AUGUSTA — A 49-year-old Winslow man was sentenced Thursday to 15 months in prison for burglarizing the offices of Century 21 Nason Realty on July 29 on Bay Street in Winslow.
Victor Dudley, who also has a Skowhegan address, pleaded guilty at the Capital Judicial Center to that offense and to criminal mischief and theft in connection with the break-in.
Investigators said Dudley ransacked the office and set a small fire on a desk that eventually went out by itself. He originally had been charged with arson, but that was dismissed in exchange for his plea.
Police said that when Dudley was arrested, he was carrying an engraved globe trophy from 2012 Dancing with the Realtors, Season 2.
An court affidavit by Kenneth MacMaster, senior fire investigator with the state fire marshal’s office, says the fire — which had extinguished itself — and the break-in were reported to Winslow police at 1:15 p.m. July 29 after the building owner stopped to check the building and found real estate paperwork on the ground outside.
Inside, she found items in disarray as well as the remains of a fire and the smell of smoke. MacMaster wrote that police located bloodstains as well as smashed window glass from a second-floor entry door.
MacMaster said that because of the amount of blood found, Winslow police officers contacted local hospitals and other agencies to see if anyone had been treated for that recently.
Later that same day, Dudley was identified as a suspect — through surveillance video — in the theft of a mini-bike from Tractor Supply in Waterville that had occurred about 4 a.m. that day.
He was located walking along College Avenue in Waterville. He told officers he was living in a tent off Cool Street and had gone to MaineGeneral Medical Center that day.
MacMaster said Dudley “had cuts on the base of his right wrist/palm, which were consistent with someone breaking a window.”
Dudley eventually told police he had stolen the mini-bike, according to MacMaster.
On Thursday Dudley pleaded guilty to a charge of theft and violating conditions of release in connection with that incident as well.
In March 2017, he was charged with burglary after police reported finding him inside a closed Tim Hortons eatery on Main Street in Waterville. He told police at the time he went in to keep warm.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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