Smyrna man arrested in theft of $70,000 from Merrill home

MERRILL – State police late last week arrested a Smyrna man in connection with a break-in at a trailer in which a safe and two cash boxes containing more than $70,000 in cash and traveler’s checks were stolen.

Chad Burpee, 24, was arrested on a burglary charge and was taken to the Aroostook County Jail.

Police believe others may have been involved in Tuesday’s burglary, and two detectives from the Maine State Police Criminal Investigative Division have been assigned to assist in the investigation.

The 21/2-by-2-foot safe, including its contents – $53,000 in cash, personal papers, deeds, certificates of deposit and motor vehicle registrations – was found stashed in a wooded area near the trailer off Route 2, according to Trooper John York.

He said the two cash boxes had not been recovered. One cash box contained $10,000 in cash and about $7,000 in traveler’s checks and the other contained loose change, according to the trooper.

York said a side window was pried open to gain entry into the trailer. The homeowner had been gone the night of the burglary.

Police dogs from Troop E and the Maine Warden Service were used at the scene to track the path of the burglars.