BELFAST, Maine — Belfast police say that cooperation between three law enforcement agencies led to the arrest of a Northport man who allegedly walked away with a valuable coin collection.
Christopher Patten, 44, had gone to Belfast Jewelry on Wednesday with a child and asked to look at some coin collections, according to Chief Mike McFadden of the Belfast Police Department.
“He decided he’d try to take them without paying,” McFadden said, adding that Patten allegedly slipped the coins into a pocket and then left the store.
Store staff noticed right away that the coins were missing and called police, who used security tape to help identify a suspect. Then, Sgt. John Gibbs learned that there was an active arrest warrant for Patten out of Knox County. Gibbs also learned that Patten was out on bail from a prior offense, and his bail conditions included being forbidden to ever return to a particular jewelry store in Knox County, McFadden said.
Because Belfast police do not have details about the prior offense, they don’t know precisely why he’s banned from that store, according to the chief.
Gibbs asked for help from the Maine State Police and the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office to apprehend Patten. Officials from those agencies were able to arrest him on the outstanding warrant and bring him to the Belfast Police Department. There, Gibbs interviewed Patten and charged him with theft and violation of conditions of release.
Police also recovered the missing coins, McFadden said.