DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — A judge in Piscataquis County Superior Court on Tuesday revoked the bail of an Exeter man who also is facing charges in Penobscot County.
Justice William Anderson revoked the $1,000 cash bail posted for Clifford John Sprague, 34, on a Class B theft charge filed in Piscataquis County Superior Court, according to District Attorney R. Christopher Almy.
Sprague is accused of stealing a dump truck, portable fuel pump and two oxygen tanks on May 11 from Pike Industries in Dover-Foxcroft, Almy said Tuesday. Investigators found him by activating the global positioning system on the dump truck.
“When they got to the location where the dump truck was, they found the defendant using a blowtorch to take it apart,” the prosecutor said.
Jury selection for Sprague’s trial on the theft charge is scheduled for Nov. 7 in Piscataquis County Superior Court.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.
The defendant is being held at the Penobscot County Jail in Bangor. He also is facing charges in Penobscot County for his alleged role in a June break-in at a Corinth convenience store.
Sprague and three others are accused of backing a stolen pickup truck into the front doors of a Corinth convenience store in June, stealing cigarettes and a lottery ticket dispenser, and setting the truck on fire to cover up the crimes.
The stolen lottery tickets led investigators to the quartet, who went to Auburn to redeem them, according to a previously published report. All four were arrested within hours of the June 22 burglary, which occurred during the early morning hours.
In addition to Sprague, Michael W. Chapman, 37, of Sanford, Robert L. Mason, 28, of Corinna, and Rosemary Peterson, 26, of Exeter were indicted last month by the Penobscot County grand jury on charges of arson, burglary, aggravated criminal mischief and theft by unauthorized taking.
All four are scheduled to be arraigned in October at the Penobscot Judicial Center.
If convicted on the most serious charge of arson, each faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.