READFIELD — A Bath man arrested on charges of drunken driving and leading police on a high-speed chase is the prime suspect in Wednesday night’s armed robbery of the Weathervane restaurant in Readfield, police said.
Lucas L. Creamer, 32, was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston for evaluation following a crash that ended the chase. He is now at the Kennebec County jail, where he is being held in lieu of $2,500 bail, according to Capt. Dan Davies of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office. Creamer also is being held without bail on a charge of violating conditions of release for unrelated charges in Cumberland County.
Additional Photos
Creamer has not been charged with robbery, but police say he is the top suspect. He is expected to make be in Augusta District Court at 1 p.m. Friday via video from the jail.
The robbery was reported at 7:51 p.m. at the restaurant on Route 17. Sheriff’s deputies converged on the scene and spoke with employees and patrons, who described the robber as a white man wearing a mask and carrying what appeared to be a rifle. They said the suspect fled toward Manchester in a white Mazda 323 with loud exhaust.
“The suspect allegedly entered the establishment and took a female to the area of the cash register while intimidating he and others with the weapon,” Davies said in a prepared statement. “Once obtaining an undisclosed amount of cash from the business, he fled.”
About 45 minutes later, Maine State Police Trooper Don Webber saw a white 1994 Acura Integra which otherwise matched the description of the suspect vehicle at the gas pumps at Mulligan’s in Manchester. The plate lights were not working and the exhaust was loud, just as witnesses had described, Davies said.
Additional troopers responded and attempted to stop the car, but the driver continued to the intersection of Route 135 and 17, before stopping. The driver, later identified as Creamer, initially put his hand out of the window to comply with police demands, but then sped off, heading in the direction of the Weathervane as other deputies closed in.
“Approximately one mile later as speeds reached 90 miles per hour, Creamer veered off the road and struck several trees before going into the air and barrel-rolling down the roadway,” Davies said. “Creamer was taken into custody without further incident and suffered only minor injuries.”
Police are still investigating the robbery. Although Creamer has not been positively identified by the witnesses, his physical description and other evidence match the robbery details, Davies said.
Detectives from the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit recovered evidence from the scene that indicates Creamer is “a strong candidate” for the Weathervane robbery suspect, Davies said.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.