Maine Man Attempts First Robbery, Gets Locked Out of Bank

A man who planned to rob a bank in Union, Maine on Thursday afternoon arrived just a little too late to commit the crime.

According to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched to the Damariscotta Bank & Trust shortly after 3 p.m. when bank personnel reported a suspicious man wearing a ski mask had approached the front door and found it to be locked.  The bank lobby had been closed just a few minutes earlier.

Witnesses told police that the man hopped into a silver car with a cardboard license plate and drove off.  Within minutes, officers pulled over a vehicle fitting that description across town near the Camden National Bank.

Sheriff’s deputies say they found a ski mask in the front seat of the car, but there was no sign of a weapon.

Police charged 31-year-old Joseph M. Lewis of Waldoboro with attempted robbery and he was taken to the Knox County Jail in Rockland.

Lewis apparently told police that he had planned to rob the bank until he found the doors were locked.

He had no previous criminal record.