Brewer police nab alleged Wal-Mart purse snatcher

Brewer police arrested an alleged purse snatcher Tuesday afternoon.

Sgt. Jason Moffitt said that at about 4:30 p.m. he was called to Wal-Mart on Wilson Street for a theft complaint. Moffitt said a store employee had attempted to stop a man leaving the store with a suspicious-looking bulge under his jacket, at which point the man ran off.

Moffitt said the man dropped a purse, stolen from a customer. Employees pursued the man but couldn’t find him, even though the lot was well-lighted.

Moffitt said a woman told him she saw a man run through the parking lot and enter a car, where he lay down out of sight. She said a female then came along and drove the car away. The woman gave Moffitt a description of the car and its plate number.

Moffitt said he made a number of phone calls, after learning the car’s registered owner, and eventually identified the driver and the suspect.

Moffitt spoke on the telephone with the suspect, Chad Umbro, 21, of Orrington. Umbro came to the station, where Moffitt summoned him for theft and arrested him for violation of probation.

Moffitt added that shoppers should hold onto their purses or secure them to their shopping carts to discourage would-be thieves.

University of Maine police are investigating reports of anti-homosexual graffiti that was reportedly written on walls in the stairwell and outside some second-floor rooms of Hancock Hall over the weekend.

The incident at the dormitory occurred Saturday night or early Sunday morning, according to UMaine spokesman Joe Carr.

He was unaware of any similar incidents that had occurred recently.

UM Police Chief Noel March could not be reached for comment and no other information was available Tuesday.

The Interstate-95 Hogan Road off-ramp was closed to southbound traffic for more than a half-hour Tuesday afternoon while police went to the scene of a three-car accident at Exit 48A. No one was injured, but traffic was backed up about a mile.

Traffic on I-95 had come to a stop, blocking cars trying to enter the southbound ramp of Exit 48A. When one car stopped abruptly, two vehicles behind it collided, causing a three-car accident, state Trooper Paul White said Tuesday.

One of the cars had to be towed. The other two had only minor damage and could be driven away from the scene, according to White.

State police responded to the accident report with assistance from Bangor police. Increased traffic from holiday shoppers required more crews to respond than normally would be necessary.

– Compiled by NEWS reporters Aimee Dolloff and Isaac Kimball