The Damariscotta Police Dept. arrested two 17-year-old juveniles from Newcastle Jan. 31 in connection with a Dec. 10-11 break-in at Cottage Gardens, a Damariscotta florist.
According to Damariscotta Police Chief Steve Drake, the juveniles face charges of burglary, theft and aggravated criminal mischief, Drake said.
The Damariscotta Police executed a related search warrant Jan. 29 at a residence on Academy Hill Road, Drake said.
The juveniles admitted to stealing keys and “loose change” from vehicles in Damariscotta, as well as other incidents of theft and vandalism in Damariscotta and Newcastle.
According to Drake, the juveniles are not suspects in an earlier theft at Cottage Gardens, Oct. 9 and Nov. 9-10 burglaries at nearby Cherry Gallery or other recent thefts in the area.
The Cottage Gardens vandal(s) spray-painted anti-Semitic slurs on the business’ furniture, destroyed four computers and other electronic equipment, cut phone lines, stole a cell phone and smashed a large, glass display case, causing “close to $20,000” in property damage, according to an estimate by owner Russell Barden.
Barden said he hopes the arrests “[put] an end” to a series of events he described as “very unsettling for the community.”
“I hope something good can come of it someday for these kids,” Barden said Jan. 31. “I hope they get their lives straightened out somehow.”
“It’s really good to have some closure,” Barden said.
