WILTON – A New Sharon man was arrested overnight and charged in connection with the theft of a truck allegedly taken from Temple Road.
The truck was one of four vehicles reported stolen over the last two weekends. Police have recovered all four of them.
Michael Davis, 20, of New Sharon, was arrested on a warrant issued for an unrelated case by State Police Trooper Reid Bond Monday night. Davis is charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in connection with a Siverado pickup truck taken from a Temple Road residence in Wilton, according to Police Chief Heidi Wilcox.
The string of four car thefts, one of which Davis has been charged with at this point, Wilcox said, began when three vehicles were reported stolen from Munson Road and Depot Street residences in Wilton over the weekend of Aug. 1-2.
A pick-up truck from the Munson Road and a blue 1998 Honda Civic from a Depot Street residence, both in Wilton, were reported stolen on Aug. 1. Both the truck and the Honda Civic were later recovered in the North Jay area.
A third vehicle, a red 2009 Honda Fit Sport car, was reported stolen on the morning of Monday, Aug. 3 from a Munson Road residence in Wilton. A fourth vehicle, a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado, reported missing on Monday, Aug. 10 from a Temple Road residence in Wilton.
In all cases, the keys were left in the vehicle.
Following a joint effort by area law enforcement agencies to find the missing vehicles, the truck was discovered on Temple Road by Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Hartley. A FCSO dog reportedly led police on a track from the truck on Temple Road south, across Main Street to Cemetery Road where Davis was reportedly staying, Wilcox said.
At the same time, the State Police received a tip and met Davis at a vacant residence at 61 Cemetery Road in East Wilton.
Wilcox said troopers “waited for him (Davis)” and made the arrest when he showed up.
The arrest warrant was issued after Davis was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury in May on one count of operating after revocation and in a separate case, indicted on one count of operating after revocation and misdemeanor driving to endanger.
Police also recovered the red Honda sedan taken from a Munson Road residence the week before on Temple Road, in the vicinity of where the Silverado was found, and returned it to its owner.
Wilcox said Davis was working in Wilton and resided in New Sharon.
Meanwhile, another car was reported to stolen from a residence on Claybrook Road in Jay sometime between Sunday, Aug. 9 and the evening of Monday, Aug. 10, said Jay Police Chief Richard Caton on Tuesday.
A blue, 2002 Toyota Corolla, four-door sedan with a ski rack was discovered missing from a Claybrook Road residence in Jay.
The keys were left in the Toyota as was the case with the other vehicles reported stolen from the Wilton area. Investigators haven’t ascertained yet whether the fifth vehicle theft in Jay is connected to the four Wilton cases, but “we haven’t ruled that out,” Caton said.
Good work one and all.
Awesome job to all the area Agencies!!
well if you leave the keys in the vehicle… I mean really folks.
We should not have to worry about leaving our keys in our OWN vehicles that WE paid for, ESPECIALLY if it’s in your own home. That is absolutely ridiculous! You don’t steal. Pure common sense. It isn’t something that should even be questioned!! Let alone trying to blame the owner of the car for leaving their keys in their car. Absurd.
Right or wrong, absurd or not, if you leave your keys in your vehicle and it is stolen, your insurance company doesn’t have to cover the loss.
yes, really. not sure about maine, but leave your keys in your car in some places and you may be liable for some damages incurred by a thief. almost certainly if a curious child stumbles upon it. and as far as leaving your house unlocked… let’s just hope you don’t have any guns inside. use your common sense organ and keep things locked up, law enforcement has enough work as it is keeping thieves out of locked doors.
A person should be able to have their own items on their own property and not be blamed for another person STEALING it. Last I knew taking an item no matter the size or value WITHOUT the owner’s permission was STEALING! So whether a person leaves their keys in their very own vehicle on their very own property, if a person takes it without permission it is STEALING. A person should be able to choose how they want to keep their own personal items on their own private property. So what does this tell us about society now a days?
Hey people, quit bickering over keys left in vehicle.
Let’s focus on the part of the article that says how he was caught. Great police work. Job well done.
Hum, what’s the purpose for door locks in a car! It’s easy protect what’s yours!
Hmmm…if I leave my keys in my car, and the car is stolen, I’m “asking” for that to happen? WRONG! I am not asking for my car to be stolen, any more than a woman in running shorts and a tank top is “asking” to be raped. These comments are absurd. People who brake the law are the problem, not the individuals that are trying to trust their neighbors!
Who knew that there were so many vehicles with the keys left in the ignition!
Sounds like an invitation to anyone looking for a free ride and more!
Keys in car: take car?
Windows in house open: Go in house?
Windows in house closed: break window go in house?
Mail box by road: take mail?
Mail box by house: take mail?
Horse in field: take horse?
Bigger than someone else: take their ice cream cone?
Thank you for catching a likely thief. If he did it, he should be punished and pay for all repairs.
Its up to a civil society to live by laws that respect others property, and person. Just because I am bigger, smarter, faster, meaner than you does not allow me to take your stuff, even if it is unattended!
Catch em, cage em….if that is what is needed.
Great work! Glad he was caught! Keep the crimnals behind bars!
Ah the old Maine, when you could leave your house and cars unlocked.
It ain’t possible anymore. to many who don’t care if its on your property, hey you are lucky if they don’t steal stuff out of your house and put it your car that has the keys in it and just drive away.
So in retrospect the I can leave the keys in my car, no one should touch it is over. If you have ever lived in one of the bigger cities you would already know that. But it has leached to the smaller towns where we know everyone in town, until tourist season anyway. Then we have gridlock just trying to get to the little stores we have here.
And as others have said in most insurance policies there are clauses that says if you leave your keys in your car, to bad, so sad, you aren’t covered.
it ain’t our dad or granddads Maine anymore.
I have left my keys in my vehicle every single night since I started driving, granted I wouldn’t do this in Boston, but again this is rural Maine we shouldn’t have to worry about this
My opinion Maine is getting worse in some areas now. Your always reading on the news about home invasions, murderer on the loose, overdoses, pharmacy robberies, society in Maine is becoming no different in other major cities and states. Please don’t get me wrong I love Maine grew up here all my life, but your going to probably get crime anywhere you go in the united States.
no, i agree, you shouldn’t have to worry. just keep on with business as usual. never anything to worry about until something happens to you. i haven’t said anything about anybody deserving things happening to them, just that things happen, and you can minimize your risk. so again, it’s your choice: use common sense… or don’t.
Nice how this person gets every car missing added to his article, yet other people are being arrested for the thefts.. Lets post more false articles and ruin peoples lives?? Maybe people shouldn’t be so quick to accuse just because of a article!
Thank you to all of the departments that responded☺️
No one is saying you are asking to have your car stolen by leaving your keys in it but you are making it easier for someone to steal it. Yes, people who break the law are the problem but unfortunately those people still exist. Don’t contribute to the problem by ignoring that fact. That’s not absurd, that’s reality.
@ A thought, I understand your thought but it was in poor taste.