A Chelsea man was arrested on burglary and theft charges Thursday after he allegedly confessed to stealing $3,000 worth of goods in Chelsea and in Farmingdale, according to Maine State Police Trooper Elisha Fowlie, an investigator with Troop D.
Michael Freeman Jr., 28, of Chelsea, was charged with two counts of burglary and two counts of felony theft, Fowlie said. Freeman, who was already on probation for robbery, was taken to Kennebec County jail, according to Fowlie. His bail stands at $10,000.
Fowlie said he and another investigator, Trooper Adam McNaughton, began investigating Freeman, who they knew was on probation, after receiving a complaint on March 15 that a boat motor and a variety of power tools had been stolen from a barn on Togus Road in Chelsea.
When the investigators and two other state troopers went to Freeman’s home Thursday morning, an unidentified woman initially told them Freeman was not home, Fowlie said. But after a few minutes, the troopers saw Freeman and the woman allegedly trying to leave with the property in a car.
“They were stopped, and he was arrested roadside for burglary,” Fowlie said.
Freeman proceeded to take the officers to a place in the woods where he had stored some of the stolen goods, Fowlie said.
He had taken other goods to a pawn shop in Auburn and sold them for $275, according to a press release from the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Freeman also allegedly confessed to a separate burglary in Farmingdale, Fowlie said.
All the goods were recovered, and the victims were coming to retrieve their property Thursday afternoon, Fowlie said.
“The houses were randomly chosen by (Freeman),” Fowlie said. “There was no vendetta or anything.”
Freeman allegedly told investigators that he has a heroin problem, and he stole the items to sell for money, Fowlie said.
In 2012, Freeman was charged with robbing oxycodone from a Rite Aid pharmacy in Fryeburg, according to the department of public safety. He was on probation after serving jail time.
Charles Eichacker — 621-5642
Twitter: @ceichacker
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