RUMFORD – A two-town, multi-jurisdiction police operation Thursday afternoon netted police two Rumford men and more than a thousand dollars’ worth of tools stolen from a Paris company, police said.
T. James Devlin, 24, and Norman Johnson, 34, were arrested Thursday in Hartford and charged with receiving stolen property.
Additionally, Devlin was arrested on a warrant for failure to pay fines and fees on a charge of operating after suspension, and charged with violation of conditions of release, illegal possession of Schedule W drugs, criminal simulation and cultivation of marijuana.
Both were taken to Oxford County Jail in Paris, where Devlin remained Friday, Carter said. Johnson, however, was free on bail.
Rumford Detective Lt. Stacy Carter said early Friday afternoon that police caught a break Monday when a Rumford resident alerted them to possible stolen tools at a Falmouth Street apartment.
“We were told that the tools were allegedly stolen from KBS Building Systems in Paris,” Carter said.
The tipster said the air-powered tools included several varieties of nail guns, and a compressor, along with electrical tools, he said.
Carter launched an investigation after learning that KBS was missing tools, then involved other agencies after discovering that some of the tools were being used at a Main Street residence in Hartford, he said.
Paris police, state troopers and the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office were called in to assist.
Devlin, Carter said, is a former KBS employee.
During the investigation, he said, police received drug intelligence information, and involved Maine Drug Enforcement agents Thursday.
Police executed a search warrant Thursday afternoon at 52 Falmouth St. in Rumford, and recovered four nail guns and five air tools, but no compressor or electrical tools. Also seized were prescription drugs and drug paraphernalia.
At 3:30 p.m., nearly simultaneously with the Rumford search, state and county police and a Rumford officer entered the Hartford residence where Devlin and Johnson were building an addition to the house, Carter said.
Five more stolen nail guns were seized, and the pair were arrested.
Oxford County Deputy Chancey Libby said late Friday that police and drug enforcement agents also searched Devlin’s former residence at 94 Tuelltown Road in West Paris, and seized 120 growing marijuana plants that ranged in height from 4 inches to 3 feet.
Carter said that serial numbers and KBS identification marks engraved on the tools helped police trace the tools to the owner, who had documented the numbers.
“Tool thefts are not rare. They’re very common. But, it’s rare that the owner has documentation of the serial numbers. Usually, when someone steals something, they erase the serial numbers,” Carter said.
That, Libby said, was why Devlin was charged with criminal simulation. Police allege that he scratched some serial numbers off the tools.
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