PORTLAND — Police said a Standish man went on a crime spree through the West End in the early hours of Aug. 26, allegedly robbing convenience stores, trying to steal an ambulance and running away with a cash register.

Paul Schlosser, 25, was arrested around 6 a.m. while allegedly attempting to enter a vehicle on Park Avenue. Officers, who had been looking for the former Portland resident, pursued Schlosser after allegedly seeing him running down St. John Street with a cash register.

According to police, Schlosser took the register from a nearby McDonald’s after he used a knife to threaten a clerk, who in response threw hot coffee at him.

The alleged crime spree began a little after midnight at the Cumberland Farms at 49 Pine St. Police Chief James Craig said Schlosser pulled a knife on a clerk and demanded cash.

He fled the scene in a stolen Subaru station wagon. Police who responded to the report recognized Schlosser on a store security video.

A short time later, a security guard at Maine Medical Center, who had heard the police dispatch, found the unoccupied Subaru on hospital property.

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At about 2 a.m., a Westbrook emergency medical technician at Maine Med reported that someone tried to steal her ambulance. Police again identified Schlosser as the alleged culprit after reviewing video.

At 3 a.m., Schlosser allegedly robbed the Circle K on Commercial Street in the same fashion as the earlier Cumberland Farms robbery.

Officers around 6 a.m. got the call from the McDonald’s on St. John Street and shortly after that, Schlosser was apprehended.

He was charged with three counts of robbery and one count of attempted unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Craig said Schlosser has been arrested 30 times in the past five years.

Kate Bucklin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or kbucklin@theforecaster.net.


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