Two Augusta men have been charged with robbery in connection with a pair of September holdups at Augusta pharmacies.
Lance M. Szady, 26, and Dominic J. Pomerleau, 21, have both been charged with two counts each of interference with commerce by robbery. The men were charged this week in U.S. District Court in Bangor.
The charges allege the men on Sept. 2 held up Rite Aids on North Belfast Avenue and Hospital Street in Augusta.
The first robbery occurred around 5:30 p.m., when a man at the pharmacy counter handed the pharmacist a note that read, “I have a gun. Don’t push the button or I’ll shoot,” according to an affidavit filed by FBI Agent Cameron Mizell. The robber demanded oxycodone and Ritalin. The affidavit did not say whether Pomerleau actually had a gun.
“Hurry,” the note demanded. “Make it a minute or less. Act normal.”
Mizell wrote that the phone rang as the pharmacist was getting the pills, at which point the robber fled out of the store before getting the pills.
“Witnesses provided a description of the man,” Mizell wrote. “That description included information about distinctive tattoos on the man’s arms and neck.”
Pomerleau has a variety of tattoos, including a large star on his neck, that are clearly visible in a variety of posts on his Facebook page.
About 20 minutes after the first robbery, a man robbed the Rite Aid on Hospital Street. The man again approached the pharmacy counter with a note that threatened a gun and demanded oxycodone, Mizell wrote. The robber was given pills and fled the store.
Witnesses’ descriptions of the robber, including the distinctive tattoos, matched those provided after the first robbery, Mizell wrote.
Augusta police viewed surveillance videos of the robberies and recognized the man in both as Pomerleau, Mizell wrote.
Szady later told investigators he was driving the car in both robberies.
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