Police arrest man in series of Bangor thefts

A transient’s plans to leave Bangor on a bus were cut short this week after police linked him to two thefts, including one caught on tape at Dunkin’ Donuts.

According to police, Michael Mallia, 41, had a stolen checkbook in his possession when they arrested him at a Broadway convenience store early Tuesday morning. And in a bag found in a cab in which he had been a passenger, Mallia had five cartons of cigarettes he purchased with a stolen debit card at the Big Apple convenience store.

Mallia admitted to police that he had a “bad drug habit” and that he was looking to leave the city on a bus. Earlier, he had tried unsuccessfully to sell one of the cigarette cartons for $10 to a cabdriver, although he found more success selling for $40 a $250 cell phone he had taken from an “employees only” area at the Main Street Dunkin’ Donuts, according to police.

A video surveillance tape reviewed by police showed Mallia walking behind the counter at Dunkin’ Donuts and entering the kitchen and offices where he took something from the storage area, reported Officer Rob Angelo.

A Dunkin’ Donuts employee contacted police about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday after noticing her cellular phone was missing when she finished her shift late Monday night. The employee later told Angelo that she called her cell phone number and spoke to the man who had purchased it, letting him know it was hot property.

Also in Mallia’s possession at the time of his arrest Tuesday was a compact disk player, containing a CD, also taken from the Dunkin’ Donuts, although it wasn’t initially reported missing with the cell phone.

Less than an hour after the theft at Dunkin’ Donuts was reported, Bangor police received a report of a wallet stolen from the Irving Mainway store on Main Street. The wallet contained a checkbook, debit card, and a Filene’s credit card among other items and was taken by Mallia after he distracted the night clerk, said Officer Shawn Green.

The police tracked Mallia to the Holiday Inn, only to find he had left in a cab 15 minutes earlier, leaving behind the Filene’s card. Searching the bathroom, police recovered a day planner and other papers belonging to the clerk.

With the stolen debit card, Mallia purchased one carton of cigarettes and then four more from the Big Apple convenience store on State Street, even though the clerk told police she knew the card had been issued in a woman’s name.

Mallia was charged with two counts of theft and misuse of credit identification, forgery and receiving stolen property.