GLENBURN, Maine — A group of teens is suspected of stealing five vehicles, breaking into seven more and into two or three homes during a series of crimes that apparently occurred within three or four hours Saturday, state police said.
One youth, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, was in state police custody Sunday after engaging Trooper Brian Bean in a brief pursuit after Bean saw on Finson Road in Bangor a Hyundai SUV reported stolen in Glenburn and followed it onto nearby Langley Street in Bangor at about 8 a.m. Saturday, he said.
Bean, who worked a 16-hour day Sunday because of the spree, said that in his six-year law enforcement career, he had never seen so many crimes occur in such a short span, from approximately 2 to 5 a.m., all probably attributable to the same group of people.
“It’s looking like a series of joy-riding incidents to us,” Bean said Sunday. “There was certainly more than one person involved.”
The youth likely will face criminal charges once police finish questioning him and discuss the matter with the Penobscot County District Attorney’s Office, Bean said.
Bean took the youth into custody after the pursuit began on Finson and the thieves ran the Hyundai into the back of a Volkswagen on Langley, he said. At their closest points, Finson and Langley are about 1,000 feet apart.
Police recovered four of the five vehicles, which were a mix of cars, SUVs and pickup trucks, including a GMC pickup, Ford Edge, Hyundai SUV and Volkswagen Passat reported stolen from the area between Broadway and Pushaw Road in Glenburn, Bean said.
Police believe the teens were joy riding, not stealing the vehicles to keep, resell or disassemble for parts, because the vehicles usually were found parked near one another in various locations, suggesting that the thieves were hopping from vehicle to vehicle as they stole them, Bean said.
One vehicle was discovered in Kenduskeag, two in Bangor and one in Glenburn, Bean said.
The day began at 3 a.m. for Bean when, as an on-call officer, he was called at home and a Glenburn homeowner reported hearing a noise outside his home. When the man investigated the sound, he saw two of his vehicles, an Audi and a Volkswagen, being driven out of his driveway.
Bean responded to the report and soon discovered the vehicle break-ins. His investigation soon put him on the trail of the stolen vehicles and teens and took him into Bangor, he said.
With his investigation just beginning, Bean declined to estimate the total value of the stolen items, including the vehicles, just yet.
“There was a lot of stuff taken,” Bean said. “It’s all under inventory.”
More criminal activity not yet reported also might be connected to these incidents.
Anyone who might have been victim of a vehicle theft, vehicle or home break-in, or other crime in Glenburn, or who might have information about the crimes is asked to call state police at 800-432-7381. All calls will be kept confidential, police said.