AUGUSTA—Police continued to search Saturday for a man who robbed a North Belfast Avenue pharmacy.

Nobody was injured in the hold up at Rite Aid, said Augusta Police Sgt. Christopher Shaw.
It was the second time in three months the store has been targeted.

Shaw said the suspect, described as a white male wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, robbed the Rite Aid at 2007 North Belfast Avenue shortly before 4:30 p.m. Friday and fled into the woods behind the store.

Shaw declined to say what, if anything, the robber took from the store or whether a weapon was indicated or displayed during the hold-up.

Officers arrived within two minutes of the first report and surrounded the area, Shaw said. A police tracking dog was unable to find the robber, whom police said left in an unidentified vehicle.

The robber was thin in build, stood about 5 feet 7 inches tall, and had brown hair and blue eyes, Shaw said. 

The Rite Aid was the second Central Maine pharmacy robbed in a span of less than 24 hours. Police continue to search for a man who walked into the Pittsfield Rite Aid around 7:30 p.m., Thursday and fled with a bag of prescription pills. He was last seen headed north on Interstate 95.

The robber, described as about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 240 pounds, did not show a weapon or make any threats to the store employees, said Pittsfield Police Officer Michael Cote. The robber wore a baseball cap and a dark hooded sweatshirt with the word Maine on its front.

The robber handed the employee a bag and demanded “20s, 30s and 80s,” Cote said. The numbers refer to milligrams of OxyContin and percocet.

It was the second time since October the Pittsfield Rite Aid has been robbed.

The North Belfast Avenue Rite Aid has been robbed twice this year. The first incident occurred Feb. 20 when two young men demanded prescription medication and demanded they had a weapon.

The robbery occurred one week after a robbery at the CVS on Stone Street, less than a mile away.

Two men have been charged in connection with the robberies. Carmine Fazzi, 18, of Augusta, was arrested in March in New York on unrelated charges. Fazzi was subsequently charged with two counts of robbery in connection with the Augusta hold ups.

Daniel Rines, 18, of Pittston, has been charged with one count of robbery.

Shaw asked anyone with information on Friday’s robbery to call Augusta Police at 626-2370.