AUGUSTA — A city man, charged in connection with two robberies in two days, reportedly told a employee at the Subway restaurant on Bangor Street that he had a knife and a gun before he made off with about $300 cash on Tuesday, according to police.
Christopher Ellis Williams, 27, was arrested Wednesday night after a Maine State Police dog team followed a track from Circle K on Eastern Avenue after a robbery report there at 8:20 p.m., only a day after a robbery at a nearby Subway shop that he was suspected of committing.
Williams made an initial court appearance Friday afternoon via video from the Kennebec County jail. He is charged with two counts of robbery and two counts of violating conditions of his release.
His bail was set at $100,000 for the four charges, but Judge Eric Walker ordered him to be held without bail until his next court hearing on unrelated charges of burglary and theft.
In the Circle K robbery, police said, the robber demanded money and fled on foot. Williams was found in a residence nearby and arrested without incident, police said.
An affidavit written by Detective Michael Unterkoefler, based on a Subway employee’s witness statement and other interviews, states that the man approached the cash register and told the employee that he had a gun and a knife, but he did not display them.
After the employee emptied the cash drawer, Williams left the store and entered an SUV through the front passenger-side door, then went toward Cony Circle. The SUV was located about an hour later on Mount Vernon Road, being driven by another man, whose name the Kennebec Journal is not publishing because he has not been charged with a crime. That man said he drove Williams to Subway so Williams could “get money from someone.”
The man said he did not know what Williams did at Subway, and he identified the man seen in surveillance photos as Williams. The driver reportedly drove to an Eastern Avenue residence, where Williams obtained “a white substance” and handed it to the driver. The driver surrendered that substance to the police, according to the affidavit, who said it was tested and determined it to be fetanyl.
At the time of the robberies, Williams was free on $2,500 unsecured bail after having been charged with burglary and theft. He is accused of breaking into a man’s Cross Hill Road residence on Sept. 12 and stealing an Xbox and games worth a total of $700. According to an affidavit filed at the Capital Judicial Center by Augusta police Officer Derek Daley, Williams said he had been feeling sick from heroin withdrawal and pawned the items to get money to support his drug habit.
Williams is due back in court on Oct. 23.
Sam Shepherd — 621-5666
Twitter: @SamShepME
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