PRESQUE ISLE – Two Presque Isle brothers face a combined total of 50 charges in connection with a string of burglaries that have plagued the area for more than two months.

Gregory Scott, 19, and his brother, Bradley Summerlin, 23, each have been charged with nine counts of burglary, six counts of theft, nine counts of criminal mischief and one count of possessing burglary tools.

The pair was arrested without incident shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday after Presque Isle police were alerted by a silent alarm to a burglary at the S.W. Collins Co. store at 21 Rice St.

Detective Sgt. James Nelson and Officers Roger Ellis and Norbert Quirino of the Presque Isle Police Department responded and discovered Scott and Summerlin in the building.

The brothers were taken to the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton and were still being held Tuesday afternoon on $5,000 cash or $10,000 single surety bail.

They are scheduled to make their initial court appearances today in 2nd District Court in Presque Isle.

According to police, while investigating the burglary at S.W. Collins, they learned that Pancsofar’s Bridal Shop nearby on Main Street had been burglarized the same night.

Over the past two months, five businesses allegedly have been burglarized by Scott and Summerlin in the same area, which is about a half-mile from the brothers’ home on Carmichael Street.

Cowett’s Auto Repair on Carmichael Street has been burglarized three times, Hogan Tire on Rice Street has been burglarized twice, Pancsofar’s Bridal Shop, twice, and Aroostook Auto Detailing on Rice Street and S.W. Collins each once.

Tools and money stolen in the burglaries have an estimated value of $800, according to police. In addition, total property damage from the burglaries is expected to exceed $1,000.

As a result of their investigation, police were able to obtain evidence allegedly linking the brothers to all nine burglaries, Detective Wayne Selfridge of the Presque Isle Police Department said Tuesday.

About $600 worth of stolen property and money was recovered in the suspects’ possession and in a search of their home, Selfridge said Tuesday.

Police credit the silent alarm at S.W. Collins with helping them apprehend the burglars.

The Police Department is encouraging all businesses in the city to install alarms on their property and set the alarms in silent mode or convert existing audible alarms to silent.

“An audible alarm only assists the criminal by alerting the suspect,” Selfridge said.