LEEDS – An Augusta couple who brought along their 8-week-old baby during a burglary of Garrity Industries early Saturday morning were desperate for drug money, according to Androscoggin County Sgt. James Jacques.

Around 1 a.m. Saturday, Jacques and Deputy Nicholas Benoit were called to the Bog Road business for a triggered burglar alarm.

“We were right down the road, so we got there pretty quick,” Jacques said. When the officers arrived, they saw suspect Kevin T. Moore, 30, running from the building with the business’s cash box in his hands, the sergeant said.

Jacques said that he and Benoit chased Moore on foot, but Moore began to attack Jacques with a claw hammer. To avoid being struck, Jacques sprayed Moore with pepper spray.

“Moore then fled to his car where his girlfriend, Jenifer A. Young, 23, and their baby were waiting,” Jacques explained.

As Moore ran to his car, which was parked just outside of the business’s gated entryway, Benoit pulled the cruiser around to block a possible escape.

“For some reason, with his infant in the car, Moore decided to ram through the gate and go back toward the Garrity property,” Jacques said. “When he did so, the windshield busted and part of the roof peeled away from the car.”

Moore then turned around and busted back through the gate and escaped onto Bog Road. According to Jacques, Moore, feeling the effects of the pepper spray, crashed into a snow bank just two-tenths of a mile down the road.

As officers arrived to the scene of the crash, Moore was taking off on foot again and Young was attempting to escape with the infant.

Young was apprehended and Monmouth Rescue was called to check on the condition of the mother and child. The baby was in the back seat, which sustained the least damage, and uninjured in the attempted getaway, Jacques said.

The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department’s K-9 Unit had to be called in to search for Moore. According to Jacques, Moore was found a short time later hiding in a barn down the road from the crash in Monmouth.

Both Moore and Young, of 152 Mount Vernon Ave. in Augusta, were former employees of Garrity Industries. According to Jacques, Moore was out on bail for a previous burglary charge.

“They were looking for money to buy cocaine and he was very desperate to get out of there with the cash box,” Jacques said.

The 8-week-old baby was handed over to the Department of Health and Human Services, which then placed the baby with Young’s mother.

Moore was charged with burglary, theft, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, refusal to submit to arrest, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal mischief and violation of bail. He remained at the Androscoggin County Jail on $10,000 cash bail Sunday night.

Young was also being held Sunday night at the Androscoggin County Jail on $5,000 cash bail. She was charged with burglary and theft.

Winthrop, Monmouth and Maine State Police departments provided assistance with the case.