WATERVILLE — Police are investigating whether a man arrested for driving a stolen pickup truck on West River Road early Thursday also broke into a woman’s mobile home a short while earlier, gaining access by removing an air conditioner from a window.

Police Chief Joseph Massey said Thursday that Christian Greaves, 19, of Hinckley Road, Clinton, was charged with theft by unauthorized use of property and driving without a license. He also was wanted on a warrant out of Belfast for failure to pay a fine.

With him in the pickup truck was a 16-year-old Waterville boy who police charged with theft by unauthorized use of property and possession of drug paraphernalia, Massey said.

Greaves was arrested after a woman from Village Green Trailer Park on West River Road called police a few minutes after midnight to say she woke to noises in her mobile home and confronted a man.

“Of course, she was startled and asked who he was and what he was doing and he was startled and he actually ran out through the kitchen door,” Massey said. “An air conditioner had been pulled out of a window. She was not injured. Nothing was taken because she confronted him minutes after he got inside.”

Officers went to the woman’s home to speak with her while others scoured the area to try to find the burglar, Massey said. State police used a dog to try to track him.

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About a half hour after the burglary was reported, police Officer Linda Smedberg was driving north on West River Road and saw a pickup truck turn south onto West River from Webb Road, Massey said. The truck was moving quickly and Smedberg turned her cruiser around and followed it, he said.

“It (truck) sped up and was going over 50 in a 35 mph zone and weaving back and forth,” Massey said.

Smedberg stopped the truck, a 2003 Chevrolet pickup, ran the registration plate and discovered the truck had been stolen Tuesday from Maple Street, he said. Smedberg called for backup and approached the driver, whom she recognized as Greaves, Massey said.

She asked him what he was doing and he told her he was giving a friend a ride. He also said a friend had let him borrow the truck but he did not know the friend very well, according to Massey.

The 16-year-old in the passenger seat told police he was walking down Webb Road earlier and Greaves picked him up, Massey said. The juvenile’s case will be handled through the juvenile court system, according to Massey.

“We are obviously looking into the connection of those two possibly being involved in that burglary,” Massey said. “Greaves came off the Webb Road and the Webb Road is adjacent to the Village Green Trailer Park. They were stopped right there in the vicinity of that burglary.”

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Greaves was taken to Kennebec County jail in Augusta. Bail was set at $250 cash for the charge of theft by unauthorized use of property and $250 for the operating without a license charge, Massey said.

He is scheduled to appear in Waterville District Court August 5.

Meanwhile, Massey said the owner of the pickup truck told police he parked it at 6 p.m. Tuesday on Maple Street and when he came out in the morning it was gone. He called police at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday to report it stolen.

“The owner had left the keys in the console,” Massey said.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17


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