Searsport teen linked to burglary

BELFAST – A 17-year-old male from Searsport was charged with burglary and theft in connection with a break-in earlier in the week on Jesse Robbins Road.

Police Detective Michael McFadden said two coin jars and a stereo receiver were taken in the daylight theft on Monday. Entrance was gained by cutting through a bathroom screen.

McFadden identified the juvenile through evidence left beside the change machine at a Hannaford and a review of the store’s video recordings. McFadden said he was able to match the time the machine recorded a $50 transaction with a surveillance tape that showed the juvenile at a store cash register.

McFadden and Searsport police recovered the receiver when they confronted the boy at his home in Searsport at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. The juvenile was on probation at the time of the break-in and that permitted police to enter the home.

McFadden also is investigating a July 15 break-in on Head of Tide Road. In that case, a thief slipped into the home through an unlocked door and left with a lock box containing credit cards. The cards were used in Waterville and Winslow a short time after the incident.

“There are some similarities,” he said Thursday.

Searsport police also are looking into whether the juvenile accused of being involved in the Belfast break-ins was connected to a number of break-ins that have occurred there this summer. Chief Mark Pooler said coin jars and rolled coins were taken in some of those cases.