RUMFORD — A local man sought by police for more than a week on suspicion of kidnapping, robbery and assault was arrested by Maine State Police in Gray on Wednesday.
Randall J. Chapman, 37, of 48 Essex Ave. has been wanted since an incident May 19 when he fled over a guardrail toward the Androscoggin River with police in pursuit.
Chapman is accused of slashing a kidnapped victim’s face during a robbery while holding him at knife-point inside the man’s vehicle as he drove to an ATM to withdraw more money, according to Rumford police Capt. Daniel Garbarini’s May 21 affidavit seeking arrest warrants.
Chapman had his first court appearance to felony robbery, kidnapping and aggravated assault Wednesday via a video link between Lewiston District Court and the Oxford County Jail where he was incarcerated, lawyer John S. Jenness Jr. said Thursday morning by email. Chapman did not enter a plea.
After failing to post $50,000 cash bail, he was taken to Kennebec County Jail in Augusta. He is scheduled to appear at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 2 in Oxford County Superior Court in Paris, whether or not he makes bail before then.
Rumford police worked with Maine State Police and other law enforcement agencies following up on tips to find Chapman, Rumford police Chief Stacy Carter said Wednesday morning in a news release.
Maine State Police Trooper Jason Wing arrested Chapman at 3 a.m. after Chapman was found by the State Police Tactical Team at a residence on Route 100 in Gray as he tried to flee the area, Carter said. He said further details of the capture were not released by state police.
Carter also asked Amber Cyr, 25, of Rumford to turn herself in, which she did at 12:14 p.m. to the Rumford station where she was arrested and charged with robbery, Carter said.
Cyr was freed on $1,500 unsecured bail and will be arraigned on July 8 in Oxford County Superior Court in Paris.
Garbarini said that at 10 p.m. May 19, he heard radio traffic from Mexico officer Dean Benson seeking police assistance on River Road (Route 2) at the Labonville store.
While en route, Rumford Cpl. Donald Miller, Trooper Wing and Oxford County Cpl. George Cayer learned they were looking for a bald-headed man wearing a blue shirt, Garbarini said.
Benson said the 44-year-old victim drove into the store parking lot, where Benson and Dixfield officer Dustin Broughton were in their cruisers, and started sounding his horn and yelling for help.
Benson said a male passenger, later identified by the victim in a photo lineup as Chapman, fled toward the river. The victim got out of his vehicle and told Benson he had been held at knife-point and assaulted by the man who fled, Garbarini said.
The victim told Benson that he was robbed at about 9:45 p.m. in Rumford and forced to drive to an ATM to withdraw more money. Garbarini interviewed the victim, because it was a Rumford police case.
The victim told Garbarini that he came to Rumford to meet with a woman he had known for several months and with whom he had had a previous sexual relationship, according to the affidavit.
The victim said the woman was going to introduce him to another woman and the three could hang out together. The woman took the victim to Chapman and Cyr’s residence in the second-floor front apartment at 48 Essex Ave., according to the affidavit.
The woman introduced the victim to Cyr, identifying her as “Liz,” then the two women and the victim went downstairs to the victim’s vehicle parked out back, Garbarini said.
The victim told Garbarini that when he got to his driver’s side door he was attacked by two men and fought with them for a short time before they took his wallet.
The victim said Cyr had his wallet and took all $160 from it and fled toward Ralph’s Store where the victim had picked up his former sex partner, according to the affidavit.
At that point, the victim told Garbarini, Chapman produced a knife and ordered the victim to drive to an ATM and the other man who participated in the attack left. While holding the knife to him, Chapman told the victim to drive to a secluded ATM so the victim continued on Main Street in Mexico toward Dixfield, the affidavit stated.
Garbarini said Chapman told the victim “if he tried anything, he would stick him.”
When the victim saw the two police cruisers and tried to get the officers’ attention and pulled into the parking lot, he told Garbarini that Chapman attacked him, again slashing his face with a knife. After that, Chapman fled toward the river.
Police conducted an extensive search of the riverbank using thermal-imaging cameras but did not find Chapman.
Carter appealed to the public the following morning for help finding Chapman, with the caveat that they not go near him because he was considered armed and dangerous.