Hampden man arrested in narcotics theft case

BANGOR – A Hampden man with a long history of burglary charges and convictions was arrested early Tuesday by Bangor police, who found the man behind Miller Drug with 15 stolen bottles of prescription narcotics.

Steven Ellis, 35, will face several charges when he makes his initial appearance today in 3rd District Court in Bangor.

The most serious charge will be for the burglary of Miller Drug, where he allegedly broke in around 3 a.m. Tuesday and took what amounted to more than 5,400 pills.

“When officers arrived, some of the glass on the front door had been spidered and the door showed signs of forced entry,” Bangor police Sgt. Paul Kenison said Tuesday afternoon.

“With two attempts [at two other area pharmacies] the night before, our officers were on heightened alert just on the chance that someone would try again,” he added. “When the alarm call came in, we weren’t surprised.”

Police followed footprints from a back door at Miller Drug and found Ellis hiding out near the Abraham Lincoln School on Forest Avenue. After a brief struggle with officers, Ellis was taken into custody, Kenison said.

Ellis also is suspected in the attempted burglaries of Brooks Pharmacy in Brewer and Rite Aid in Bangor, which occurred late Sunday night.

“We can’t get into specific evidence, but we directly linked them to him,” Kenison said.

“We had expected this to happen at some point, especially with the other break-ins,” Ron Chase pharmacist manager at Miller Drug, said. “You always hope that it doesn’t happen, but sometimes it’s inevitable.”

The State Street pharmacy still opened on time at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. Chase said the mood at Miller Drug was fine and added that he couldn’t remember the last time the pharmacy had a burglary that involved forced entry.

“We have great security set up here, and our customers are thankful for that,” he said.

Ellis already had been in significant trouble with the law before his latest alleged string of crimes, including a burglary conviction in 1999. More recently, several burglary investigations led to Ellis, although he hadn’t been formally charged until last week.

“He was indicted last Monday on all conduct,” Penobscot County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Larson said Tuesday. “The very first thing that came to our attention was a Sept. 21 burglary in Eddington, where [Ellis] stole some prescription medication in an attempt to commit suicide.”

He also was linked to an Aug. 19 burglary in Brewer and in December 2004, police recovered stolen property from at least three other burglaries at a residence where Ellis was staying, Larson said.

Before the latest burglaries, Ellis had been out on bail after an arrest in December 2004 and was not under any probation conditions, Kenison said.

The latest charges against Ellis include: one count of burglary, two counts of attempted burglary, one count of burglary to a motor vehicle, theft of a motor vehicle, one count of stealing drugs and three counts of criminal mischief and failing to submit to arrest or detention.

Those charges will be added to the seven charges from last week’s indictment.