AUGUSTA — City and state police are fanning out across the Capitol Street area hunting for a man who robbed the nearby CVS pharmacy this afternoon.

The robbery was reported just after 3 p.m. At least one employee of the pharmacy was reported to have followed the suspect toward Western Avenue.

Lt. Christopher Massey of the Augusta Police Department said the robber was described as a skinny man, about 5 feet 6 inches tall, wearing tan khaki pants, white sneakers a dark sweatshirt with a hood and a dark ski-type mask.

More than 20 Augusta and Maine State Police officers fanned out across in search of the robber. Massey said a police using a dog picked up the robber’s track and recovered several unspecified items, Massey said.

Police focused much of their attention on yards and outbuildings in the neighborhoods directly behind the store, including Western Avenue Place and Hillcrest and Walker streets.

At one point officers on Sewall Street questioned a man matching the robber’s description, but officer determined he was not the robber, Massey said.

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Initial reports from witnesses suggested the robber got into a  large, dark-colored sport utility vehicle just off Western Avenue, but police now say it’s likely the robber fled on foot, not in a vehicle, toward Western Avenue.

Customers were inside the CVS at the time of the robbery, Massey said. The robber handed over a note — described as threatening — demanding prescription medication and was given an undisclosed amount of drugs, Massey said. No weapon was shown or suggested, Massey said.

The robbery is the second in the city since Monday, when Walmart’s pharmacy was robbed. The suspect is still at large in that robbery, which was the 52nd at a Maine pharmacy this year. Today’s robbery would be the 53rd.

This story will be updated.


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