AUGUSTA — A third man suspected of breaking into a Chase Avenue apartment earlier this month and threatening two women with knives and a gun was arrested Wednesday after a brief foot chase, police said.

Stephen D. Kirkley, 19, whose last known address was in New York, was arrested inside a State Street apartment and charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, burglary and theft in connection with the April 6 break-in at an apartment at 1 Chase Ave.

Kirkley, who was carrying a knife at the time of his arrest, also was charged with failure to submit to arrest and possession of a concealed weapon, said Augusta Police Lt. Keith Brann.

Kirkley was being held at the Kennebec County jail Wednesday in lieu of $25,000 cash bail.

Kirkley was on the lam when Augusta Police Sgt. Christopher Shaw spotted him about 9 a.m. going into a convenience store at the intersection of Bond and State streets. The officer was directing traffic for an ongoing construction project.

“He basically walked right in front of me,” Shaw said.

Kirkley left the store and began to run as Shaw called for him to stop. Several officers descended on the area as Kirkley ran up State Street and into an apartment building at 42 State St., Shaw said.

Police found Kirkley hiding inside a trash room in the back of the building, Shaw said.

Kirkley is the third man arrested in connection with break in. Police found Darvent Emanual Cummings, 21, of Stroudsburg, Pa., and Tyrone R. Wilkins, 22, of East Stroudsburg, Pa., the day of the burglary and charged each with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, burglary and theft. Cummings and Wilkins remain behind bars on $25,000 cash bail each.

All of the charges connected with the incident are felonies. Acting District Attorney Alan Kelley has said that a burglary is normally a lesser class B offense, but Maine’s criminal code stipulates that a person who commits burglary while armed can be charged with class A burglary.

Police believe that Kirkley, Cummings and Wilkins forced their way into the Chase Avenue apartment around 5:30 p.m. on April 6 and threatened the two female occupants with knives and a gun. One of the victims was able to identify one of the burglars, which led police to an apartment at 33 Washington St., according to an affidavit filed in Kennebec County Superior Court by Augusta Police Officer Nathan Walker.

He found Cummings and Wilkins in the apartment owner’s bedroom. The victims later identified the men as the intruders.

Police found a knife fitting the description of the weapon used during the burglary near Cummings at the time of the arrest, Walker said. A neighbor told  Shaw that Cummings and Wilkins placed something in a barbecue grill outside the apartment.

“Sgt. Shaw located a black 9-millimeter automatic hand gun in a barbecue grill, which matched the description that the victims provided,” Walker said.

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

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