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Police charge man in 2008 Palmyra robbery

By Doug Harlow dharlow@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

Police in Somerset County have charged a Bangor man in connection with a 2008 home invasion in Palmyra, in which the female victim was threatened with a knife, robbed and bound in duct tape.

The man, Dennis Allan Wood, 46, is charged with Class A robbery, Class B burglary and Class C theft.

Wood is in custody at the Penobscot County Jail, on unrelated charges, Lt. Carl Gottardi of the Somerset County Sheriff's Department said in a release Thursday.

Gottardi said his office was notified by Bangor police earlier this month about a possible suspect in the robbery.

On Feb. 16, Detective Mathew Cunningham from the sheriff's office interviewed Wood at the Penobscot County Jail, Gottardi said.

Wood confessed to the robbery. He told police he thought he was targeting a drug dealer.

Wood said he had been given incorrect information by a "criminal associate," but proceeded with the robbery anyway, Gottardi said.

The robbery happened about 9 p.m. July 22, 2008, at a home on Lang Hill Road in Palmyra. The 65-year-old woman living in the house told police she was home alone when a man, now thought to be Wood, entered her residence armed with a knife.

His face was covered with a bandana.

Once inside the house, the robber demanded money from the woman, telling her that a relative of hers was being held at another location and if she did not supply him with money, the relative would be hurt, Gottardi said.

The woman was ordered to open a safe and handed over about $6,000 in cash.

Before he fled the residence, the intruder wrapped duct tape around the woman's torso and arms and made her lay on a bed, telling her not to get up until he left.