Police have arrested five people after investigating two smash-and-grab burglaries at Ellsworth-area smoke shops early Monday morning.
The group was taken into custody later in the day after they sped away from police in Hancock County, who terminated a pursuit out of safety concerns. Police in Waldo County later spotted the vehicle and gave chase again before the group was caught in Waterville, according to the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department.
Lorando Sweeting, 18, was charged with burglary, aggravated criminal mischief and theft, according to press releases from the Ellsworth Police Department and Hancock County Sheriff’s Office. Four male juveniles were also arrested, but their ages and pending charges have not been released.
The intruders shattered a glass door to gain entry of The Happier Choice, a medical cannabis dispensary on Bar Harbor Road in Trenton, according to an employee who did not want to be identified.
The suspects then drove to Ellsworth, where they smashed a window to enter Smokey Bear Tobacco and Beverage, a vape and glass shop located next to Shinbashi restaurant on High Street in Ellsworth.
The Happier Choice burglary was reported at 4:48 a.m., according to the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office press release. The Ellsworth Police Department was dispatched to Smokey Bear at 5:39 a.m., according to the press release.
Once inside each business, the intruders shattered display cases and stole vape and marijuana products, employees of each business said separately.
Smokey Bear, which doesn’t sell marijuana but does sell the supplies to smoke it, had reopened by 11:20 a.m. on Monday. The Happier Choice remained closed.
The intruders returned toward Trenton after the second burglary, where a Hancock County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to initiate a traffic stop. After a lieutenant and Bar Harbor police officer arrived on scene, the vehicle fled, beginning a brief pursuit that ended because of “safety concerns during the morning commute,” the county press release said.
The vehicle was later found in Waldo County, where police attempted to initiate several more traffic stops. The vehicle led multiple agencies on a police chase before crashing in Waterville.
Officials with the sheriff’s offices of Hancock, Waldo and Kennebec County were involved in the investigation, as were the police departments of Ellsworth, Bar Harbor, Waterville and Searsport. The Maine State Police also assisted.
Monday’s break-ins are not the only cannabis shops in Maine to be burglarized in May. On Saturday, four masked suspects burglarized a Lisbon Falls cannabis shop, and two intruders broke into a cannabis store in Turner twice on April 30 and May 4. Police believe the Turner burglaries are connected.