LEWISTON — A truck was stolen from the lot of a downtown convenience store Tuesday afternoon, and the pickup has not been seen since.
Buddy Taylor, owner of the former Buddy T’s Restaurant and Pub, said he had stopped just long enough to get a soda from the store at Lisbon and Canal streets when a young man in a hoodie hopped into his truck and drove away.
The keys had been left inside the truck.
The bold, daylight theft happened about 1:30 p.m. as Taylor stopped at the Gulf gas station and store. He had been out of the truck only for seconds when the theft occurred. Gone was his black Ford F-150 and various contents, including his cellphone.
“It’s crazy,” he said Wednesday. “This is the kind of thing you expect to see in big cities.”
Lewiston police were investigating the theft. They were also looking into a possible connection with a vehicle stolen from a lot in Auburn a few hours after the theft of Taylor’s truck.
In the Auburn theft, police said a Toyota Rav4 was stolen from the lot of the Family Dollar on Minot Avenue about 6 p.m. The owner, police said, had left the engine running while he ran into the store to grab an item.
“Not long after,” Auburn Deputy Police Chief Tim Cougle said, “we received calls of disorderly teens fighting in the parking lot of at Walmart and driving around the parking lot in a vehicle that matched the description of the stolen Rav4.”
Before police arrived at Walmart, the driver of the Rav4 was reported to have driven away at high speed. Police spotted the vehicle a few minutes later at Court and Main streets, but when officers tried to make a stop, the driver sped off toward Lewiston. For safety reasons, police did not pursue it.
The Rav4 was found Wednesday morning in Lewiston with no damage. The investigation into that theft was ongoing. Auburn and Lewiston police were working together to determine if the two thefts were related.
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