LEWISTON – Police were scouring the downtown area early Thursday morning after a burglar broke into a Lisbon Street pawn shop and made off with more than a dozen handguns.

Officers were at the scene minutes after the masked thief was seen fleeing Pine Tree Trading at about 10:50 p.m. Wednesday. A citizen who saw the burglar leaving the shop chased him a short distance before police arrived, Sgt. Jeff Parshall said.

An hour later, police were searching a wide area around the pawn shop with tracking dogs in pursuit of the suspect.

Police believe the burglar went into the business with a knapsack which he stuffed with guns before fleeing on foot.

The suspect was seen late Wednesday night running along Adams Avenue near the Public Works Department. Witnesses said the suspect, who appeared to be a man, was wearing a hood around his face.

Several officers secured the pawn shop while others began searching the streets, businesses and woods around Adams Avenue, police said.

A pair of officers went into the Acme Club, next to Pine Tree Trading, to interview potential witnesses. Others began searching the woods between the Public Works Department and Bartlett Street as well as a wooded area leading to Lewiston High School.

Early reports were that as many as 15 guns may have been taken in the break-in. Police were waiting for business owner Marcel Morin to come to the scene to provide an inventory of missing items.

Police were working with the help of tracking dogs from the Lewiston Police Department and the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department.

It was not immediately clear how the suspect entered the business or how long he was inside. Pine Tree Trading sells a variety of items, including electronics, musical equipment and weapons.

Anyone with information about the break-in is asked to call Lewiston police.