Man arrested for alleged theft of recyclables

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A Bangor man was arrested for burglary after reportedly recycling his neighbor’s cans Sunday.

Officer Bill Lawrence was at a Pine Street apartment at about 6:15 p.m. when a resident told him somebody entered her apartment and took her trash can full of cans and bottles.

Neighbors told Lawrence that Robert Sabins, 37, another resident of the building, took the recyclables.

Sabins walked by shortly thereafter, and Lawrence spoke to him. Lawrence said Sabins admitted taking the cans and bottles. Sabins said he redeemed them for $6.

Lawrence arrested Sabins for burglary and for an outstanding warrant.

Veazie police arrested two 13-year-old boys Friday night for arson and burglary.

Officer Lee Miller said he reported to a fire scene on Hillside Drive at about 5:15 p.m. where a house was under construction. The man who was planning to buy the house told Miller he was inspecting the site that day and thought he heard footsteps leaving the house. When he heard crackling the man went downstairs and found a portable propane heater on fire.

Miller said Veazie Fire Department quickly put the fire out and found pieces of wood, fruit and insulation stuffed inside the heater. Miller said he called in Veazie police Cpl. Andrew Whitehouse, an arson investigator. Miller said an investigation turned up two juvenile suspects.

One boy came to the station with his parents, Miller said, and allegedly confessed that he entered the house with a friend and watched his friend put the materials into the heater, Miller said. He was arrested and charged with Class A arson and Class B burglary.

Miller said the boy identified his accomplice.

Police arrested the other boy and charged him with Class A arson and Class B burglary, Miller said. The boy said the pair fled the house when they heard footsteps upstairs.

“If the [potential buyer] hadn’t come home, who knows what they would have done,” Miller said.

Miller said the boys were not cooperative at first, but “spilled their guts” when they arrived at the police station. Both boys are now on conditional release.

A drunken San Francisco man in Bangor barely avoided driving into a graveyard last week, police said.

At about 11 p.m. Thursday, Bangor police Officers Robert Angelo and Christopher Morley were driving out of town on Ohio Street when they saw a car turn from Griffin Road and take off at high speed down Ohio. Angelo said the officers were at a stoplight and lost track of the car.

The officers later heard there was an accident on Finson Road near the cemetery. Angelo said they arrived to find the car they had been chasing, parked on the wrong side of the road.

Two men were sitting on the ground behind the car.

Angelo said the driver, Dewayne Watson, 39, of San Francisco, claimed to be fine, but he smelled of alcohol and slurred his speech. Watson told Angelo he’d had “too much” to drink.”

Watson then explained to Angelo that somebody else was supposed to be the designated driver that night, but since Watson was the most sober he decided to drive, Angelo said.

Watson said he was going 45 or 50 mph, in what Angelo noted is a 25 mph zone.

Angelo said Watson evidently lost control of the car at the crest of the hill near the cemetery, then hit the large granite blocks in front of the cemetery grounds. Angelo said the blocks, each weighing several hundred pounds, were moved about 20 feet by the impact. The car also hit a tree and cut it in half. The force of the collision tore off the front, the passenger side and rear of the car, Angelo said.

Watson and his passenger were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center, Angelo said. Watson was summoned for operating under the influence.

A Carmel home was broken into Thursday night.

Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Thomas Burgess received the call just after 5:30 p.m. Thursday. He said a residence on Hampden Road was broken into, and that a weapon, a videocassette recorder, jewelry and a television were taken.

Burgess said a large safe also was taken, suggesting multiple culprits, who evidently kicked the door open.

Old Town police summoned a juvenile for criminal mischief after he allegedly drove a stolen truck into a wooden ramp at Old Town High School Friday morning.

At about 7:20 a.m. police received word that the ramp to one of the portable buildings at Old Town High School had been destroyed, Officer Stephen Boyd said. Tire tracks led up to the damage.

Boyd said that earlier that morning Indian Island police had recovered a stolen truck with a 6-foot-long piece of wood lodged in the front grille. The tracks at the school matched the tires on the truck.

A juvenile suspect admitted stealing the truck and damaging the ramp.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Isaac Kimball