A 70-year-old man with a toy gun robbed a bank in South Portland on Wednesday before he was arrested in a parking lot at the Maine Mall, police say.

Donald Sturton

Police say Donald C. Sturton of South Portland entered the Bank of America at 425 Philbrook Ave. just after 3:30 p.m., threatening employees with a gun that he never displayed.

Sturton took a small amount of cash and fled into the bank parking lot, said Detective Sgt. Christopher Todd in a news release. Bank employees gave police an accurate description of the suspect, who was seen by police in a parking lot near the J.C. Penney store at the mall.

“Due to the suspect possibly being armed, he was quickly and safely taken into custody,” Todd said in the release.

Todd said officers recovered a toy gun and all of the stolen cash. Sturton was questioned by detectives before he was charged with robbery, a felony. He was held Wednesday night in the Cumberland County Jail.

filed under: