LEWISTON – After nearly four years on the run from local, state and federal police, 55-year-old Jacqueline Lizotte-McLaughlin was behind bars in Virginia on Monday charged with embezzling more than $160,000 from a Lewiston insurance company.

Lizotte-McLaughlin, formerly of Jones Avenue in Lewiston, was arrested by Virginia Beach police on Sunday during what was described as a routine investigation into a case that did not involve her.

“I was just getting information to make corrections in a report,” said Virginia Beach police Detective David Vanderwerf. “Surprisingly, it came up that she was wanted.”

Specifically, Lizotte-McLaughlin was wanted in Lewiston on a theft charge and by U.S. Marshals Service who consider her a fugitive from justice.

Lewiston police and other agencies have been looking for Lizotte-McLaughlin since May of 2001 when she allegedly failed to show up in court to answer charges that she stole roughly $162,000 from Roux Insurance Services at 954 Lisbon St.

Since that time, Lizotte-McLaughlin has also been described as a missing person, which requires a separate, non-criminal investigation. Lewiston police said they have been in touch with her family regularly, and they have checked into various sightings from time to time.

In May of last year, federal agents were on the lookout in Charlotte, N.C., because they had heard Lizotte-McLaughlin was a big fan of NASCAR events. Marshals staked out the Coca-Cola 600 in that city, searching for the 4-foot-11, 130 pound fugitive among more than 180,000 fans.

She was not spotted at the event.

According to Detective Vanderwerf, he had no idea he was dealing with a suspected embezzler and fugitive when he began dealing with Lizotte-McLaughlin over the weekend. In fact, he was only asking her for routine information about another person suspected in a minor theft.

“She just sounded like a sweet, older lady,” Vanderwerf said.

But when he asked Lizotte-McLaughlin for her date of birth, and then ran that information through a police computer database, alerts appeared. She was wanted for a felony and for being on the run.

“I actually felt bad going back to arrest her,” Vanderwerf said. “I brought a couple uniformed officers with me. I don’t think she was what they were expecting to see.”

The detective said Lizotte-McLaughlin has been living in an apartment roughly a mile from the ocean front in Virginia Beach. She did not own a car, he said, but she was using accurate information to pay for her utilities.

The detective said Lizotte-McLaughlin appeared to be a middle-aged woman leading a calm life before the truth about her background emerged. He said he asked her if she ever feared using personal information for routine matters might someday reveal the warrants for her arrest.

“She told me she’s been looking over her shoulder for four years,” Vanderwerf said. “In a way, I think she was glad it’s over.”

Lizotte-McLaughlin is expected to be returned to Maine to stand trial on the theft from Roux Insurance. In Lewiston, police Detective Marc Robitaille has been handling the criminal case against her. Officer Justin Kittredge, meanwhile, has been following up on the case as a missing persons report.

Both officers said Monday night they had heard about Lizotte-McLaughlin’s apprehension. Robitaille said he planned to notify her family about her capture in Virginia.

Since she was first reported missing in May of 2001, Lizotte-McLaughlin’s family has insisted they knew nothing about her whereabouts. Her husband, Bob McLaughlin, told police his wife told him she was going on a business trip and then never returned.

“My heartache is not knowing where she is and not knowing she is safe,” he said at the time his wife was reported missing. “I want her to know how much her husband and son love and miss her. We want her to come home.”

In 1999, employees at Roux Insurance became suspicious of Lizotte’s financial dealings while she was an office manager at the company, according to court records. The company began to review the books and hired a private investigator. Those investigators as well as police detectives went back seven years as they probed the embezzlement charges. Prosecutors say they have evidence of theft, incriminating Lizotte-McLaughlin dating back to 1993.

When Lizotte-McLaughlin was indicted by an Androscoggin County grand jury, she was accused of skimming money from the insurance company in a variety of ways: by keeping commission checks to herself, writing herself checks or stealing workers compensation funds.

Lizotte left Roux Insurance shortly after she was accused of theft.

Around the time Lizotte-McLaughlin was first charged, the owner of the company said they had recovered financially from the theft.

“From our perspective, the damage was long ago,” said Daniel Roux. “We’ve repaired and absorbed it.”

On Monday night, Lizotte-McLaughlin remained in the Virginia Beach City Correctional Center. Prosecutors here are expected to seek extradition.