Police searching for man who stole money bag

By late in the day, Bangor police had yet to find the man who stole a moneybag from a parked car on Hancock Street Monday.

A woman had parked her car at The Brick Oven bakery, 183 Hancock St., and was coming out of the business when she saw a man leaving the area of her car carrying a moneybag that she recognized as the one that had been in her car, Bangor police said. The woman chased the man across Hancock Street, but after she lost sight of him she returned to the bakery to call police.

Police searched the area for several hours for the man who was wearing a gray jacket over a gray hooded sweatshirt, police said. The man was last seen in the area of the Terraces Apartments on Hancock Street.

It is unknown how much money was in the bag and police did not immediately release what person or business the bag belonged to. As there was no physical contact involved, officials are treating the incident as a burglary to a motor vehicle, a Class C felony.

Police urged people to remember to lock the doors to their vehicles and homes when they are left unattended.

Police are investigating the apparent theft and resale of more than $30,000 worth of antique furniture.

A 37-year-old Brewer woman had been storing a large amount antique furniture with a friend who was renting a home with a barn on Union Street in Bangor since August of 1998, Bangor police Officer Larry Morrill said. The woman could not store the items herself as she was having a home that she had inherited renovated.

Since 1998, the woman had paid the 46-year-old man to do work at the home she was renovating and even paid the man some money on the side for storing her antiques for free, the woman told Morrill. Recently, however, the man stopped communicating with her and began to shy away from her job offers.

After hearing a friend’s comment that the man was moving, the woman found that her antiques were gone and the man had moved in with his mother in Calais, Morrill said. The man told the woman he didn’t know what antiques she was talking about, then stated that “nobody was around to help him when he needed it” and that “he didn’t know where her stuff would be at this time.”

The estimated value of the antiques that the woman photographed has been placed at $30,000 to $40,000, however, not all of the items were photographed, Morrill said. Officials believe that the man may have had the antiques sold at auction.

“He said that he did not think she would be able to get anything back,” Morrill said. While charges will likely be filed in the future pending further investigation and gathering of evidence, anyone with any information about the missing antique furniture should call the Bangor Police Department at 947-7384.