FAIRFIELD — A Fairfield man was arrested Wednesday and charged with stealing a handgun from A&G Shooting Supply after police acted on a video of a man caught on camera putting the pistol down his pants.

Fairfield police Capt. Paul St. Amand said surveillance footage from the store showed that Michael Cilley, 48, of Fairfield, apparently had taken the gun from an unattended counter at the store on 141 Oakland Road.

St. Amand said he wrote a warrant Tuesday night to search Cilley’s home on Martin Stream Road, where the gun was recovered. St. Amand said store personnel knew the customer’s nickname, and an officer was able to identify the man in the video positively.

In the video, the man identified as Cilley — “Mick” in the video — looks over the unattended counter before reaching over and taking the pistol from under a glass top. He examines the gun for a few seconds before putting it into the waistband of his pants and pulling his shirt over the top of it. The time stamp on the video indicates the recording took place June 15.

St. Amand said the pistol is a .22 Ruger Mark IV.

Cilley was taken to the Fairfield police station, where he posted $1,000 unsecured bail. Amand said Cilley was cooperative when he was arrested.

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St. Amand said it was not clear what Cilley might have wanted the gun for.

Theft is a class B crime, which can result in a prison term of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $20,000 because it involved a firearm. Because the counter was unattended at the time, St. Amand said the charge was theft instead of robbery.

Cilley has no prior convictions for theft. St. Amand said he has been charged with operating under the influence and marijuana infractions.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the video posted to Facebook had well over 300 “likes” and nearly 140 comments from Facebook users.

Colin Ellis — 861-9253

cellis@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @colinoellis

 


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