Somerset Sheriff’s Deputy Wilfred Dodge was en route to a reported break-in at the St. Albans Town Office shortly after 11 the night of Nov. 12, when he saw an open door at Kippy’s Korner Store in adjacent Hartland.

He stopped to check and found the door had been kicked in and the store burglarized. It was later found that $1,600 worth of cigarettes, beer, candy and other items was stolen.

Before the night was over, deputies discovered an attempted break-in at a Palmyra store and another burglary at a St. Albans house.

The Somerest County Sheriff’s Department is now looking for a Waterville man, Steven F. Shaw, 26, in connection with the Kippy’s burglary and as a possible suspect in the others.

The night started when the department received a report of a burglary in progress at the St. Albans Town Office.

Dodge and Deputy Jeremy Leal were en route to the town office when the Kippy’s break-in was spotted. The deputies also found the Town Office had been broken into, but nothing was stolen.

The sheriff’s department found a car they believed was connected to the burglaries stuck in a ditch next to Palmyra Variety Store on U.S. Route 2., according to department spokesman Lt. Carl Gottardi. The driver had fled and a search with tracking dogs came up with nothing, Gottardi said in a press release.

That’s when they discovered someone had tried to break into that store too, Gottardi said. That break-in was not successful.

A house on Corinna Road in St. Albans was also burgled that night. Jewelry, a television and other electronics were reported missing, Gottardi said. No one was home at the time, he said.

St. Albans Town Manager Rhonda Stark said she has no idea why someone would want to break into the Town Office.

The window was broken, but nothing was taken. “It was just a big mess,” she said.

Arrest warrants have been issued for Shaw on burglary, a class B felony, and theft, a class C felony. He is also wanted on a separate arrest warrant for violation of condition of release as he was out on bail on another charge at the time.