JAY – A man with addresses in Lewiston and Livermore Falls is accused of stealing a 12-yard dump truck from Verso Paper and leaving its dump body up as he drove off mill property onto Riley Road, taking down power lines and generators in the process Monday night.

The truck knocked out electricity to Jay for more than two hours, police Chief Larry White Sr. said Tuesday. A CMP pole was snapped.

James Burnell, also known as James D. Hodges, 35, with addresses in Lewiston and Livermore Falls, has been charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

White said Burnell could also be charged with felony aggravated criminal mischief due to the electrical damage that caused the blackout. Damages are estimated to Central Maine Power Co. property at $20,000, possibly more, and that doesn’t count other utility damages, White added.

Jay patrol officers Russell Adams and Michael Mejia responded to the 8:41 p.m. incident along with Jay firefighters.

Once police and firefighters arrived it was discovered that live power lines had fallen on the dump truck.

White said he and Sgt. Troy Young were called to the scene due to the severity of the incident.

The driver was removed from the truck and taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, he said.

Initially Burnell gave police the last name of Hodges but once White and Sgt. Troy Young went to the hospital and saw him, they recognized him as James Burnell, White said. Burnell, a registered sex offender, has a long criminal record and is well known to police, he said.

A few hours later it was also learned that a pickup truck that was parked in the mill work yard had also been taken and driven around the yard and then into a wooded area and damaged, White said. The keys had been left in both trucks in the mill’s yard.

Burnell also faces charges in that incident, White said.

It is believed that he took the pickup truck and crashed it and then took the dump truck, White said.

Both trucks were impounded. Jay police Detective Drew Hufnagel was processing them for forensic evidence Tuesday, White said. As of noon Tuesday, the accident was still under investigation, he said.

A James Hodges was listed as a patient at the Farmington hospital Tuesday afternoon, according to a spokeswoman there. Burnell was not listed as a patient.

Riley Road, which is off Crash Road and Route 4 near Verso’s main gate entrance to the mill, was closed to traffic for about 2 hours because of the incident.

The power outage shut down business, possibly Lifelines for elderly citizens and alarms, which prompted more police coverage to patrol the roads.

“We had to maintain and continue patrol and also had to have enough to maintain the scene and investigate the incident,” White said.

Verso spokesman Bill Cohen directed all questions on the active investigation to police.

“Our first concern is for the safety of our mill workers and we did, and will continue to do, everything necessary to protect them,” Cohen said. “The mill is, and has been, operating throughout this unfortunate incident.”

Verso produces its own energy to run the mill.