ROCKLAND, Maine — With the help of an alert resident, police last week foiled two men’s plan to burgle area businesses, according to court documents.
The two men were apprehended with a list identifying a variety of businesses that they wanted to strike based on how busy they thought they were, according to an affidavit written by Rockland police Officer Matthew Lindahl.
Despite their alleged fastidious planning, Timothy Dellentash, 42, and Michael Warner, 31, both of Portland, were arrested on Aug. 6 and each charged with conspiracy to commit burglary and possession of burglary tools. Warner also was charged with violation of condition of release. Both remain in Knox County Jail with bail set at $5,000 cash each.
According to the affidavit filed in Knox County District Court, the plan unraveled after a Rockland resident noticed two men park a car near Camden Street a little after 1 a.m. Aug. 6. The resident observed the men park the car, get out, check the trunk, leave the car on foot, return five minutes later, check the trunk and leave again. Thinking this suspicious, the resident called police.
An officer soon arrived, ran the license plate and identified it as being registered to Warner. After running a check on Warner, the officer found that Warner “was currently on two sets of bail conditions for burglary,” according to the police report. That officer then left to check local businesses to make sure they were secure. The same officer then returned to the car and looked in the open trunk to see if there was anything suspicious, but found nothing.
This is when Lindahl arrived. Two other police officers left to check area businesses, while Lindahl stayed behind to watch the car.
Then, at about 2 a.m., an alarm went off at Home Depot. According to the affidavit, the two men came running back to the car, went to the trunk and then drove off. So Lindahl stopped the car. The other two officers arrived on scene and helped handcuff both men and separate them.
“While talking to Dellentash, he told me they were here in Rockland to meet a girl that Warner had met on the Internet,” Lindahl wrote in his report. “They were supposed to meet the girl at VIP on Camden Street, and she did not show up.”
The men told police they were walking the streets for a while before returning to the car. They gave different names for the woman, however, according to Lindahl’s report.
When police checked the trunk again, they found a crowbar that was not there before and “other tools commonly used in burglaries for gaining entry into buildings and locked areas,” according to the report. Among the tools were more pry-bars, a new hand grinder power tool and new grinding wheels.
When police checked inside the car, they also reportedly found a list of businesses with notes written next to them.
The entries were clumped together by town and included details about how busy the businesses were.
“Some of the notes said things like ‘busy’ and ‘holy [expletive] busy,’” Lindahl said. “The notes also had ‘yes’ ‘yup’ ‘maybe’ or ‘?’ next to them in another column. It appeared to us to be notes about what businesses to burglarize.”
The list included Pizza Hut, Goodwill, Mobil, Lowes and Moody’s Diner.
The car was towed, the tools were seized, and the men were arrested and brought to Knox County Jail.
Their trial date is set for Aug. 26 in Knox County District Court.