Augusta men charged in Chesterville home-invasion

FARMINGTON — Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said an uncle and his nephew were charged Thursday with burglarizing a home in Chesterville on Monday while a teenage girl hid in her bedroom.

James Dingus and his nephew, Stephen Dingus, both 31 and of 37 Gage St. in Augusta, were taken into custody in Augusta late Thursday afternoon.

Both are charged with burglary, criminal mischief and possession of burglary tools, Nichols said. Stephen was booked at the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta by late afternoon, while James was being interviewed and was expected to be booked at the jail Thursday night, he said.

Both men have arrest warrants issued from Kennebec County, and Stephen Dingus also has one issued by Lincoln County, officials said.

Maine State Police Troopers Elisha Fowlie and Adam McNaughton located James Dingus walking on Gage Street in Augusta and took him into custody, Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety said in a release.

With assistance from Augusta police and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, Stephen Dingus was found in an apartment on State Street in Augusta a short time later. He jumped from a second-floor window to avoid arrest, the release states, and state police Lt. Shaun Currie took him into custody immediately.

State police and detectives from Lincoln, Kennebec and Franklin counties searched the Dingus apartment Thursday.

The 1998 maroon Chevrolet Lumina seen leaving the home on Vienna Road in Chesterville on Monday was also seized, McCausland said. Police said a 17-year-old girl stayed in her bedroom when a man knocked on the door of her home. He forced his way into the house and when he saw her in her room, he fled in the car.

dperry@sunjournal.com