LIVERMORE FALLS – Several people face charges after police arrested a Livermore Falls man Sunday night. He has been accused of stealing a television from the basement of 8 High St.
Information gained in that case has led police to potential suspects in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties in connection with burglary of more than 30 motor vehicles since mid-October, police said Monday.
Livermore Falls police had executed a search warrant Sunday at an apartment building at 23 Searles St. and recovered in a second-floor apartment the large, new, flat-screen television reported stolen Friday, Lt. Thomas Gould said Monday.
After the TV was taken, officer Maurice Drouin and the victim had made a list of potential suspects; Drouin then conducted several interviews and obtained information that led to his obtaining the search warrant, Gould said.
The television wasn’t located in the first apartment at the building, but police gained more information, which led to the second apartment in the building, where the television was discovered, Gould said.
Drouin arrested Brett Lovejoy, 18, who lived in the first apartment searched, on Sunday on charges of felony burglary and misdemeanor theft and criminal simulation, Gould said.
The serial numbers had been removed from the TV, Drouin said Monday.
Lovejoy was released from the Livermore Falls Police Station on Sunday night on $1,000 unsecured bail, Gould said.
Police expect to charge two to three other suspects in Oxford County in connection with stealing the TV, he said.
In addition, two women living in apartments 23a and 23b Searles St., Crystal Taylor, 31, and Jessica Dube, 26, were charged with misdemeanor possession of stolen property, Gould said. Taylor also was charged with civil charge of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, he said.
All three people are scheduled to appear Jan. 11 in 8th District Court in Lewiston.
Thefts from cars
The incident that led to the arrests is separate from 33 car burglaries that police have been investigating since Oct. 18, Gould said. Those burglaries have happened within a 1-mile radius, from Church Street to Oak Street, he said, and all of the doors to the vehicles have been unlocked.
“As of a result of this investigation,” Gould said, “we started solving all of these car burglaries that are still under investigation and we plan to serve at least one more search warrant (Monday),” Gould said.
A map on the wall of the training room has different colored push pins marking where the burglaries have occurred. Gould said the group of car burglars had built a pattern, and police had been staking out areas where they expected suspects to strike next.
“We’re concerned because in the course of the investigation we have discovered people admitting to breaking into cars and stealing property and burglaries of some sort that have not been reported to police,” Gould said. “We’re actually recovering items not yet reported stolen. So we’re requesting that anyone that had a vehicle broken into and property stolen to please call us at 897-3424.”
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