PERKINS TOWNSHIP — An Old Town man was arrested on several charges Sunday after a deputy found him in the backseat of a stolen Jeep off Route 156, Franklin County Sheriff Lt. Niles Yeaton said Monday.

Cpl. Kenneth Charles arrested Nicholas McGrane, 22, on a felony charge of operating after revocation and a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized use of property. He also issued McGrane a summons on a misdemeanor charge of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer in connection with a box cutter and $20 missing from a purse that was in the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Yeaton said. McGrane was also arrested on three outstanding warrants from Oxford County, he said.

A Carthage woman reported to dispatchers at about 7 a.m. Sunday, that her Jeep was stolen during the night. Deputy B. David Rackliffe responded to investigate.

Charles was enroute on Route 156 to assist Rackliffe and spotted some gravel near a woods road in Perkins Township, and stopped to investigate, Yeaton said.

He saw a light-colored vehicle and followed tire marks on the road and found a Jeep matching the description of the stolen one, he said.

Upon further investigation, Yeaton said, Charles saw the keys in the ignition and someone in the backseat.

According to a police affidavit filed in a Farmington court, when Charles located the Jeep, it had gone off the road and crashed.

Judge Valerie Stanfill set McGrane’s bail at $500 cash or a Maine pre-trial agreement. She also placed him on a payment plan for fines related to the Oxford County warrants.

She also set conditions of no use or possession of alcohol or illegal drugs and that he is subject to testing at any time.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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