A Gorham man faces charges in three communities in a series of crimes that included a carjacking, the robbery of an elderly woman and an attempt to run from officers, police said.

Robert Nowlin Sr., 36, is being held on $101,500 bail on 11 separate charges.

Gorham police say that at 11 p.m. Monday at the home of an acquaintance in Friendly Village, Nowlin put a knife from the kitchen to the throat of the man who lives there and demanded the man’s car keys.

They say he fled in the man’s black Volkswagen Jetta, with his cellphone, and apparently drove to Scarborough, to the home of an elderly woman he knows through family contacts.

Police say Nowlin broke into the home on Highland Avenue around midnight and threatened the woman in her bedroom.

They say he then unplugged the telephones, stole a cordless telephone and took the woman’s Lifeline emergency call button, preventing the woman from summoning help. He also stole cash, police said.

The woman was not hurt, and after Nowlin left, she called police from a neighbor’s house, police said.

Portland police saw the stolen Jetta on Devonshire Street and tried stop it. Police said the car initially slowed down and a passenger, Benjamin Cote, 31, jumped out and ran.

Police caught Cote and charged him with carrying a concealed weapon and failure to submit to arrest.
Police saw the car again at 55 Allen Ave. Nowlin pulled over, got out and ran. Officers caught him.

He was charged with drunken driving, driving after license revocation for being a habitual offender, and refusal to submit to arrest.

The charges in Scarborough were burglary, robbery, criminal mischief, criminal threatening, obstructing the report of a crime, and assault.

Gorham police charged Nowlin with robbery and theft.

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at: dhench@pressherald.com

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