WATERVILLE — State Rep. Thomas Longstaff’s wife, Cindy, wasn’t about to let a burglar escape from the couple’s Pleasant Street home without a fight.
She chased the burglar down the street, cornered her in a shed, grabbed the computer she had stolen from her husband’s desk and told her to stay put until police arrived.
“All’s well that ends well,” Cindy Longstaff, 70,” said Thursday. “But I don’t think I’d ever do it the same way again.”
She said she didn’t think twice when she arrived home Wednesday to find the cellar window pried open and a stranger’s sweatshirt and bag on the patio.
Cindy Longstaff went into the house, searched the kitchen and cellar, saw her husband’s laptop was stolen from his office desk and headed out the door.
 She called 911 and ran down the street in the direction witnesses said they saw a woman fleeing. Longstaff kept talking with police dispatchers as she ran. It was 12:45 p.m.
Ultimately, she spied a woman crouched in a trash shed on School Street by Albert S. Hall School, talking on a cell phone and holding Thomas Longtaff’s computer. It was her first look at the alleged burglar.
“She was in the shed, hunkered down in the corner like she was hiding,” Cindy Longstaff said. “I said, ‘That’s my husband’s computer.’ She said, ‘No it’s not, it’s mine.’ I said, ‘Excuse me, it’s mine, You stay right there.’”
Longstaff grabbed the computer away from the woman, who fled into the bushes.
Within minutes, police officers had cornered the burglar on Belmont Street, near the corner of Western Avenue, with help from Longstaff, who stayed on the phone with dispatchers, advising them of where the woman was headed.
“Officers Galen Estes and Dennis Picard confronted her right there,” police chief Joseph Massey said. “At the time, Officer Jen Weaver had signed off with the victim and was getting more information.”
The burglar was identified as Jessica Savage, 31, and listed as transient, according to Massey.  She was charged with burglary, possession of a firearm by a felon and theft, he said.
Police found an unloaded. 22-caliber handgun belonging to the Longstaffs in Savage’s bag when she was arrested; they also found credit cards taken from the Longstaff’s house, Massey said.
Savage was unable to make the $1,500 cash bail and was taken to Kennebec County Jail in Augusta; she is scheduled to appear in Waterville District Court July 10, Massey said.
Police believed Savage did not act alone, he said. Savage told police her abusive boyfriend forced her to commit the burglary, Massey said.
“She related some of the abuse she has suffered at the hands of her boyfriend and one incident that occurred in Waterville last Friday. The officers did notice that she was limping and that she had an injured leg.”
Police Wednesday night arrested her boyfriend, Richard Rice, 48, of 243 Main St., Apt. 5, and charged him with domestic violence assault and terrorizing.
“At this time, Mr. Rice is denying any involvement in the burglary,” Massey said. “As a matter of fact, he is not cooperating whatsoever, so as it stands right now, the investigation continues to see if there was a link between Mr. Rice and Jessica Savage and the burglary.”
Rice is scheduled to appear in Waterville District Court July 3, he said.
Deputy police Chief Charles Rumsey said Thursday that Savage suffered an injury to her left knee and foot from allegedly having been thrown down a set of stairs at Rice’s residence.
Massey praised everyone involved in capturing Savage.
“This was a very brazen daytime burglary wit the potential to end with some serious injury, with the homeowner coming home and surprising someone who had broken into her home,” he said. “And a firearm was involved so we are very fortunate no one was hurt.”
“I can’t commend the officers and supervisors and dispatchers enough for that quick response, coordination, keeping the victim on the line and getting directions of where the suspect was going.”
Cindy Longstaff said she had no idea the burglar had stolen a gun and had it with her when she confronted her in the trash shed.
“She could have stuck it in my face and I wouldn’t have known what to do,” she said.
In retrospect, she said, she should have called 911 immediately when she arrived home and realized someone was in her home instead of entering it. She also regrets that she did not turn on the home security alarm when she left the house for only about 25 minutes.
She said the city is lucky to have good police officers and she would argue against ever cutting the force.
“No way, Jose,” she said. “There’s too much crime. We need every body that’s legally able to detain people.”
Meanwhile, Thomas Longstaff, 76, a Democrat and former city councilor, said he was proud of his wife, whom he has been referring to lately as “Wonder Woman.” They have been married 43 years.
“She is just an incredible woman — she really is,” he said. “Not only is she an incredible woman — thank goodness she’s all right.”
He said this is not the first time the couple has been victims of crime.
“We were robbed at gun point in New York City once and both of us had our apartments burglarized in New York City,” he said.

Amy Calder — 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com
 

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