about — interrupting something in progress,” Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine State Police, said Friday.
Harrington was not charged with robbery or attempted robbery as of Friday afternoon when he made an appearance in Augusta District Court via video on charges of eluding, criminal speed and driving to endanger. A judge set bail at $10,000 on the new charges.
“As soon as he saw me, he took off running with his hands in the pocket of his sweat shirt in a manner that led me to believe that he was concealing a weapon,” Wing writes in an affidavit filed with the court Friday.
Harrington ran to a nearby red Chevrolet Blazer, ignoring efforts to stop him, Wing said, and squealed his tires as he fled west on U.S. Route 202.
That started a chase that went up and down Main Street in Winthrop Thursday afternoon and ended in a crash in front of dozens of people.
Harrington, who then fled on foot, was stopped with the assistance of by-standers, including a visiting Baptist missionary who used to play football and tackled him.
Harrington remains behind bars in Kennebec County jail on a charge of violating probation.
He had been convicted of robbing an Irving Mainway store in Norridgewock in August 2009.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
badams@centralmaine.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
