Two arrested in `distraction’ theft

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Two men were arrested Monday and charged with theft after they were identified as the men who allegedly took $545 from Bob’s Hardware in Dover-Foxcroft after distracting the store manager in a scam-like venture earlier in the day.

Robert Poulin, 52, of Augusta, and Gerald Barber, 42, of Belgrade, were apprehended on Interstate 95 in Palymra a short time after Bruce Tibbetts, manager of the hardware store, notified police. They were charged with Class D theft and will appear in Lincoln District Court Tuesday morning for a bail hearing.

According to Chief Dennis Dyer of the Dover-Foxcroft Police Department, both men entered Bob’s Hardware at about 11:30 a.m. While one of the men kept Tibbetts busy inquiring about nails and building supplies, the other entered his office and removed the bills from a green money bag, according to Dyer. When the second man left the office, he tipped over some pottery which alerted Tibbetts. The man told Tibbetts that he was looking for the bathroom. Tibbetts told the man where the bathroom was located, but the men left the store.

Dyer said Tibbetts became suspicious of the pair and checked the office area where he discovered the money was missing. The store owner then went outside the building in time to see the pair drive off in a dark blue Cadillac. Dyer said Tibbetts memorized part of the license plate, which helped lead to the arrest of the men.

A patrol officer from the Dexter Police Department spotted Poulin and Barber traveling through Corinna and the men were apprehended on the Interstate a short time later. Police found a gray metal money box in the vehicle and money on the floor. They impounded the vehicle and took it to the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department. Poulin and Barber were lodged in the Piscataquis County jail pending Tuesday’s bail hearing.

A spokesman at the sheriff’s department said Monday night that the fact that the money box found in the car did not belong to Bob’s Hardware indicated that the pair may have pulled similar heists elsewhere. He said requests for photographs of the two men have come from several other Maine law enforcement agencies that are investigating similar incidents.

According to Sgt. John Goggin of the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department, Barber was arrested about 14 years ago for his involvement in a similar incident at the Milo Sport Shop for which he served time in Maine State Prison. Police said he also has served time in a New Hampshire prison on another, unspecified crime.

Assisting the Dover-Foxcroft Police Department were the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department, state police, the Dexter and Newport police departments and deputies from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department.