Scarborough store robbed

SCARBOROUGH — A Penobscot County man was arrested Friday and charged with robbing a Scarborough deli at knifepoint.

Scarborough police say Anthony L. Lapio, 20, of East Corinth, is the person who entered the Bad Dog Deli at 680 U.S. Route 1 shortly after 4 p.m. Friday and demanded “all the money.”

The robber was wearing a gray, hooded sweatshirt and had his face covered with a bandana in the style of an Old West bandit. “The person behind the counter thought he was joking, at first,” said Scarborough Detective Rick Rouse, on Monday. “But then he decided the guy was serious when he showed a knife.”

After brandishing the weapon, described by Rouse as a “gold-colored folding knife,” the robber made off with $227.12. He then got into a fairly distinctive getaway vehicle – a gray pickup truck that was hauling a trailer full of tires – where there was an awaiting driver. 

“Luckily,” said Rouse, “the employee had the presence of mind to get the plate number.”

According to Rouse, an off-duty officer spotted the pickup speeding on Old Blue Point Road. The vehicle eventually returned to Route 1, where Rouse said it was pulled over by officers at about 5 p.m. near Lumber Liquidators.

Rouse said Lapio was found with $124.18 on his person, with some in his pants pocket and some stuffed in “one of his shoes.” 

“There’s about $102 that’s still missing,” said Rouse, adding that, because the police report on the incident is not yet complete, he could not identify the driver, or say what charges, if any, might be pending for that person.

Lapio was arrested on a charge of armed robbery and taken to Cumberland County Jail. He was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Cumberland County Unified Court.