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BUTLER'S CLEANERS

Skowhegan hit with burglaries

Video may aid solution of case

By Doug Harlow dharlow@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

SKOWHEGAN -- Police are hoping a video taken inside Butler's Cleaners on Waterville Road early Friday will lead them to a burglar who climbed through a second-story window and made off with quarters from the coin-operated laundry.

The incident was among several burglaries in Skowhegan over the past weekend, one allegedly involving a stolen snake and another the burglary and ransacking of an attic on Alder Street.

Deputy Police Chief Rick Bonneau said the second-floor window at Butler's Cleaners had been left unsecured and that items had been "conveniently left lying around" the outside of the building for easy access to the short roof at the back of the building.

"Once access was gained the alarm did sound and we did respond," Bonneau. "We did our standard perimeter check and at that point made the determination that everything was secure -- it was, as far as the ground level goes."

Bonneau said it is so far unclear if the window was intentionally left open from the inside. He said when employees opened for the day Friday they found the place had been burglarized.

"They took a quantity of quarters, less than $100, and it appears they took an item of dry cleaning," he said. "We're not sure what that item was yet."

Office David Daigneault is investigating the case.

"We do have video," Bonneau said Monday. "Officer Daigneault has some video that was poor quality; they're going to try to clean it up so that we can look at it again. He's had some names presented to him as to who they think it looks like at the business. From what I could see there is a fairly good shot of the responsible person in the video."

The investigation is ongoing, he said.

On Saturday, the dispatch center received a call from a woman on Alder Street, near the Swinging Bridge, reporting her house had been broken into. The attic, she said, was open and had been ransacked and there were "numerous items" missing, according to Bonneau.

The owner told police she did not know how access was gained to the house.

On Sunday morning, on MRI Drive off Dr. Mann Road, a caller reported that a screen on a back window had been forced open. A snake reportedly was stolen, but there were no more details Monday.

A house on Popular Street also was reported burglarized Sunday night and Bonneau said initial reports show that case might have involved a "squatter" or someone who needed a place to sleep for the night. "I don't know if it has anything to do with the economic times or if it's to feed drug habits," Bonneau said.