A Bangor man out on bail for two recent theft arrests allegedly left the Bangor Wal-Mart store Tuesday with a computer in a shopping cart. He told police his ex-wife had the receipt for the computer inside the store.

But according to the police report, Wal-Mart security had been watching Marc Y. Simpson, 31, for some time, starting when he picked up the $898 computer and put it in the shopping cart. From there, Simpson bypassed the registers and, when confronted by an employee, claimed he was going to the snack area at the front of the store for a hot dog. He got a soda instead.

He then wheeled the cart to the refund aisle where he stayed briefly before returning to the snack area, according to the police report. Store security officials were concerned that Simpson would bolt at any time. While a store security officer was talking with Bangor police Officer James Dearing, who was in the store, Simpson left with the computer. He was quickly surrounded by employees and returned to the store, Dearing reported.

Simpson claimed his ex-wife was inside with the receipt. Searching Simpson, Dearing found 10 pink pills in the man’s inside jacket pocket. Simpson said they were Darvocet and that he had a prescription for them at home.

At the Penobscot County Jail, Dearing learned that Simpson had been arrested on Dec. 8 and charged with a theft from the Ames department store in Bangor and three days later was charged with theft from a Rite Aid pharmacy. At that time he also was charged with violation of bail conditions.

Dearing charged Simpson with theft, violation of bail conditions and possession of Schedule W drugs.

Brewer police are investigating what caused an 81-year-old woman to crash her car into the side of the Brewer Motor Inn on Wilson Street Tuesday night.

The woman, whose name was not being released pending further investigation, told Cpl. Fred Luce that she had pulled up to the motel and that her car surged forward. The car appeared to have little or no damage, although the outside wall to Room 117 was heavily damaged. The glass window was broken and a section of the wall was pushed in, leaving a gap in the wall.

No one was inside the room at the time, Luce said.

Earlier this week, Old Town police removed a dog from outside a Sunrise Trailer Park home and issued a civil summons to the owner for animal cruelty.

A police officer found the small tan dog curled up in a ball and shivering, unable to get into its doghouse because of the heavy snowfall. There were no signs of food or water available for the small dog named Rocky, reported Old Town police Officer Seth Bear, who had been called to the trailer park about 7 a.m. Sunday by neighbors who reported the dog spent the night out in the cold.

Bear reported that about 10 inches had snow had fallen and had blocked the entrance to the doghouse, which was shaped like an igloo. Rocky was friendly, the neighbor reported, although the dog growled at Officer Bear, prompting him to get someone else to get the dog into his cruiser where he took it to the Animal Orphanage.

The dog’s owner, Jeffrey D. Lane, 32, contacted the police later that day, wanting to know why his dog was taken to the orphanage. Bear explained the unhealthful conditions that he found outside the house, including that the dog had no access to shelter.

“If the dog wanted to get into the house bad enough, he would have found a way in,” Lane told the officer.

Bear issued Lane a civil summons for cruelty to animals and warned the man that if there were any further problems, Lane could face criminal charges.

Just hours into the new year, a 17-year-old girl was stopped by Old Town police for erratic driving and charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants.

The girl, whose name was not released because she is a juvenile, came to the attention of authorities when Old Town police Officer Todd Nadeau spotted the car she was driving “riding” the center line on Stillwater Avenue. The vehicle also made a wide turn onto Bennoch Road, where half the car was in the wrong lane for about one-tenth of a mile, Nadeau reported.

He stopped the car about 3 a.m. and Nadeau and Sgt. Michael Hashey reported the teen-ager showed signs of impairment, including that she swayed back and forth and that her eyes were bloodshot and glassy. Questioned by police, the girl admitted to smoking marijuana earlier that evening.

She was arrested and taken to the police station where she subsequently was released to the custody of her mother.

— Compiled by NEWS reporter Doug Kesseli