A man who allegedly committed several burglaries in the Casco area was arrested Sunday by deputies from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.
Austin Swanson-Monge, 23, for whom no address was given, was taken into custody after deputies found him sleeping inside an unoccupied camp on Parker Pond Pines Road in Casco, according to Capt. Kerry Joyce of the sheriff’s office.
Deputies began their investigation around 4:45 a.m. when they responded to an alarm at the town of Casco’s bulky waste and transfer station. Deputies interrupted a man who was in the process of breaking into a safe stored in the station’s main office, Joyce said in a press release. The man fled the scene on foot. Deputies continued to search the area and located a vehicle with Swanson-Monge’s wallet inside. They also located a cellphone.
During their investigation, the officers received a report of another burglary in progress at a camp on Parker Pond Pines Road, Joyce said. The deputies used a police dog to track the suspect from the seasonal home, but he could not be located.
Eventually, a deputy located Swanson-Monge sleeping inside an unoccupied camp, and he was in possession of several stolen items, according to Joyce.
Joyce said that after one of the burglaries Sunday, Swanson-Monge stole a kayak and paddled across Parker Pond. He later confessed to two unsolved burglaries, at Casco Variety and Pears Ice Cream in Casco Village, according to Joyce.
Swanson-Monge was charged with six counts of burglary, four counts of theft and violating his conditions of release. He is being held at the Cumberland County Jail.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
