By Mark LaFlamme,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – As police in Maine search for fugitive Jesse Caron, their counterparts in Connecticut are also hunting for the Lewiston man in connection with a robbery outside a casino.

Police in Ledyard, Conn., said that on Monday, a man matching Caron’s description assaulted an elderly woman in a Foxwoods parking garage and stole her purse.

The attack happened at the Rainmaker Parking Garage at Foxwoods Resort Casino, police said. The victim told police she was approached by a man who assaulted her and grabbed her purse containing cash, credit cards and other personal items.

The suspect was last seen driving eastbound on Route 2 in a dark vehicle. When police in Connecticut compared notes with the Central Maine Violent Crimes Task Force, Caron was identified as the suspect.

In Lewiston, the 28-year-old Sabattus man is wanted on new charges of passing bad checks and violating conditions of bail. Those charges were handed up by an Androscoggin County grand jury Wednesday, less than four months after a statewide manhunt for Caron led to his capture.

The latest search for Caron expanded throughout New England this week, with police advising that the fugitive is considered dangerous.

“At this point, he’s desperate,” said Lewiston Police Lt. Michael McGonagle. “We believe he may have a drug dependency and he’s desperate for money.”

Police in Connecticut have footage from surveillance cameras at the Foxwoods resort. They are investigating that heist and another recent robbery in the area.

Caron has been a suspect since late last year, when police began investigating a party at which a young woman claimed she was drugged and raped. When police searched Caron’s home, investigators said they found powdered and crack cocaine and an assault rifle. Drugs and weapons charges were filed against Caron and the manhunt began.

For a month, local, state and federal police hunted for Caron. Midway through the search, he was featured on the television show “America’s Most Wanted.”

Caron was arrested Feb. 14 when federal agents spotted him slipping into a bar in Gray to ask his mother for money. Days after his capture, a district court judge lowered Caron’s bail from $40,000 to $10,000. Caron posted that bail and has remained free since.

He still faces counts of aggravated trafficking in narcotics and of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Police said Caron was found with a .45-caliber handgun when he was captured in February. His girlfriend, 18-year-old Amber Smith, was arrested on a charge of hindering apprehension. She has since been released.

Police said Caron used bogus checks to pay for at least a half-dozen cars when he was on the run. That matter is still being investigated, police said.

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