March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Calais man caught in Canada after alleged knife-point theft> Mounted police arrest suspect in convenience store robbery

CALAIS — Canadian police arrested a 25-year-old Calais man late Wednesday night after he apparently fled across the border after allegedly robbing a local convenience store clerk at knife point.

Acting on information provided by the Calais Police Department, Dean Travis Moore was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the St. Stephen, New Brunswick, police around 11 p.m. Wednesday.

Calais police Chief Michael Milburn said Moore, who has an extensive criminal record, was immediately deported by Canadian officials and handed over to the Calais Police Department. Moore was taken Thursday morning to Machias District Court, where he was arraigned on a charge of armed robbery.

Milburn said now that Moore was in custody he could describe what happened Monday night when the man entered the Calais-Irving Car Wash and Convenience Store on North Street.

The chief said Moore entered the store around midnight Monday, brandished a knife and ordered store clerk Tim Atcheson to close the store. He then told the store clerk to clean out the cash register and safe. The chief said Moore took around $800 in Canadian and U.S. currency, but when he was apprehended had only about $400 on him. The robber also took Atcheson’s money, driver’s license and Social Security card.

Milburn said Moore then went to the back of the store where liquor and wine are kept and drank some of the liquor. While Moore was in the back of the store drinking, Atcheson left and ran to a neighboring house. A woman on North Street heard the commotion and called police to report that a man was banging on doors and yelling that he had been robbed.

Although the car wash is just across the street from the Calais Police Station, Milburn said the store clerk was too upset to simply go across the street and report the incident to police. “Would you be clearly thinking after being threatened?” the chief asked.

When Calais police Officer Claude Chabre arrived at the scene about 2 a.m. Tuesday he followed a set of footprints to the railroad bridge behind the store that crosses into Canada.

Moore was arraigned on a Class A charge of armed robbery in 4th District Court in Machias shortly after noon Thursday. In response to questions from Judge John Romei, Moore said he had no attorney, no funds and was not working.

Citing the weather, Romei said Moore wasn’t going to have access to an attorney until Friday morning. For that reason, Romei said he would arraign Moore, but not take a plea. The judge tentatively appointed David Mitchell of Calais to act as Moore’s lawyer.

Washington County Assistant District Attorney Dee Bassano said Moore has a significant prior history of criminal activity including felony convictions on reckless conduct, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a felon and attempted arson. His last sentence was the maximum allowed for a Class C crime, Bassano said.

Romei initially set bail at $50,000 with two sureties or $10,000 cash, but increased the cash to $20,000 after examing records furnished by Bassano.


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