A Gardiner man was arrested Friday night and charged with Wednesday’s Rite Aid robbery in Gardiner.

Rudger Ellis, 21, was arrested at 7:45 p.m. at his residence without incident, according to a press release from Gardiner Police Chief James Toman.

Gardiner police were assisted by the Augusta Police Department and the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office.

Ellis was being held at the Kennebec County jail on a class B robbery charge and class C stealing drugs charge, with more charges pending, according to the release. Bail has been set at $10,000.

The release said more information will be available Monday.

The robbery happened at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the pharmacy at 9 Spring St.

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Thursday, police released a video from the robbery, showing the robber walking to the counter and demanding drugs, but then growing impatient as employees prepared the pills.

The nearly 30-second video shows the man leaning over the counter and apparently demanding what Toman called “a narcotic substance” from the pharmacist.

About halfway through the encounter, the robber begins to wave his arms in an apparent attempt to hasten the work of the pharmacist, who is not visible until near the end of the video, when she hands a bag to the robber. He then turns quickly and runs down an aisle. Another employee visible in the video appears to continue her work calmly throughout the robbery.

Toman said the robber fled the store on foot before apparently getting into a car waiting for him in a driveway on Spring Street. The getaway car was a green two-door Pontiac Sunfire.

It was the first robbery at the Gardiner pharmacy since August, when police nabbed a suspect after searching the woods along Harrison Avenue on the day of the robbery.

Jesse Mansir, 31, of Randolph, pleaded guilty to the robbery in federal court in October. A teenager was charged in a separate 2012 robbery at the pharmacy


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