WATERVILLE — An assault-type rifle and two handguns were stolen early Monday in a burglary at JR’s Trading & Pawn shop at 100 Elm St., according to police Chief Joseph Massey.
A burglar alarm around 3 a.m. alerted police to the burglary; when officers arrived, they found a window and door had been smashed out with a rock they found lying on the floor inside the shop, Massey said.
Sgt. Bill Bonney and Officer Robert Bouley went inside and thought the burglar may still be there, Massey said. Knowing the area inside the shop was large and contained firearms, they called for help from Winslow and Oakland police, Massey said.
State police Trooper Rick Moody also responded with a dog and searched the building, but no one was found there, Massey said.
Detective Alan Perkins was called in, collected and processed evidence and remained on the scene until about 8 a.m. Monday, according to Massey.
“At this time it looks like three firearms were taken, one of them being an assault-type rifle,” he said. “It is very, very concerning that we now have three firearms on the street. We’re working very diligently to see if we can’t come up with a suspect and recover these guns.”
Massey said the three guns are valued at around $2,000.
He asked that anyone with information about the burglary call police at 680-4700.
Meanwhile, at about 2:15 p.m. Sunday, Officer Tim Hinton went to 22 Water St. where a woman reported a 12 gauge shotgun was missing from her home, Massey said.
She had last seen it five days before discovering it was missing on Saturday, he said.
“She was able to give the officer names of people who had been visiting her over the last five days and at this point, we are following up and talking to these people to see if they have knowledge about the shotgun or the whereabouts of the shotgun.”
“So, we now have four stolen weapons out there on the street. With the increase of pharmacy robberies, that’s very alarming and very concerning. Generally, people who steal firearms use them to commit armed robberies, so we are doing everything possible to try to recover these firearms.”
Massey on Thursday hosted a forum for pharmacy employees, long-term care providers, medical professionals and others who deal with medications to provide guidelines on what to do before, during and after a robbery.
“I was very, very pleased that many of the pharmacies and medical facilities have pretty good safety protocols in place,” Massey said.
About 30 people attended the forum, where Massey said a lot of useful information was shared to help providers. He told those attending about his prescription drug diversion program, which notifies facilities of people who have illegally obtained prescription drugs in the past. He also told them about the Police Department’s Shopper’s Cop program, whereby an officer goes into businesses when time allows and mans a booth to answer questions and provide a police presence.
“Some of them signed up and were interested in that,” he said.

Amy Calder — 861-9247
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