WATERVILLE — A man arrested Jan. 10 for burglarizing the Ken-A-Set thrift store is now charged with three prior burglaries at the store, as well as break-ins at Burger King, the Waterville Main Street office and Uptown Style.
In all Jason Hight, 26, faces six counts of Class C felony burglary, six counts of Class C felony theft, four counts of criminal mischief and six counts of violation of conditional release, according to Deputy police Chief Charles Rumsey.
Hight was arrested at 12:30 a.m. Jan. 10 when police found him hiding under a clothes rack inside Ken-A-Set after he reportedly broke into the 1 College Avenue building through a basement window.
Shortly after that, police discovered the Waterville Main Street office at nearby 177 Main St., as well as Uptown Style at 189 Main Street had been burglarized.
Rumsey said Tuesday that Detective Alan Perkins investigated the burglaries and determined Hight also was responsible for those break-ins, as well as a burglary reported Nov. 30 at Burger King on College Avenue and three burglaries at Ken-A-Set that occurred between Nov. 1 and Nov. 28, 2012.
Hight also was summoned Jan. 10 for attempted burglary and criminal mischief for trying to break into Ken-A-Set Jan. 7.
After he was arrested Jan. 10, he was taken to Kennebec County Jail in Augusta, but Rumsey said Tuesday that he had since been released from jail.
He is scheduled to appear in Kennebec County Superior Court on all the charges Feb. 26.
Hight reportedly stole two bottles of liquor from a storage area at Uptown Style; a cash register drawer, but no cash, from Burger King; cameras, computer wires and software from Waterville Main Street and a small amount of cash from Ken-A-Set, Rumsey said.
“He did about $2,000 worth of damage to (Burger King),” he said.
When Hight was still in custody Jan. 15, Perkins summoned him for the Uptown Style, Waterville Main Street and the prior Ken-A-Set burglaries.
Rumsey said police list Hight as a transient, but he apparently had been staying with someone near where the burglaries occurred.
He said police believe Hight chose to burglarize Ken-A-Set and the other sites as a “target of convenience because he was staying in an apartment nearby.”
He faces up to a $5,000 fine and up to five years in prison on each felony charge, he said.
Rumsey said a lot of work went into processing physical evidence at the burglary sites and from the apartment where Hight was staying.
“It was excellent work by Detective Perkins and we’re glad we were able to clear a large number of these cases and bring closure to the victims,” he said.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com
 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.