By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

AUBURN – A 45-year-old Greene man faces a federal bank robbery charge after his arrest Monday morning following a heist on Turner Street.

David Bolduc of 176 Hillside Estates was taken into custody at gunpoint shortly after 9 in the Wal-mart parking lot by a contingent of city cops who had staked out area banks based on a crime analyst’s suggestions.

Bolduc is charged with robbing the Androscoggin Savings Bank on Turner Street, said Auburn police Deputy Chief Phil Crowell Jr. He’ll make his initial court appearance at 11 a.m. today at U.S. District Court in Portland.

If convicted, Bolduc faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, Crowell said.

It could be more.

A spokesman at the Cumberland County Jail in Portland said Bolduc was brought in Monday and records show he is unemployed, disabled and divorced.

Crowell called Bolduc “a person of interest” in connection with five other recent bank robberies in the area. Those holdups involved banks or credit unions in Lewiston and Lisbon as well as Auburn. An earlier bank holdup in Freeport also had a local connection since a truck stolen in Auburn was used by the robber.

Crowell said the investigation into those robberies continues. Auburn is cooperating with Lewiston and Lisbon cops in the probe, as well as with the FBI.

Monday’s arrest came largely as a result of that cooperation, Crowell said. He credited Andy Robitaille, a civilian crime analyst with the Lewiston Police Department, for figuring out a timing trend with the recent bank robberies.

Crowell said Robitaille was able to develop a timeline profile that told police the next holdup was likely to take place on Monday morning.

Based on that, and armed with descriptions of bank robbery suspects, local cops fanned out across Auburn, Crowell said. They staked out several of the 17 banks in Auburn and used roaming surveillance to keep tabs on the others.

Auburn Detective Chad Syphers had been assigned to keep watch of the Androscoggin Savings Bank that was hit. Crowell said that Syphers spotted Bolduc as a suspect at the bank.

Bolduc allegedly handed a teller in the bank a threatening note and demanded money before fleeing, Crowell said. Syphers confirmed that the bank had been held up, and he followed Bolduc to the Wal-Mart parking lot not far from the Burger King Restaurant.

There, other Auburn police units converged on the scene to join Syphers in making the arrest. Crowell said Bolduc surrendered peacefully as officers confronted him with their pistols drawn.

Money taken from the bank Monday morning was recovered. Crowell said he didn’t know how much money was taken Monday or how much in total was taken from all of the banks involved in the probe.

That information is likely to come out during a trial, he said.

Monday’s arrest resulted from “a wonderful cooperative effort on the part of Auburn, Lewiston and Lisbon police and the FBI,” Crowell said.

“It was a good plan, and it came together,” he added.

He said the surveillance detail was organized by Lt. Jason Moen, who commands the department’s Criminal Investigations Division. Moen also heads up the continuing investigation in the robberies on Auburn’s behalf.

U.S. Attorney Paula D. Silsby said her office has asked the federal court to order Bolduc held without bail.

“The arrest in this case followed as carefully coordinated investigation,” she said, also crediting the local police departments as well as FBI agents.

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