LINCOLN, Maine — A convicted felon from Massachusetts was arrested earlier this week on charges he stole a rifle from a neighbor’s house, officials said Wednesday.
Steven Bashaw, 31, of Lincoln was charged Sunday with burglary and possession of firearm by a felon, police said.
Officer John Walsh arrested Bashaw after a Lee Road neighbor complained that his bolt-action rifle had been stolen from his apartment on Saturday. The neighbor said that the rifle was hanging on his wall when he went to work in the morning, but that it was gone when he came home from work later in the day, according to Detective Mark Fucile, Lincoln police spokesman.
Bashaw became a suspect after the neighbor reported to Walsh that he had originally bought the rifle from Bashaw sometime before and that Bashaw had wanted to buy it back. The rifle had been Bashaw’s grandfather’s, Fucile said.
Walsh also noticed that nothing else from the victim’s apartment was missing, Fucile said. The victim had left the door to his apartment unlocked because he had lost his keys the night before, Fucile said, and he got a ride to work from a friend.
When the victim returned from work, Bashaw gave him his missing keys, saying that he had found them in the victim’s driveway that morning. He also allegedly made another comment about wanting the rifle back if it was ever returned, Fucile said.
When Walsh told Bashaw on Saturday night that the facts pointed to him as a suspect in the burglary, Bashaw allegedly agreed, Fucile said.
Bashaw allegedly contacted Walsh the next day and confessed to stealing the rifle. He was previously convicted in Massachusetts of receiving stolen property and larceny by check, Fucile said. The dates of the offenses were not available.
Bashaw was ordered held on $250 cash bail after appearing at the Bangor Judicial Center on Monday. He is due back at the center on Sept. 14, a jail spokesman said.