BAR HARBOR, Maine — Police say they have recovered three guns and that a local man has confessed to taking them from an inn on Holland Avenue.
According to Sgt. Shaun Farrar of the Bar Harbor Police Department, the burglary occurred Saturday morning around 7:30 a.m. at the Castlemaine Inn, which is closed for the winter. The inn owner, who lives at another property, arrived at the inn around 8 a.m. and came upon the intruder, who fled the scene, Farrar said. The businessman called police and soon realized that three firearms that were in storage at the inn had been taken: a 10mm Colt handgun, a Savage 270 rifle and a muzzleloader, according to Farrar.
Farrar said the inn owner gave police a description of the person who fled and then, when shown photos of suspects the department has dealt with previously, identified one of them as the person he saw. Bar Harbor officers then called Maine State Police, who responded with a canine unit that tracked a scent from the inn to near where the pictured suspect lives, he added.
So police went to the Greeley Avenue home of William Thurston, 18, and questioned him about the burglary, Farrar said.
“They brought him in to interview him and he confessed,” the officer said.
Police believe Thurston already had taken the guns from the inn and then returned to the inn when he was discovered by the owner, according to Farrar. He said Thurston is suspected of entering the inn through an open or unlocked door, rather than having forced his way inside.
Thurston was arrested on charges of burglary and theft of firearms, Farrar said. The burglary charge is a Class C crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, while the theft of firearms charge is a Class B crime punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Farrar said Thurston was transferred to Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth, where he was being held Saturday on $750 bail.
Follow BDN reporter Bill Trotter on Twitter at @billtrotter.
Duck hunters, I’ll betcha.
it’s wabbit season! lol
$750 bail?!!!
Outrageous bail. Why bother? Just turn him loose.
Good police work guys! One “atta boy”!
What with Donkey Face in the Pokey for his own crimes, there is an opening for the next Up & Coming Criminal in BH. You go Beau!
Proof that we learn nothing. I’m a firearms owner and a 2A advocate and it’s stories like this that really p*ss me off!! $750 bail for b&e and stealing 3 firearms?! A. Why isn’t this a Federal crime since he stole guns, and B.Why are we letting people who do something like this out on such a low bail? Now, I’m not sure how the owner had his weapons secured while he was away from the residence so I can’t go off against him but I can say if they weren’t safely secured he’s not helping much either. Blah, I’m done. This is too aggravating to even continue to rant about.
He isnt out on bail, story says ” where he was being held Saturday on $750 bail.” There is nothing there saying he made bail.
$750…?? stolen guns ? breaking, entering, stealing weapons….wow ! when he makes bail you really think he won’t remember what he intended to do with those and go steal a few more ?
Dont blame me for the amount of bail.
I completely agree with everything you wrote. Why is this not a federal crime, I was told by local police, after a neighbors car was broken into but the perpetrator(s) didn’t take a handgun that was inside, that any theft of a firearm is a federal crime and carries much more severe charges. The perpetrator in this case stole a variety of items but left behind a handgun and the police said that it must have been someone who knew that stealing the gun would result in a much longer sentence if caught, therefore they didn’t touch the gun. It is ridiculous that this loser has his bail set at $750. I bet if the bail commissioner was the one who had their home broken into the bail wouldn’t be this low. Agreeably the inn should have been better secured and the firearms should be in a safe or secured in a cabinet, but that doesn’t mean this loser should have such a low bail set.
Would you believe the bail commissioner literally lives around the corner from Greeley Avenue? True story.
Stupid is as stupid does.
Give him the full 10 years, let’s start getting some teeth into our laws and Judge stop giving weak sentences.
Would you want to pay the extra 300,000 to store him for ten years? I doubt it.
better to keep the public safe, and free of thieves with weapons, than to ‘hope’ he did not mean to do it and won’t try it as soon as he is bailed out.
What a poor excuse.
he should get 10 years in prison for each gun stolen, 10.000 dollar fine for each gun, that is if this is his first time stealing guns, no bail. he should be in prison within the week. if this would happen gun crimes would go down.
Yet we would continue to pay for his incarceration. Smart investment in this economic situation ?
Hopefully the innkeeper’s self-esteem is intact, I wouldn’t know how to compensate for my tiny organ if I didn’t have guns and a big truck
How does this statement make any sense at all.
What? Where did that come from?
He must have been going potty at the time.
” three firearms that were in storage at the inn”… Is that the same as being “Securly Locked” ? …William Thurston, 18,”… Is this another Newtown at its infancy?
It seems there are more issues than just him stealing the guns. If you put him in jail for 10 years then the tax payers are flipping the bill, and if you set the bail low and he gets out he can just do it again. Personally I feel it’s time to make the owners of the guns that get stolen and used in a crime responsible. If you don’t secure the weapons so they can’t be stolen then hold them accountable for the crime as well. Why is that not seen as an accomplice? I know this will get some negative feed back but something has got to change.
Great idea about personal responsibility for gun owners. This situation in Bar Harbor is exactly how a tragic situation can start. And then we all wonder “how could something like that happen”??? Well, obtaining the guns is the first step!
I am not against anyone owning a gun for sport or protection, I just think that there has to be some sort of accountability that goes along with ownership of the weapon. I am in the service industry and so many times I have been in homes and seen guns in display cases, unlocked and available for anyone to take and use.Just like what happened in Conn., the mother owned an assault rifle. For what? Why would she have needed so many guns and why an assault weapon? If you own the weapon you should own the crime if one happens that goes with the weapon. Might make people think twice about owning them.
Absolutely. Just like if a drunk steals your car and kills someone in a crash, you should be held accountable, too.
how hard is it to be responsible for weapons in your own home that are meant only for one thing….to murder ?
Colt 10mm glad he got that back/ will get it back..
Why are guns being stored at a motel? Arrest the owner and let him explain this.
Maybe the owner lives there? Or, maybe a guest asked to have it locked up,any number of reasons.
It’s not illegal, how many times have you been to a lodge and seen a shot gun over a mantle. Pretty common to see a gun on a wall in Maine, some are strictly wall hangers but a lot are functioning. People store firearms in motel rooms all the time especially when they are travelling on hunting trips or to competitions.
The red flag is there now. Is this 18 year old gun-thief going to be required to get mental health evaluation? counseling? follow-up by any agency that will check on where he goes and if he buys or steals a gun? Will he be on a list so that any gun-dealer will be prohibited from selling him a gun? Will his school and employers be notified so that his behavior can be monitored by associates? I wish! The costs of mental health evaluation, monitoring and counseling should come right out of his own pocket, but it is in the public interest to have it done, even at expense of us taxpayers. Better a taxpayer than a mourner.