LEWISTON – A Lincoln Street man was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with leaving his three children at home while he went to a downtown store to steal an adult magazine.

Police said 22-year-old Jeremy Carr was being booked on a theft charge when he alerted jail officials that his children were home alone.

An officer who went to 69 Lincoln St. found the children – 1, 2 and 3 years old – unattended in an apartment, police said. The officer then went back to the jail and arrested Carr on three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Police said the incident began at about 7:15 a.m. when they were called to a reported shoplifting at Victor News on Park Street.

Police officer Eugene Kavanaugh investigated and arrested Carr on a charge that he tried to steal one adult magazine after paying for another. The officer later filed the additional charges after visiting Carr’s home.

Police made arrangements to have the children cared for, and the case remained under investigation Wednesday night.

Carr remained at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn, where he was being held on $540 cash bail.