Yellowfront Grocery co-owner Jeff Pierce said he received a call from Northeast Security saying the alarm in the store had been triggered at 9:54 p.m. and the police had been notified.
Police Chief Ron Young said Officer Kyle Sylvester responded to a call about an alarm sounding at Yellowfront Grocery at 9:57 p.m. Sylvester could hear the alarm going off from the parking lot and proceeded to check the doors and the exterior of the building while he waited for Pierce to arrive.
According to Young, the back door of the store as well as the door to the manager’s room had been forced open. The box controlling the security cameras had been tampered with and the phone lines had been cut in what Young believes was an attempt to stop the alarm from going off.
“They thought they had disconnected the alarm, but didn’t realize there is a backup alarm system,” Pierce said.
Pierce said nothing was taken in the burglary.
Camera footage recorded two suspects in hoodie sweatshirts trying to conceal their faces, Young said. One of the suspects is described to be 6 feet tall or taller and was wearing sneakers, tan pants, and a dark hoodie.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit tracked the burglars’ scent from the back door of the store through the Hancock Lumber parking lot before arriving at local contractor Zander Lee’s property on Chapman Street, where the scent was lost, Young said.
Pierce said Yellowfront Grocery was able to open on time Monday morning. Time Warner Cable and Tidewater Telecom worked to repair the cut lines the following day. According to a post on Yellowfront Grocery’s Facebook page, the phone line the burglars cut affected the entire Coastal Marketplace, also home to The Animal House, Atlantic Veterinary Care, and Dollar Tree.
The investigation is ongoing. The Damariscotta Police Department asks anyone with information to call the department at 563-1909.
