WATERVILLE — Two women allegedly robbed a cab driver Wednesday, broke into an apartment and then fled down Silver Street before being nabbed by police.

Elizabeth Malloy, 50, whose last known address is 19 Oakland St., Apt. 2, and Alison Thomas, 32, listed as transient, were arrested and taken to Kennebec County jail in Augusta, police Chief Joseph Massey said.

They were charged with class B robbery because they used force and were summoned for criminal mischief and violation of bail conditions, he said.

The Smiley’s Cab driver picked up the women on Water Street just after 8 a.m. Wednesday and they asked to be driven to the Big Apple store on Elm Street, Massey said.

Once there, the women got out, went into an apartment and then a few minutes later came back and got back in the cab, he said.

“They then had the cab driver head south on Elm and at the red light at the intersection of Elm and Western Avenue, the female in the front passenger seat, Elizabeth Malloy, grabbed his money bag that was between the seats,” Massey said. “The cab driver grabbed the bag to try to get it back.”

The cab driver lost a fingernail during the struggle and Malloy pulled the bag away from him and threw it out the window, Massey said.

Thomas, who Massey said was in the back seat, jumped out of the cab, took the money out of the bag and threw the empty bag back into the cab.

Malloy jumped out of the front seat and both women ran to 24 Elm St., an apartment house known as the Beehive, Massey said.

“They went inside and up the stairs, entered into hallways, broke the door to a vacant apartment and went in and then out the back side,” he said. “They went down a stairwell and onto Elm Street and took off running down Silver Street.”

Meanwhile, the cab driver called police with a description of the women, he said.

Officer Dennis Picard saw them on Silver Street, stopped and questioned them and then arrested them.

Malloy and Thomas are scheduled to appear in Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta July 10.

Massey wouldn’t reveal the amount of money stolen or the identity of the cab driver.

“He’s a victim,” he said. “He got hurt. As far as the officers know, he didn’t seek medical treatment.