January 22

Transient charged with string of Waterville burglaries

Jason Hight accused of burglarizing Uptown Style, Burger King, Waterville Main Street office

By Amy Calder acalder@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

WATERVILLE -- A man arrested earlier this month in connection with a burglary at the Ken-A-Set thrift store is now charged with three prior burglaries at the store as well as at three other downtown locations.

click image to enlarge

Jason Hight

In all, Jason Hight, 26, faces six counts of felony burglary, six counts of felony theft, four counts of criminal mischief and six counts of violation of conditional release, according to Deputy police Chief Charles Rumsey.

Hight was arrested at 12:30 a.m. Jan. 10, when police found him hiding under a clothes rack inside Ken-A-Set, after he reportedly broke into the 1 College Ave. building through a basement window.

Shortly after that, police discovered the Waterville Main Street office, at nearby 177 Main St., as well as Uptown Style, at 189 Main St., had been burglarized.

Rumsey said Tuesday that Detective Alan Perkins' investigation concluded that Hight also was responsible for those break-ins, as well as a burglary reported Nov. 30 at Burger King on College Avenue and three burglaries at Ken-A-Set in November.

Several items were stolen in the burglaries, including a cash register drawer, but no cash, from Burger King, Rumsey said.

"He did about $2,000 worth of damage to (Burger King)," he said.

Rumsey said police list Hight as a transient, but he apparently had been staying with someone near where the burglaries occurred.

Rumsey said police believe Hight chose to burglarize Ken-A-Set and the other sites as a "target of convenience because he was staying in an apartment nearby."

After he was arrested Jan. 10, he was taken to Kennebec County Correctional Facility in Augusta, but Rumsey said Tuesday that he had since been released from jail.

When Hight was still in custody Jan. 15, Perkins summoned him for the Uptown Style, Waterville Main Street and prior Ken-A-Set burglaries.

He is scheduled to appear in Kennebec County Superior Court on all the charges on Feb. 26.

He faces up to a $5,000 fine and up to five years in prison on each felony charge, Rumsey said.

Amy Calder -- 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com

 

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