RUMFORD – An off-duty Dixfield police officer following a hunch helped Rumford police recover a vehicle stolen from Lewiston.

Officer Mark Dow’s curiosity was sparked last week when he saw a 1998 Mazda Protege parked in front of his house, said Rumford officer Douglas Maifeld.

Dow had a registration check run on the vehicle, but it had not yet been reported stolen so nothing turned up, Maifeld said.

But, a few days later, Lewiston police issued a bulletin about the stolen car and Dow happened to spot it being driven around Rumford.

He notified Rumford police at 4:18 p.m. Friday and officers James Bernard and Roy Hodsdon located the vehicle at 7:20 p.m., as it was being driven out of Hannaford’s parking lot, Maifeld said while reading Bernard’s report.

After stopping the vehicle, owned by Altina Ifteni, 75, of Lewiston, Bernard arrested a 17-year-old Lewiston youth and charged him with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The teen was then transported to Oxford County Jail.