OCEAN COUNTY — A man wanted in connection with a bank robbery in Scarborough, Maine, was arrested in Lakewood on Thanksgiving Day after his SUV overturned in a crash, authorities said.
The incident occurred around 4:25 p.m. on November 27 on Clifton Avenue, according to The Lakewood Scoop, which first reported the crash. Two vehicles were involved and it appears there were no serious injuries.
Police later confirmed the driver was the suspect in a robbery a day earlier on November 26 at the Chase Bank on Hannaford Drive in Scarborough.
Scarborough police identified the suspect as Thomas Sawyer, 27, of Warren, Maine.
Officers received a 911 call shortly before 1:40 p.m. on November 26 reporting the robbery, and witnesses said the man fled in a maroon Chevrolet Trailblazer with out-of-state plates.
Shortly afterward, a vehicle matching that description was involved in a hit-and-run crash on Gorham Road near Mussey Road. The driver continued north without stopping, police said.
No weapon was displayed during the robbery, and the suspect made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
According to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, they are not involved in this case and the Lakewood Police Department is taking the lead.
Sawyer was taken into custody at the crash scene and additional charges from Maine authorities are pending.
In 2019, Sawyer had served a prison term in Maine for burning down a local camp and had pleaded guilty to theft and burglary in a separate case.
