LISBON — A GPS tracking system and quick action by the Lisbon Police Department are credited with the recovery of a 2007 Kenworth flatbed truck hauler and the arrest of a 22-year-old Auburn man in Rhode Island on Monday.

Daniel R. Turner of 120 Brentwood Drive was charged Monday afternoon with theft by unauthorized taking and violation of bail conditions. He is accused of stealing a flatbed truck hauler valued at nearly $70,000 Monday morning from John Crafts Auto Sales at 711 Lisbon St. in Lisbon Falls.   

According to Lisbon police Officer Richard St. Amant, the recovery of the hauler also cleared two other vehicle thefts in the Lewiston-Auburn area. St. Amant said that staff at the Lisbon Falls auto sales business discovered the rig was missing shortly after 8 a.m. Monday and called police. While waiting for police to arrive, personnel checked the sales lot and discovered another tractor-trailer rig that did not belong to the business parked in the lot.

St. Amant said the Hart Transportation tractor was stolen from a lot in
Auburn and driven into Lewiston, where the trailer was taken from
Lepage Bakery on Cedar Street. He said the owner of the tractor was not aware it had been stolen.

Meanwhile, authorities determined that the rig stolen from the Lisbon lot was headed south on I-95 in Rhode Island through the GPS tracking system installed in the truck. St. Amant immediately contacted Rhode Island State Police with a description of the stolen truck and GPS location. While speaking with authorities in Rhode Island, a state police trooper reported that he spotted the truck driving past him on I-95.

It all happened within 10 minutes of the initial theft report, he said.

Turner was arrested in Kingston, R.I., and is being held in on a charge of violation of conditional release. He is expected to remain in Rhode Island until he is extradited to Maine, Lisbon police Detective Bill Tapley said.

Turner has an extensive criminal history that includes three convictions for theft by unauthorized taking or transfer; two for violating condition of release; one for furnishing liquor to a minor; one for criminal trespass, one for burglary, and one for theft by unauthorized use of property.