MILFORD, Maine — A total of five suspects, including a father and two sons, are facing charges in connection with separate burglaries on Monday here and in nearby Eddington and Clifton.
Steven Gadsden, 34, and Gilberto Martinez, 39, both of New York City, were charged with one count each of Class B robbery and Class B burglary in connection with a robbery reported about 3:05 p.m. Monday at a home in Pheasant Hill Trailer Park, according to Penobscot County Sheriff Troy Morton.
The suspects’ vehicle was stopped a short while later on North Main Street in Brewer by members of the Maine Warden Service and the Brewer Police Department, Morton said Tuesday in an email.
“Property from the robbery was located in the suspect vehicle,” Morton said.
A burglary charge results from someone entering a structure without permission to commit a crime, and robbery involves using fear or force to take someone’s property.
Bail for both Gadsden and Martinez is set at $25,000 cash, a Penobscot County Jail official said Tuesday.
Also on Monday, Maine State Police asked for the public’s help in finding suspects, pictured in surveillance camera images, that they say broke into a home on Main Road in Eddington earlier in the day and took copper pipe.
Early on Tuesday, detectives learned of a second Monday burglary involving the theft of copper from a residence on Nickerson Hill Road in Clifton.
“The public tips led troopers to a father and his two sons from Hermon,” Lt. Sean Hashey, commander for Maine State Police Troop E, said in a Tuesday press release about the two copper thefts. “The tips that were called in were extremely helpful to solving these cases quickly.”
John Oliva Jr., 45, John Oliva III, 26, and James Oliva, 24, all were charged with burglary, theft and criminal mischief, Hashey said. John Oliva Jr. and James Oliva were booked into Penobscot County Jail on Tuesday afternoon and are being held on $25,000 bail each, a jail official said. John Oliva III was not at the jail Tuesday evening, and Hashey could not immediately be reached to determine his whereabouts.
Troopers Chris Hashey, Adam Gould and David Yankowsky and Cpl. Barry Meserve handled the investigation, which is ongoing.
“Troopers believe that there may be other structures that have been broken into that haven’t been reported yet,” Hashey said, encouraging residents to check their uninhabited properties for missing copper.