Second man faces charges in Nokomis equipment theft

NEWPORT – A second man has been charged in the burglary last month of $30,000 worth of recording and video equipment from Nokomis Regional High School.

Andrew Badeen, 18, of Newport turned himself in this week to Newport police, according to Chief Len MacDaid. Police had been searching for Badeen for weeks, MacDaid said, and he was brought to the police station by family members.

Badeen was charged with burglary and theft and summoned to court, not arrested; therefore, he did not have to post bail.

He is the second person charged in the theft.

A week ago, Scott Alexander Savage, 18, of Pittsfield was charged with receiving stolen property and criminal trespass.

The men are accused of taking video and recording equipment used by Nokomis Warrior Broadcasting, a school-run television station, from a portable classroom behind the rural high school.

Acting on a tip, the Maine State Police dive team recovered most of the stolen equipment from three locations in the Sebasticook River in Pittsfield and Burnham. All of it was destroyed by being submerged. The district was insured, MacDaid said.