NEWPORT, Maine — A Dixmont couple was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with two pharmacy robberies in Newport.
The couple is also suspected in the attempted robbery of a Rite Aid in Pittsfield, said Newport Police Chief Leonard Macdaid on Tuesday.
Jonah Masse, 25, and Sydney Duff, 20, were both arrested and charged with Class B robbery.
They were taken to the Penobscot County Jail in Bangor and are being held on $50,000 cash bail each.
The Rite Aid at the corner of Routes 2, 7 and 11 in Newport was robbed on Aug. 16 and again on September 16.
Each time the suspect fled with an undisclosed amount of drugs.
On Tuesday, a man attempted to rob the Rite Aid on Somerset Avenue in Pittsfield, but the pharmacist refused to hand over any drugs.
Newport police could not charge the couple for the attempted robbery because it occurred in Somerset County. However, Macdaid said Pittsfield police assisted in the arrest in Dixmont on Tuesday.
In each case, Masse went into the store to demand the drugs while Duff waited in the getaway car, said Macdaid.
Macdaid said Newport police executed a search warrant on the couple’s home on Tuesday and arrested them at about 3:30 p.m. Pill bottles were recovered at the residence.
The street value of the drugs taken in the two robberies amounted to about $6,000, said Macdaid. Some of the prescription drugs were quite potent.
“The stuff they took, if it got into the wrong hands, they may have been dead. It was strong stuff,” said Macdaid, who added that the pills were stolen for personal use and to sell.
Newport police placed a high priority on solving the two cases for good reason, he said.
“He told us he was not going to stop,” Macdaid said of Masse. “He was going to keep robbing places until he got caught.”
Macdaid praised Lt. Randy Wing for his work on the case. He said Wing spent nearly 80 hours working to solve the two Newport robberies.
“We got some leads and kept working on it and working on it and got enough to arrest them,” said Macdaid.
Testimonial evidence, interviews and physical evidence tied the couple to the robberies, he said.
Although it would take an internal policy change by pharmacies to make a major dent in prescription drug robberies, Macdaid said patrons and employees in pharmacies can make an impact.
“The best thing to do is the people in these stores need to be observant,” said Macdaid. “If anyone is in Rite Aid or a pharmacy or bank, if they see something that’s not right, they need to call 911 right away. With both of these robberies, people saw something wrong, but nobody called until afterwards. We probably could’ve caught him before he left the store [if someone had called immediately].”
Macdaid said U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agent Amy Nickerson, the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department and Pittsfield and Brewer police departments aided Newport in the investigations.
Outstanding job Chief Macdaid and Newport P.D.!
Send a message judge. Lock them up for a long,long time.
Isn’t it strange that when junkies and pill heads like these two get caught and go to jail, they go through withdrawal, and get clean in a few days? Now for some reason when junkies and pill heads decide to go to one of the three methadone clinics in Bangor they are on it for years, at our expense, 99% of the time. Don’t try to sell me that when one wants to, or has to get clean from addiction they can’t, because they can and do.
Good catch LE. Keep lockin em up. At least they realize after being in jail for a few days they can get clean and they don’t need that junk.
where in this article did it say they got clean with no help?
Not really as simple as just spending a week in jail and withdrawing and then being clean and being done with it. I mean, its a nice thought, but that is definitely not how it works. More like get clean, get out in 7 days and walk to a friends house and score a couple charity bumps. Fact is drug addiction goes a whole lot deeper then sitting on the can for a week and then going about your life. Many people get into drugs because of underlying psychological issues. Breaking a drug habit is easy, changing the forces that created and drive a drug habit is another matter completely.
LOL btw there are drugs in jail….
Yeah, if you like Orange Stop Signs and got 100 bucks on your books to waste on garbage.
I find it hilarious that you honestly think people don’t get drugs in jail. No one is really that out of touch are they?
No one is clean in a few days, weeks or months in reality. But then what you are claiming isn’t based in reality.
Treatment is the only ‘cure’.
#winning
Hah. This kid. I went to school with him as a lad. He always was a winner. He always thought he was the #1 dude. Funny how that happens. Delusional people always brighten my morning.
The brave Pharmacist that told this guy-“not today” might want to take a hard look into these two creep’s eyes. I think they could kill someone based on their statement that they were not going to stop until they got caught.A bit of a Bonnie and Clyde thing going? That’s crazy thinking. They are dangerous people.
“Although it would take an internal policy change by pharmacies to make a major dent in prescription drug robberies, Macdaid said patrons and employees in pharmacies can make an impact.”
Aside from the advice to call 911 if they “see something not right,” what is the internal policy change needed?
(Semtex in the form of a Rx pill bottle might discourage that thieving feeling…)
Start adding dye packs
Winner Winner No Chicken Dinner!
How about this, go get a job, some people.
Very sad that these two young people have decided to make the choices that they have made. Unfortunately for all the people that want to ”let them clean up in jail” and ”that’ll teach them”, those are some pretty naive comments made by some even more naive people. Drug addiction is a horrible affliction that takes more than a weekend in the pokey to take care of.