Salon loses cash, products in break-in

BANGOR – More than $1,000 in tanning products and about $200 in cash was taken from Choices Tanning Salon Thursday night after an unknown person broke into the building.

Employees at the salon, which is located at 453 Hammond St., discovered the damage at 9 a.m. Friday when they found items and cash were missing, as well as a broken door frame.

Owner Shelly Mellott said the amount she lost is a real burden on her new business.

“It’s not a bank, but it’s a lot to me. I’ve been in business since June,” Mellott said.

She said that no equipment was taken or damaged.

Mellott said she feels the police did not do everything they could in the investigation.

“I don’t think they did anything,” she said. “They spent two minutes in here, didn’t take any fingerprints, and then left … Is it OK to be robbed now?”

Sergeant Ed Potter of the Bangor Police Department was not the officer who handled the investigation, but said in many cases, fingerprints are not easily taken.

“If something is porous, you can’t get prints,” he said.

Potter said that the police were still waiting to get a list of what was taken from the salon, but Meghan Jackson, a stylist with the salon, said she told the police how much money had been taken.

Jackson said the officer told her they wouldn’t be able to get good fingerprints. “They told us we watch too much TV,” she said.

Potter said that one name was given as a possible suspect, and that an investigation into the case continues.