BETHEL — Five men from around the country were arrested Tuesday on charges of peddling wares without a state license.

According to a statement from the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, several residents in the Bethel area complained of men trying to sell a cleaning solution.

The men had received a warning in Mexico for the same conduct, and the Sheriff’s Office had received a notice of unlicensed salesmen told to cease activity in the Lewiston-Auburn area.

Deputy Robert Ryder arrested two men and Deputy George Cayer arrested two others in a vehicle on Route 2 with checks and sales receipts from Bethel residents and businesses. Trooper Paul Casey of the Maine State Police arrested a fifth man found on Barker Road.

Arrested were Michael A. Burgoin, 21, of Sable Drive in Turner; Jesse Roger Lumbert, 21, of Easton Street in Granby, Mass.; Thomas J. McCombe, 20, of Mandon Avenue in Pawtucket, R.I.; Lorenzo L. Thorpe Jr., 26, of Corsair Drive in Virginia Beach, Va.; and Terry Weyandt, 48, of South Virginia Suite in Reno, Nev.

According to state law, any transient salesperson must be licensed by the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation before selling consumer products.

The men were charged with violation of transient licensure and taken to the Oxford County Jail. All were held on $200 bail, except Weyandt, who was held on $600 due to a warrant for a similar violation in Tennessee and his claim that he was the manager of the group.

All five had made bail by Wednesday afternoon.

mlangeveld@sunjournal.com

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