WATERVILLE — A Waterville man was arrested early Saturday and charged with four counts of burglary of a motor vehicle for allegedly stealing items from four vehicles in the Cool Street area Friday night, according to police.

Eric L. Thurlow, 35, of 5 Winter St., Apt 1, allegedly stole two wallets, a handbag and loose change from the vehicles, two of which were parked on Oakland Street, one on Cool and one on Mathews Avenue, police Sgt. Alden Weigelt said later Saturday.

Police were able to locate and arrest Thurlow thanks to an alert victim and witness who called police around 11:30 p.m. Friday immediately after seeing the burglary, Weigelt said.

“That was very, very important that someone called us at the time because a lot of times people call us the next day,” he said.

Burglary of a motor vehicle is a misdemeanor, but if the vehicles targeted had been locked, the charges would have been felonies, according to Weigelt.

He urged residents to lock their vehicles and be sure to remove all valuables from them. Anyone with information about additional vehicle burglaries in that area is asked to call the police department at 680-4700, he said.

Thurlow’s bail was set at $500 unsecured bail, and he is scheduled to appear in Waterville District Court Feb. 21, according to Weigelt.

“We were very happy that we got this guy,” Weigelt said. “We were ecstatic because we’ve been having a lot of these burglaries.”

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17