Skowhegan man helps police capture suspect

SKOWHEGAN – Police are giving credit to a 31-year-old Skowhegan man for helping them nab a robbery suspect after the man chased the getaway car and got its license plate number.

Jeffrey Doucette was on his way to work at the New Balance athletic shoe plant at 4 a.m. Monday when he saw a man with a ski mask over his head inside a Big Apple convenience store in Skowhegan.

When he turned his pickup truck around to get a second look, Doucette saw the getaway car speed away.

He gave chase across town and got the plate number when he pulled to within 15 or 20 feet off the suspect’s vehicle. Police then used the information to track down the suspect, Matthew Moore of Skowhegan.

“I was going through street signs and everything. It was kind of shaky,” Doucette said of the chase.

After writing down the plate number on a note pad, Doucette returned to the store, where police had already been called.

Moore, 18, was later arrested while driving on Route 201A in Norridgewock. He is charged with armed robbery for allegedly robbing the store at gunpoint of cash and cigarettes, police said.