5 planes stripped of electronic gear

AUGUSTA — Thieves may have used a plane to get to two central Maine airports where they stripped radios and instrument panels from five small planes, police said Monday as they continued tallying losses.

Radios worth a total of $9,000 were reported stolen Sunday from two small planes at Waterville’s Robert LaFleur Airport, said police. The owners were not immediately identified.

Thieves also caused minimal damage as they removed instrument panels, gauges, headsets and radios from three light planes, including a state-owned aircraft and two privately owned planes, in a hangar at Augusta State Airport, investigators said.

“There’s a very good likelihood that the two (series of thefts) are connected,” said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

State police “strongly suspect” that the thieves flew into the Waterville airport before flying to the Augusta facility, said McCausland.

He said that losses from the state plane could amount to $45,000. Losses from the other two planes in Augusta were being totaled.