LEWISTON – On the “America’s Most Wanted” Web site, 27-year-old Jesse Caron is the first fugitive listed on the home page. That’s because investigators say the Lewiston man has become increasingly desperate and increasingly clever as local, state and federal agents continue to hunt for him.
Federal police are now offering a reward for information leading them to the fugitive.
A U.S. Marshal said Caron has written bad checks in recent weeks to pay for at least five cars he has used to slip away from his pursuers. So far, investigators have recovered three of the vehicles, two in Saco, one in Augusta. They have also recovered some of the bad checks totaling more than $10,000.
Chris Clifford, coordinator of the Central Maine Violent Crime Task Force, said Caron has been shopping for cars in a consumer publication and then charming the sellers into taking a personal check.
The one-time owner of a small car dealership in Lewiston, Caron is familiar with the process of buying and selling cars, police said.
A Maine State Police trooper who stopped a BMW in Gray recently later lost sight of the car when the driver sped away. It was believed Caron was driving the BMW, which he paid for with a check drawn on a friend’s account.
Around the same time, Caron was reported seen at an Irving Mainway in Gray, filling his gas tank while his girlfriend waited nearby. It is the same girlfriend Caron is accused of threatening with a gun to evade capture on Jan. 17.
Police believe 18-year-old Amber Smith has been with Caron since ducking away from police on that date. Her parents have listed her as missing.
Since the search for Caron was mentioned on the nationally televised program “America’s Most Wanted” last weekend, police have received numerous tips about his whereabouts. Police believe they have come close to capturing him, but he has managed to slip away each time.
“We missed him by two hours the other day,” Clifford said.
The drama began shortly after Halloween when police went to Caron’s home to investigate a report from a woman who said she had been drugged and raped at a party there.
When police searched the home, investigators said they found powdered and crack cocaine and an assault rifle. When they went back to arrest him in January, Caron and his girlfriend fled through a back window, police said.
Now, police are searching for Caron with warrants charging him with drug trafficking, criminal threatening with a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is also listed as a person of interest in the Halloween rape. Police said they are hoping to get a DNA sample as they investigate that complaint.
Police believe Caron may have gone to Connecticut at one point in his flight from justice and that he has been staying intermittently at a camp in Northern Maine. They are still asking that anyone with information about his whereabouts call their local police department.
Clifford said an award in an unspecified amount is also being offered for information leading to Caron’s arrest.
The “America’s Most Wanted” page on Caron lists his background, personal traits and habits and other information. It can be found at www.amw.com
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