LEWISTON – A police detective wearing wingtip shoes and an overcoat Monday afternoon chased down a knife-wielding man suspected of robbing a Park Street restaurant minutes earlier.
Police swarmed on the downtown area in cars and on foot about 3 p.m. after a man reportedly held up Chopsticks Restaurant and then fled on a mountain bike.
Christopher Cook, 31, of Lewiston was caught by the detective and several officers as he fled through Kennedy Park toward the police station.
Investigators said Cook walked into the Chinese restaurant at 37 Park St. with a knife and demanded money. Nobody was hurt.
After fleeing with an undisclosed amount of cash, the suspect was spotted wheeling through the snow on a bicycle and heading into the downtown area. Several officers sped to the Park Street business in cruisers while others sprinted out of the police station just three blocks away.
Officer Joel Gagne spotted the suspect near Pine and Park streets. As other officers joined the pursuit, Cook abandoned his bike and and ran through the park, police said.
Detective Brian O’Malley, wearing wingtip shoes and a long coat, sprinted through the snow after Cook and caught up with him near the Sun Journal parking lot on Pine Street. With the help of other officers, O’Malley subdued Cook and took him to the police station.
Cook was charged with robbery and violating bail conditions. Police said the violation stems from an incident in November during which Cook scuffled with an officer on Horton Street and spilled a bag of cocaine in the process.
In the Nov. 15 incident, police said Officer Tim Darnell spotted Cook sitting in a minivan at Horton and Walnut streets early in the evening. After learning that the vehicle had been stolen from South Portland, Darnell ordered Cook to step out of the van. A scuffle ensued and police said Cook tried to reach for Darnell’s gun as the two men scrapped in the street.
Darnell got the suspect subdued and roughly an eighth of an ounce of cocaine powdered the street, police said. Investigators believed the cocaine had spilled from the stolen Dodge Caravan or from Cook’s pocket during the scuffle.
In that incident, he was charged with possessing cocaine, assaulting a police officer, vehicle theft, refusal to submit to arrest and habitual driving without a license.
Cook was free on bail from that incident Monday when he was arrested on the robbery charge, police said. He was questioned at the Police Department and taken to the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn where he was being held Monday night.
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