RUMFORD – A man who fled after being spotted trying to take a drug box out of a Med-Care ambulance Friday night outside the Eagles Club has yet to be found, police said Saturday afternoon.
Police did pick up two men Friday night who matched the suspect’s description, and were in the vicinity when the crime happened. However, they were released after the medic who spotted the would-be thief told police they had the wrong people, acting Sgt. Douglas Maifeld said at the Rumford station.
Shortly before 7:36 p.m., Med-Care responded to a medical call at the Club, parking the ambulance on Cumberland Street.
A medic inside saw a man wearing a tan hat, tan jacket and jeans open an ambulance door, Maifeld said. “As (the medic) was coming out of the club, the suspect had a drug box in his hand, the medic yelled at him, he dropped it and fled down Rumford Avenue,” he said.
Police, who were already busy at the same time with an operating after suspension arrest on Route 108, investigating a burglary on Waldo Street, and serving paperwork, were called to respond.
Patrolman James Bernard and Maifeld spotted and stopped two men who matched the description given. “What’s the odds of two guys wearing the same hats, the same jackets, the same pants, in the same vicinity at the same time as the incident?” he asked.
“They were very cooperative,” allowing the two officers to take them to Rumford Hospital where the medic was by that time, Maifeld said.
They weren’t able to further investigate due to a rash of 24 calls between midnight and 6 a.m. Saturday.
“We were right on screech all night. It was Friday the 13th, but I don’t know what the moon was. Today is the 14th of January, and we already have 152 complaints. That’s just unbelievable,” Maifeld added.
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