Bridgewater man fined
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
A Bridgewater man was found guilty of logging vandalism and theft and fined accordingly Friday in Presque Isle District Court, following an investigation by the Maine Forest Service of incidents reported earlier this year.
In February, forest rangers investigated several complaints of logging vandalism and thefts of logging equipment in Aroostook County. At least one arrest was made. Louis Finemore, 27, of Bridgewater, pleaded guilty to joy riding in a logging company’s equipment when he appeared in court on Friday.
According to Ranger Lt. Bill Greaves, Finemore was convicted of theft and unauthorized use of property for his role in one of a series of complaints being investigated by Maine forest rangers.
Greaves, supervisor of forest protection operations in northern Maine, said “Finemore was convicted of the violation on Friday in Presque Isle District Court and was given a $300 fine.”
“Finemore obtained an equipment key and had used it to access and drive a skidder and a delimber at an operation on the Number 9 Road in Township D Range 2. The pieces of equipment were parked at an active logging operation and are owned by Robin Crawford Logging Company of Lincoln,” said Greaves.
According to Greaves, the Maine Forest Service had been actively investigating a series of theft and criminal mischief complaints in the area, and forest rangers had been conducting surveillance operations on several of the areas having problems.
“It was during this surveillance and after doing interviews with several people encountered that Finemore became a suspect. None of the equipment operated by Finemore was damaged,” Greaves said.
“Maine’s forest rangers investigate cases of logging vandalism and theft of equipment in an effort to protect hard-working loggers and forest landowners,” Greaves said. “We have had some recent success catching thieves stealing batteries, fuel and tools from remote logging operations.”
Ranger Steve Wipperman, the Forest Protection Division’s forensic specialist, was the lead investigator on the case.
“Forest rangers have suspects in other theft and vandalism cases. Further charges are pending against others who are involved with the series of thefts from earlier this winter,” said Wipperman.
