A man from Fall River, Massachusetts, has been charged with the June theft of two guns from a state trooper’s vehicle in Norway.

James “JayJay” Burns, 23, was arrested Thursday morning in his home city with the assistance of the Fall River police gang unit.

He faces charges of felony theft of firearms and two misdemeanor charges for theft and burglary of a motor vehicle.

Burns waived extradition to Maine and made his first appearance in South Paris District Court on Friday afternoon.

He allegedly stole a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and an AR-15-style rifle.

The cruiser, which was assigned to Trooper Jonathan Russell, was parked in Russell’s driveway. The thefts occurred overnight, and Russell reported the thefts immediately.

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The handgun was recovered soon after the June 16 thefts, but the rifle was unaccounted for.

Police on Friday did not indicate whether they had recovered the stolen rifle yet.

It was also unknown whether the cruiser was locked at the time of the theft, if Burns is alleged to have forced entry to the vehicle or if the trooper violated any department policies or faced disciplinary action.

A call to Maine State Police spokesman Stephen McCausland was not returned.

Matt Byrne can be contacted at 791-6303 or at:

mbyrne@pressherald.com

Twitter: MattByrnePPH


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