LEWISTON – Dennis Austin told friends last week he would be driving a Mercedes Benz after pulling off a heist on Stevens Street, according to a police affidavit.

Instead, the 35-year-old Lewiston man was in jail Monday after police tracked him down in Brunswick less than a week after the home invasion at 64 Stevens St.

Investigators said a sharp-eyed police officer and the recovery of more than $2,000 worth of jewelry helped lead them to Austin.

Austin, who lives at 114 Bartlett St., was taken into custody Sunday afternoon when local police and federal agents cornered him at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Brunswick.

Austin was taken back to Lewiston where he was identified as the man who broke into the home of Rene and Angeline Bosse last Wednesday.

Austin was charged with burglary and two counts of armed robbery in the late night break-in at the home of the Bosses. The victims, both 73 years old, escaped their home by jumping from a window after a man aimed a revolver at them and threatened to “blow your heads off,” according to the court document.

The Bosses were not hurt when they jumped 8 feet to the ground and ran to a neighbor’s house. Police searched the house but found no sign of the suspect.

Investigators say Austin sneaked into the house by removing a screen to the master bedroom. After he was interrupted by the Bosses as they returned from a shopping trip, Austin ordered the couple to a back room, grabbed jewelry from a box and fled through the front door, according to the affidavit.

Police said there is no indication Austin knew the Bosse couple. The break-in appeared to be random as Austin sought quick cash with which to flee the state, investigators said.

Police got a few early breaks as they investigated the case. Minutes after the robbery was reported, an officer responding to the scene saw a lone man walking down Bartlett Street hill, a short distance from the crime scene.

After learning details of the heist, Officer Matt Vierling recalled seeing a man he recognized as Austin walking toward the downtown area. With that information, police detectives James Theiss and Brian O’Malley went to Austin’s apartment at 114 Bartlett St.

A woman at that address told police that Austin and his wife had recently moved out. But another man who later spoke to police told them that woman had a clear plastic bag containing jewelry she meant to pawn.

When police confronted the woman again, she initially denied possessing the jewelry, police said. She later admitted she had it and that Austin had given it to her about 10 p.m. the night of the robbery. The woman gave police the jewelry and was not charged.

Several other people who knew Austin told police he had been talking about getting some quick loot to finance a trip out of state. Austin told them he was “planning to get a hold of some money” and that he was going to “pull something off,” according to the affidavit.

Angeline Bosse later identified the jewelry as that which had been stolen from her house.

Police were given the phone number to contact Austin’s wife. When they called her, the woman told investigators that she and Austin were in New York, according to the court document.

Police obtained a warrant and learned over the weekend that Austin was in the Brunswick area. Lewiston and Brunswick police were aided by the Central Maine Violent Crimes Task Force as they tracked Austin to the Dunkin’ Donuts and surrounded him.

The gun used in the heist has not been recovered, police said.

Shortly after the break-in was reported in the news, several local business owners pooled their money and came up with a $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest. The reward did not generate the leads investigators used to find Austin, though police commended the action of concerned citizens.

Austin was being held at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn Monday on $50,000 cash bail.