With less than two weeks before his court appearance on charges related to a series of thefts and the use of homemade explosives, a 15-year-old Veazie boy fled the state late last week, headed to Daytona, Fla., in his mother’s car, police said.

The boy and a 15-year-old Orono passenger were intercepted Saturday, less than two days after they had left, their Florida plans cut short by police in North Carolina. The driver returned to Maine and was arrested by Veazie police Tuesday when he was charged with violating conditions of release.

Veazie police were alerted to the missing boys shortly before 1 a.m. Friday after the boy’s father found two bikes lying near where he had last parked the car, with the keys left inside the center console, reported Veazie police Officer Dan Worcester.

The father later reported receiving a phone call from a Loxahatchee, Fla., woman whose daughter had received a collect call from his son. The boy called her daughter from Maryland to let her know he was coming to visit her on the way to Daytona. The father said he obtained the number and called it, only to have his son hang up quickly. Numerous calls his father subsequently made to the number went unanswered, he told police.

Alerts were issued, initially to police agencies on the East Coast and subsequently nationally. The boys were stopped by police in Wilson, N.C., at 2:20 a.m. Saturday, according to police reports.

On Tuesday, Veazie Detective Andrew Whitehouse arrested the 15-year-old, charging him with violating bail conditions that included a 9 p.m. curfew and required him to be accompanied by his parents when traveling. Whitehouse also said that the boy was driving without a license.

Bangor police interrupted a burglary at the Mr. G’s Convenience Store on Main Street Monday night, catching one man inside the store and another after a brief chase.

Stephen Allen and William Haley, both 18-year-old transients, were charged with burglary, while Haley was also charged with violation of conditions of release.

A witness called police reporting the burglary about 11:45 p.m. and Officer Steve Jordan was the first to the store, driving toward the shattered front door, where Allen was standing outside and Haley was ducking through the hole that had been broken in the door.

Allen took a quick look at the approaching cruiser, then at the door and then ran, Jordan reported. Jordan had enough time to get a good description of Allen and broadcast it. The officer then headed inside the store where he ordered Haley to the ground and handcuffed him.

Officer James Hassard had arrived seconds after Jordan and pursued Allen, who was headed toward Shaw’s Supermarket. While in pursuit, Hassard heard movement in some bushes and his flashlight revealed Allen climbing a fence. Hassard ran around the fence and caught up with Allen on Patten Street.

The witness told police that he had seen the two rip a drainpipe from the store and try to get into the store through the back door. When that didn’t work, they headed to the front door where one threw a rock at the door and it bounced off. A larger rock was then hurled at the door.

Jordan reported finding a large rock inside, as well as an ashtray apparently also used to break in. A 24-pack of beer was out of place on the floor, although the burglars confessed to having broken in for cigarettes. Allen told police that they had been drinking that night and had gone out looking for trouble.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Doug Kesseli