Hallowell police arrested a Michigan man Thursday who allegedly broke into a Water Street building and caused significant damage to its interior.

Thomas Edward Smith, 61, of Traverse City, was arrested without incident and charged with aggravated criminal mischief and burglary, Chief Eric Nason said.

Nason said Smith allegedly broke into the building at 241 Water St., across the street from Cafe de Bangkok and the Brews & Views restaurant. He said calls came from workers across the street who knew the building’s owner, Tony Masciadri, and knew it should be vacant.

Smith was taken into custody after police spoke with Masciadri, who confirmed that Smith didn’t have permission to be in the building and wasn’t permitted to cause damage to the interior.

Nason estimated Smith caused about $10,000 worth of damage. It is not clear when or why Smith came to Maine.

“He was probably looking for shelter, but who knows what prompted him to do the damage that he did,” Nason said. “These particular incidents are usually generated when someone is mad at somebody else.”

Nason said he couldn’t recall many similar incidents along Water Street in recent years.

The Hallowell House of Pizza was vandalized during a break-in in September 2015. In that incident, Nason said, burglars pushed through a window screen and spray-painted walls and the floor in the dining area. The vandals also submerged a telephone and desktop computer in water and stole cash from a storage box.

The pizza parlor crime remains unsolved.

According to the Petoskey News-Review in Petoskey, Michigan, Smith recently was sentenced to 365 days in jail and six months of probation by an Emmet County judge on charges of being a disorderly person, malicious destruction of property and breaking and entering without owner’s permission. He was given credit for 30 days served and the remaining 335 days of his sentence were suspended.

Jason Pafundi — 621-5663

jpafundi@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @jasonpafundiKJ