Cold case thaws in ice cream shop burglary

RANGELEY — A 2006 burglary of an ice cream shop was solved last week when a suspect in an unrelated matter confessed to the crime, said Rangeley Police Chief Dennis Leahy Monday.

Not only did Tucker Blythe, 19, of Rangeley confess "out of the blue" while being questioned about another matter, but he named four other individuals involved, he said.

Three of the five, most were about 15 or 16 years old at the time of the incident, have received summonses that include felony charges of burglary and misdemeanor charges of receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy, Leahy said.

Sean Fay, 18, and James Raymond, 22, both of Rangeley along with Blythe are scheduled to appear in court Dec. 18. Leahy said he was not sure about charges for the other two suspects at this point.

Fay also made a statement to state police regarding the incident where on July 31, 2006, a burglary at Scoops Ice Cream Shop on Main Street was reported to police, he said. A total of $796.30 was taken.

From information provided, the young men entered the shop sometime between 11 and 12 p.m. The shop closed at 10 but the suspects entered through an open window. Because they had been inside numerous times, they knew where the cash was kept, he said.

Police had no suspects at that time and the case grew colder, not even listed in the police's current computer program that dates back to September of 2006 and Leahy couldn't find it.

He called the ice cream shop owners who remembered talking to police on the first of August of that year which led him back to find the initial paper reports on the incident.

The owners were happy to finally have the three charged, he said.

abryant@sunjournal.com