GARDINER, Maine — A Pittson man was charged with robbery after allegedly attempting to steal a cash register from a Water Street business, police said.
Officers were dispatched to Berry & Berry Floral about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday after James Beckwith allegedly tried to steal a cash register, Gardiner Police Chief James Toman said. However, when police arrived, Beckwith was gone, Toman said.
No one was injured, and Beckwith had fled into the Arcade parking lot and into one of the back entrances of a building, the police chief said.
As police began to set a perimeter up, Beckwith approached police on Water Street and confessed to the robbery, indicating he did so to support a drug addiction, Toman said.
Beckwith was arrested and taken to the Kennebec County Jail. Bail has not been set.
“I would like to commend the employee at Berry & Berry Floral who did not put herself in harms way when Beckwith aggressively tried to get their cash register,” Toman said.
