State Trooper Scott Stevens said it appears as if the act was random.
By Samantha C. DePoy
Staff Writer

SANDY RIVER PLANTATION – State Police are investigating the theft of hundreds of dollars of tools from Saddleback Ski Area.

The nighttime burglary was reported Sept. 15, less than a week after the ski resort and surrounding property were sold by Donald Breen to Archie W. “Bill” Berry of Farmington for more than $8 million on Sept. 9.

State Trooper Scott Stevens said that Saddleback officials reported the break-in to state police last week. Since the sale, crews of workers have been at the mountain, clearing trails, cutting glades and getting the mountain spruced up for the season.

In total, more than $700 in tools, including two cordless drills and a cache of wrenches and sockets, were stolen from the lift shack at the base of the Stage Coach chairlift, a stone’s throw from the base lodge and parking lot, Stevens said.

The burglars entered the locked shack by kicking down the door, he said, adding that more than one shack was entered.

“Several items of physical evidence” retrieved from the scene led Stevens to say that “This is definitely a solvable case.”

If apprehended, the burglar or burglars would be charged with a felony count of burglary, punishable by up to five years in prison.

Stevens said it appears as if the act was random and not connected to a plethora of other burglaries around Franklin County as of late. He reminds homeowners to record the serial numbers on their tools, saying that aids in retrieving the tools and getting the thieves convicted.

The Stage Coach is one of two double chairlifts and three T-bar lifts that serve skiers and snowboarders at the mountain, which is slated to open under its new ownership on Dec. 19.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact State Trooper Scott Stevens at 1-800-452-4664.

sdepoy@sunjournal.com

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