CASTLE HILL, Maine — Despite a snowstorm that brought several inches of snow, blustering winds and slippery road conditions to Aroostook County, police from multiple agencies were busy on Sunday responding to reports of stolen vehicles.
Just before 7 a.m. Sunday, the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office received a report from a resident on Fox Hill Road in Portage that his Toyota Corolla had been taken from his driveway in the last 10 minutes, Aroostook County Sheriff Darrell Crandall said Monday.
At the same time, Crandall said, the Maine State Police were handling a reported vehicle theft in Eagle Lake.
Just a half hour later, the sheriff’s office responded to a second call of a stolen motor vehicle, this time a Toyota Camry from the State Road in Castle Hill. Deputy Sheriff Chad Foley and Trooper Adam Stoutamyer began handling the joint investigation, according to Crandall, and soon recovered a total of five stolen vehicles by midafternoon.
The other stolen vehicles included a Nissan Pathfinder taken from Portage and another vehicle stolen between Eagle Lake and Castle Hill.
Witness reports helped the officers identify a suspect, Thomas Klinger, 41, of Eagle Lake. He was arrested and charged Sunday by the sheriff’s office with three counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor.
Crandall said state police were handling other charges in the case. Efforts to obtain more information from state police were unsuccessful Monday.
Crandall said officers believe Klinger took the first of the five vehicles in Eagle Lake, where he lives, and continued to take vehicles between Eagle Lake and Castle Hill. At Castle Hill, he reversed direction and took vehicles to get him back to where he started in Eagle Lake, where he was located and charged.
The motive for the crimes is not yet known, he said Monday.
No one was injured and only one of the vehicles received any damage. It is believed that all of the vehicles were unlocked and the keys were in the ignition when they were taken.