BANGOR, Maine — A 26-year-old woman from East Machias was arrested Friday in connection with the burglary and theft of firearms from a Center Street pawn shop in September and October.
Alisha Harmon was arrested by detectives from the Bangor Police Department Criminal Investigation Division, according to a press release issued by Sgt. Tim Cotton. She is the second person charged in connection with the break-ins at J.G. Pawn Shop.
Travis Stinson, 39, of Milford was arrested and charged on Oct. 14 with one count each of burglary and theft in the Oct. 12 break-in at the pawn shop. He remains held at the Penobscot County Jail.
Surveillance cameras recorded a man shattering a pane of glass adjacent to the front door at the pawn shop on Oct. 12, smashing the glass top on a display case and stuffing 16 handguns worth an estimated $4,000 into a duffel bag.
Stinson was charged after police obtained a warrant for the text messages on his phone, according to an affidavit filed on Oct. 17 at the Penobscot Judicial Center. The texts showed that Stinson and an accomplice, who was not named at the time, discussed between about 1:30 and 2:55 a.m. Oct. 12 what police believe to be the pawn shop burglary that happened at about 3:20 a.m. that same day.
Police also reported at the time that Stinson was a suspect in a Sept. 30 burglary and theft at the same shop, where five handguns were stolen.
In what may be a related investigation, the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office is looking into a series of residential burglaries on the weekend of Oct. 1-2, when 20 firearms were taken, according to the Oct. 17 affidavit.
Police were familiar with Stinson because he has acted as a confidential informant in previous cases, the affidavit stated. Stinson previously told investigators that drug dealers from out of state “were taking stolen firearms in exchange for drugs and then sending them out of state to street gangs in Boston, New York and Connecticut.”
Police have not reported whether the pawn shop guns have been recovered.
Cotton said Friday that the investigation is ongoing and no further details were available at this time.