MILLINOCKET, Maine — Police have increased patrols around the closed Katahdin Avenue paper mill to discourage boat-riding burglars who use Millinocket Stream to access the mill and steal scrap metal, Police Chief Donald Bolduc said Thursday.
Though it is probably running at a lower level thanks to the lack of rain recently, the stream can accommodate boaters.
“They recently dropped the water for work on the Dolby dam but normally the water can probably be as much as 15 feet across by the mill. It is a fairly wide stream, probably 75-100 feet in some areas, and it can be in some areas as much as 15-20 feet deep,” Bolduc said Thursday.
Police, however, have no intention of starting a boat patrol, Bolduc said.
Besides police, the mill is patrolled by a private security force employed by Cate Street Capital, the New Hampshire-based owner of the mill. Anyone attempting to get into the mill risks more than arrest, Bolduc said.
“It is posted with ‘No Trespassing’ signs, and it is a vacant mill, so there is a lot of potential for injury in that area,” he said.
Police believe that the boaters have been launching from Kermit Crandall Park along Congress Street and heading downstream to access the mill property.
Though thieves have for decades used the stream to break into the mill even when it was operational, an arrest earlier in the month alerted police to the severity of the problem, Bolduc said.
Kraig Ayotte, 22, of Millinocket was charged on June 9 with burglary, theft and receiving stolen property. He is due in Millinocket District Court on Sept. 5.
Ayotte was arrested at his home after police served a search warrant and found evidence enough to support the charges, Bolduc said. The search warrant was based on a tip police received and other information collected.
Ayotte’s only prior criminal convictions were fines totaling $400 for driving without a license and driving with a suspended license, court records show.
Hunters have occasionally trespassed on the mill property in search of deer on Coal Ash Road and what is called the bark pile. The road parallels the stream and the bark pile draws deer in search of food, Bolduc said.
Sign of the times-
Practice gun control, keep your full auto to short controlled bursts.. ;-)
Probably LePage…One more ‘Up Yours’ for the record! ;)
It was probably Obama… na na na … yep redpoint86 writing something which just sounds stupid can be fun! Okay your turn!
I think they would put a couple camera’s around that area.
No need to steal with all the government programs covering all aspects of the needy
With all these government handouts you talk about would you like to explain the 70,000 homeless war veterans on the streets of the USA?
Most of these Gov.” programs covering all aspects of the needy” have been jammed at us by liberals and Veterans dont seem to matter much to them. What has Obama done to help?
Homeless war veterans are down by over 30,000 since 2009.
I don’t know where you got those numbers but the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) estimate that over 67,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness. Only eight percent of the general population can claim veteran status, but nearly one-fifth of the homeless population are veterans.
The VA estimates that about 18 veterans commit suicide every day, so do you really want to continue with your “point”?
So did you somehow miss that the homeless veterans are down since 2009? It was in the same article so somehow I doubt it. I am far from an obama fan but clearly there has been more done for those vets since 2009. Has it been enough – of course not.
I saw the numbers he posted, I just don’t know where that number comes from, not in any of the articles Ive read,Who came up with it, how it was arrived at.
Especially to the military.
Still wondering what this has to do with anything about this article, its not hunting season!
Hunters have occasionally trespassed on the mill property in search of deer on Coal Ash Road and what is called the bark pile. The road parallels the stream and the bark pile draws deer in search of food, Bolduc said.
It’s called “column filler”.
BDN would be three pages if they didn’t use it.
Oh! Never mind!
Katahdin Paper LLC (Brookfield) did all the selling of machinery that went down the road. Katahdin Paper LLC also gave everyone that was laid off their severance pay. Where did you get your facts? Dream them up?
Oh! Never mind!
People stealing boats from the mill? Mill boats stealing people? Huh? Very confusing headline
It’s the ‘ing’ at the end of ‘boat’ that changes it from a noun to a verb.
I have to know. Who is/was the Kermit Crandall that the park is named for?
I know one in Houlton area, but can’t be him.