NORWAY – Police following footprints in the snow Sunday tracked down a teenager they say broke into or attempted to break into at least a dozen vehicles.
Police were first called Sunday afternoon when a man reported seeing a person ducking between vehicles along Cummings Place, a dead-end road off Main Street.
Police found tracks in the snow and began to follow them. More reports came in minutes later as others called to say a young man was trying to break into cars at a nearby apartment complex.
Norway Police Officer Harry Simms said one caller said the man had set off the alarm in his car as it sat in the yard. Other vehicles in the neighborhood had been entered and more tracks were visible in the snow around each of them.
Simms said the suspect was moving from one vehicle to another, brushing snow off the windows as he looked inside.
“He was looking for cars that were unlocked, basically,” Simms said.
He was then targeting unlocked vehicles and taking away easily carried items. Simms said the man also tried to enter a garage, but was unable to do so.
Still following tracks in the snow, Simms and Officer Jim Labbe went down onto a railroad bed where they found 18-year-old Corey Mayer of Norway and arrested him on charges of vehicle burglary, receiving stolen property and refusal to submit to arrest.
Simms said he had heard from a few vehicle owners who described stolen items found when Mayer was arrested. He said Mayer had been searching for easily carried items such as compact discs and loose change.
As the investigation continued Monday, police were hoping to hear from other vehicle owners who may have been targeted. They were being asked to call Norway police at 743-5303. Simms also advised car and truck owners to keep their doors locked.
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