GARDINER — A local teenager has been charged with robbing a Rite Aid on Spring Street on Monday, police said.

The 16-year-old Gardiner boy was arrested today without incident and charged with robbery and theft, according to Gardiner Police Chief James Toman.

The teen, whose identification is being withheld because he under 18 years old, will be held at Mountain View Youth Detention Center in Charleston while he awaits a preliminary court appearance, Toman said.

Police say the teenager walked into the Rite Aid at 9 Spring St. and went to the back of the store, where he demanded drugs at the pharmacy counter.

Police did not know whether the robber was carrying a weapon, but police said none was shown. Toman said Monday that the robber escaped on foot with an undisclosed amount of drugs.

Nobody was injured during the robbery, which happened at 2:13 p.m., police said.

The teen was arrested around 9:30 a.m. today. Police did not say where that arrest took place.

“Some of the prescription drugs that were obtained (during) the robbery have been recovered and were in the suspect’s possession at the time of the arrest,” Toman said.

Toman said several town residents came forward with tips that led to the arrest.

“It appears that the robbery was carried out by the lone suspect, but the investigation is still ongoing,” Toman said. He said additional charges are possible.

Monday’s robbery was the second robbery of an area Rite Aid in less than a month.

An 18-year-old Augusta man was arrested Dec. 12 for the robbery a week earlier at the Winthrop Rite Aid.
 

6:42 a.m.

From the Associated Press

GARDINER — Police are looking for a man who robbed prescription drugs from a Gardiner pharmacy.

Police say a man who appeared to be in his early 20s walked into the Rite Aid on Spring Street just after 2 p.m. on Monday, went to the back of the store and demanded drugs at the pharmacy counter.

He then left the store.

No weapon was shown and no one was hurt.

The robber was described a white man about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and about 160 pounds. He wore a dark green fleece over a dark-colored sweatshirt with the hood up. He also covered his face with a bandanna and wore jeans and white sneakers. A witness says he had a scruffy beard.