HARRINGTON – A Harrington man stole pots and pans and other household items to buy drugs, documents on file with the 4th District Court in Machias said.

Bruce W. Dawes, 39, was charged with nine counts of burglary and eight counts of theft by unauthorized taking after a string of break-ins at Cherryfield Foods in Township 25, Northeastern Blueberry in Township 19 and CTL Management of Township 18, along with several camps.

Among the items allegedly taken: an all-terrain vehicle, air conditioning units, industrial cooking units, truck batteries, a propane tank, a gas light, cleaning products, a CB radio, light bulbs, a gray army chest, a gas regulator, and pots, pans and other cooking utensils.

A second man is expected to be charged in connection with the incident, Assistant District Attorney Joelle Pratt said Friday.

Dawes recently made his first appearance in court and bail was set at $20,000 real estate or $2,500 cash. His case is expected to go before the grand jury in November.

If convicted, Pratt said Dawes could be sentenced to up to 10 years on each of the burglary counts and five years on each of the theft charges.

On Sept. 27, Sgt. Travis Willey of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department received a report that a Harrington man had an ATV, air conditioners and a tree stand that had been stolen. “The caller indicated that the ATV was red and had now been painted green and had been taken from Cherryfield Foods,” an affidavit on file with the court said.

The man, who has not been arrested, said that he and Dawes took the ATV from Cherryfield Foods. He said they had also taken two air conditioners and an industrial-type cooker that belonged to the same company. “Entry was made by removing a board on front of the camps,” the affidavit said.

The two men also allegedly took a tree stand. “The two went into the woods across from Mr. Dawes’ residence and dismantled and took a large tripod tree stand, carried it back to Mr. Dawes’ residence and placed it on Mr. Dawes’ property,” the affidavit said.

The deputies also found that other camps had been broken into in the area. Some of the camps had the locks cut off the doors.

Deputies then contacted Chief Alex Nicholas of the Indian Township Police Department because the two allegedly were on tribal land when they broke into some camps belonging to Northeastern Blueberry. The Harrington man also alleged that in one of the camps Dawes cut a light off the wall. “After leaving the [camps] they stopped at the location of two logging trucks and Mr. Dawes took the batteries out of them and punctured the fuel tanks, draining the diesel fuel into red gas cans to dump in Mr. Dawes’ home fuel tank,” the court documents said.

The crime spree lasted about three days.

The Harrington man told police that the plan was “to sell the items so they could purchase drugs,” the affidavit said.

Dawes was arrested on Sept. 27. “While securing [his] residence, officers noticed a welder in the hallway, an outboard motor in the living room, a large white trash bag filled with what appeared to be hundreds of prescription bottles and a large freezer in the back bedroom with a padlock on it,” the affidavit said. “Outside the residence, while securing the perimeter, officers found two tree stands and a large pair of red bolt cutters in the shed. While executing the warrant, a second warrant was sought and obtained for drug-related items,” the affidavit said.