Three indicted in Farmington store robbery try

Dustin Rice; below Ryan Towle and Tammy Ewing

Three local young people have been indicted in connection with an attempted robbery in Farmington in March.

Dustin Rice, 20, of 54 Kennebec Driver, Lebanon; Ryan Towle, 18, 94 Hubbard Road, Lebanon; and Tammy Ewing, 18, of 14 Pineland Park, Milton, all face lengthy court sentences if found guilty.

The three are said to have conspired to rob the Little General Store in Farmington on March 10.

Towle was indicted for attempted burglary, while Rice and Ewing were indicted for “criminal liability for conduct of another” in connection with the crime.

According to the formal charges, Rice is said to have lent his cellphone to Towle to call Ewing to pick them up after the offense.

All the charges are Class B felonies, carrying possible prison terms of 3 ½ to 7 years in jail and fines up to $4,000.

According to police reports that night, around 10 p.m. Farmington officers responded to the Route 11 store for an alarm activation. They found a broken window and heard movement in the woods nearby, according to police reports. 

While Farmington Patrolman Sean Leach stopped a vehicle that was leaving the area and detained three people, a Rochester Police Officer with a police dog conducted a K-9 track that led to where the suspects’ vehicle was parked. 

Two of the detained suspects matched the likenesses of the allged perpetrators caught on tape from store cameras, police said.                                              

Interestingly a second robbery attempt of the same store later that night also proved unsuccessful.

An indictment is not an indication of guilt, only that enough evidence was found by a grand jury to move forward with a trial.