ROXBURY – A MeadWestvaco employee was charged with stealing thousands of dollars worth of tools from the Rumford mill and other companies Tuesday, after a search of his Roxbury home, Rumford Detective Sgt. George Cayer said.
Philip M. Smith, 41, was summonsed on a charge of felony aggravated theft and is scheduled to be arraigned June 7 in Rumford District Court.
Cayer attributed Tuesday afternoon’s no-knock search to a larger investigation by the Maine Warden Service and Smith’s initial arrest Friday by Maine State Trooper Terry James.
James charged Smith with domestic assault and terrorizing, Cayer said Wednesday afternoon. James could not be contacted for details about the incident.
Smith was taken to Oxford County Jail in Paris and released on $250 cash bail at 11 p.m. Friday, officials said.
Cayer said Rumford and Oxford County police joined wardens and state police Friday in searching Smith’s home and garages.
The Warden Service could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon regarding its investigation.
Cayer said the investigation “spiraled down to much more than (wardens) anticipated. We were able to recover thousands of dollars worth of equipment.”
Officials at MeadWestvaco Paper Group could not be reached for comment late Wednesday afternoon.
Cayer said Detective Lt. Stacy Carter spotted what he recognized as tools belonging to Cianbro Corp. on Friday while searching for and cataloging serial numbers on seized firearms for the Warden Service.
“He observed some items at this residence that were in plain view. Some of the items were clearly marked” as property of some construction companies, Cayer said.
On Tuesday, based on information gathered from Cianbro about stolen equipment, Lt. Carter obtained a search warrant for Smith’s residence and garages.
Shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday, Carter and Cayer, Rumford Police Chief Timothy Bourassa, Patrolmen James Bernard, Scott Mills and Daniel Garbarini, Trooper Daniel Hanson and Oxford County Sheriff’s Deputy Chancey Libby searched Smith’s property.
Items worth an estimated $3,000 to $4,000 were seized, Cayer said, and were determined to have been taken from Cianbro, Boise Cascade Paper Group, BE&K Construction, Walker Industrial Services and MeadWestvaco.
These items included several portable hand tools, power tools, a die grinder, come-alongs, chain falls, ladders, construction equipment, electrical components, a generator and a new snowblower.
“This investigation is continuing with other suspects or accomplices that have been involved in the theft of this property from the mill,” he said.
Photographs of the seized equipment are being sent to police in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties to determine the owners.
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