Law enforcement officials believe it’s premature to say whether a robbery Saturday night at Domino’s Pizza in Gorham is connected to a string of 10 other armed robberies in Greater Portland that began nearly three weeks ago.
Lt. Robert Martin of the Portland Police Department, who has served as the point person for the ongoing investigation by local police departments and the FBI, said it is too early to connect the Gorham robbery to the other crimes.
“I can’t comment on progress (of the investigation) except to say we are committing extra resources and continue to work with multiple agencies in chasing down leads as they come in,” Martin said in an email Sunday evening. He also said it is not known whether the serial robber might be working with another person, who could potentially have served as his getaway driver.
The robber has eluded police each time and even the release of surveillance videos from some of the robberies has not led to his arrest.
On Friday night, a man dressed in dark clothing – his face was covered – entered the Luc Oil Gas Station at 159 Bridgton Road in Westbrook and made off with an undetermined amount of cash while showing the clerk a handgun. In the surveillance video released this weekend by Westbrook police, the robber can be heard speaking politely to the clerk, asking her to please open the register, before thanking her and telling her to have a good day.
The robbery at Domino’s Pizza, 621 Lower Main St. in Gorham, occurred around 11:35 p.m. Saturday. Gorham police said in a statement that the robber, a male, did not display a handgun, but did have his hand under his sweatshirt.
The Gorham robber was wearing jeans, gray boxers and a gray sweatshirt. He was described as being 5-foot-7 and weighing about 150 pounds. Witnesses to the earlier robberies described the man as between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-9 with a thin build.
He fled on foot from Domino’s and entered a vehicle that was parked at a nearby business. Gorham police said the hood on his sweatshirt obscured his face. Police said the man involved in the earlier robberies also fled on foot, probably to a nearby vehicle.
“It was the same MO. This one didn’t brandish a weapon. That is one difference,” said Gorham police Sgt. Ted Hatch.
Hatch said there were surveillance cameras in the Domino’s but he said didn’t know if the robber was captured on tape.
Police did not say how much money was taken.
Police said they do not know whether the robbery had any connection to 10 previous armed robberies in Greater Portland since March 20, which they say could be the work of one man. In those robberies, the man, dressed in bulky clothes and a hood with his face obscured, showed a handgun.
Hatch said the region’s small businesses have been on edge as the robberies continue on an almost daily basis.
He said businesses are heeding the advice of police and keeping only small amounts of cash on hand.
Police have also warned people not to confront the robber. Hatch said he hopes people take that advice.
“At some point the robber is going to hold up the wrong person,” said Hatch.
Both the Maine State Police and the FBI are helping local police departments in the investigation.
The armed robberies, many of which have taken place around 8 p.m., also include the Riverton Gas Station, 1585 Forest Ave., in Portland, March 20; the Lil’ Mart, 251 Route 1, Falmouth, March 21; Good Things Variety, 113 Saco St.; Westbrook, March 22; Irving Express Mart, 174 Main St., Cumberland, March 22; Daily Grind, 840 Main St., Westbrook, March 24; China Taste, 1223 Washington Ave., Portland, March 25; Subway, 390 Bridgton Road, Westbrook, March 26; Aroma Joe’s, 443 Western Ave., South Portland, March 27; and the China Eatery, 5 Ocean Park Road, Old Orchard Beach, March 29. The Old Orchard robbery occurred at 3:38 p.m.
The police ask anyone with information about the Domino’s robbery to call them at 222-1660.
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