A Hartland man is in jail facing multiple counts of burglary and theft since being arrested late Monday after allegedly burglarizing a home and attempting to do the same to another home on Great Moose Drive in Hartland, police said.

Kevin Jay Butler, 21, was taken to Somerset County Jail in Madison, where he was being held Tuesday in lieu of $10,000 cash bail, according to Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster. Butler is scheduled to appear June 13 in Unified Court in Skowhegan, Lancaster said.

Shortly after 7:30 p.m. Monday, Somerset County Sheriff’s Deputy Wilfred Dodge went to Great Moose Drive in Hartland to speak with someone who reported a person had broken into a home Saturday and had stolen a single check from a checkbook, Lancaster said. Sheriff’s officials later learned the check was cashed at Wright’s Store in Hartland.

The same person reported that the house had been broken into again between 6 and 7 p.m. Monday, before the victim called the Sheriff’s Department, and a laptop valued at $4,000 was stolen, as well as a jar of medical marijuana, Lancaster said.

That same night at 8:33 p.m., Dodge received a report of a second burglary on Great Moose Drive in Hartland, and the resident reported being upstairs in the home and hearing someone downstairs. The resident went downstairs, saw the front door was open and saw a man walking down the driveway, carrying a bag, Lancaster said.

The resident confronted the man in the driveway and later told Dodge he had seen a laptop and jar of marijuana, and the man fled, Lancaster said.

Interviews and other evidence led Dodge to locate Butler on Crosby Street in Hartland and Butler admitted having entered homes on Great Moose Drive, according to Lancaster. Assisted by Cpl. David Cole, Dodge recovered the laptop and returned it to its owner, Lancaster said.

Butler also admitted to Dodge that on Friday he had entered a home on Canaan Road in Hartland, intending to steal items for re-sale, but was confronted by the homeowner and did not steal anything, according to Lancaster.

Butler was arrested and charged with four counts of burglary, class B; one count of theft, class C; one count of theft, class E; and one count of stealing drugs, class D, and was taken to jail, Lancaster said.

Before those burglaries, the Sheriff’s Department received a report Sunday morning of a burglary at DUDO’s Redemption Center on Pittsfield Avenue in Hartland, according to Lancaster.

The investigation revealed that at 6 p.m. Saturday, a man had broken the rear door but was unable to get through the second interior door of the center, according to Lancaster. Evidence at the scene led to deputies Joseph Jackson and Warren Ackerman summoning Butler on Sunday and charging him with criminal mischief, class D, and attempted burglary, class D, in connection with the incident. He is scheduled to appear in court July 11 on those charges, Lancaster said.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17

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