Twelve minutes after a robbery of a Bangor Street convenience store was reported, Augusta police had a suspect in custody.
Sgt. Christopher Shaw said Tuesday that a number of officers were already near Bangor Street, on the east side of the Kennebec River, when the robbery at the Mobil Mart convenience store first was reported at 5:10 p.m.
“There was a weapon,” Shaw said, and an undisclosed amount of cash was taken.
“We had some good information on the suspect. We circled the area, we contained him in the area, we located him and we caught him,” he said.
Barry Grant Jr.
Police arrested 38-year-old Barry Grant, of Augusta, who was on foot on Cony Street, within minutes of a report of a weapon being displayed at Mobil Mart, according to Augusta police Detective Sgt. Jason Cote, adding that a weapon was recovered during the arrest. He was charged with robbery.
The class A felony is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and up to $50,000 in fines.
According to emergency radio traffic, police searched an area east of Bangor Street, south of Ridgewood Drive near Lillian P. Hussey Elementary School, after the suspect was seen running down Purinton Avenue and onto Ridgewood Drive.
According to a Wednesday news release from Augusta police Chief Jared Mills, the 911 caller stater that around 5:10 p.m. an unidentified suspect entered the store, threatened the use of a weapon and demanded money. Mills said Grant did make off with cash, but he would not disclose the amount.
Mills said the department is still investigating two other robberies that they believe are connected the one on Tuesday. This weekend, police sought information on a robbery Saturday at Walgreens on Western Avenue and last week at the Augusta Quick Mart on Western Avenue.
Grant was taken to the Kennebec County jail. His bail is set at $10,000 cash or $5,000 with a secured Maine Pretrial Contract. Conditions of his release include no contact with anyone at the Mobil Mart.
Anyone with information about any of the incidents is encouraged to contact the Augusta Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Bureau at 626-2370, ext. 3418.
Staff photographer Andy Molloy and staff writers Sam Shepherd and Abigail Austin contributed to this report.
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