An inquisitive mind, strong instincts and a slippery driveway saved a Scarborough family from losing a computer and also assisted police in apprehending a Portland man wanted on several warrants.

The incident occurred on Broad Turn Road at the home of Lynn and Kurt Muller. Lynn Muller had left for about 90 minutes to go shopping with her daughter, Alisha, and her grandson. Upon returning home she noticed a vehicle in her driveway. Muller said she did not think much about the vehicle since people often drive down her driveway while looking for a different home.

“People turn around (in my driveway) all the time, it’s not unusual,” she said.

According to police, the driver in the vehicle was 29-year-old Shawn Tarr. Tarr told Muller he was in the wrong driveway and was trying to back out, but had become stuck on the icy driveway.

Mueller immediately became suspicious because it was a cold day and Tarr was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. He had taken off his jacket and draped it over an object in the back seat of the car.

“It seemed so strange to me, it was out of the ordinary,” she said.

Muller said she volunteered to assist Tarr to get out of the driveway, but also was curious to see what he was covering with the jacket. When she was walking toward the vehicle, she peeked in the window and saw a glimpse of a laptop computer.

Muller then told Alisha, who was home for the holidays after graduating from Navy boot camp, to go into the house and see if her computer was still there, a discussion that Tarr did not hear because he was on the other side of the vehicle.

Muller tried to stall Tarr by looking for salt in the garage. While searching, her daughter notified her that the computer was missing. After seeing the computer was gone Alisha called police.

In further attempts to stall until police arrived, Muller then searched for something to put under Tarr’s vehicle to give it more traction. Muller got into the vehicle so Tarr could push it out. But instead of driving, she picked up the computer, opened the case, and confirmed it was her daughter’s. She then went into her home and waited for the police, who quickly arrived at the scene.

“I was never alarmed,” Muller said. “I was curious why he took his jacket off and placed in the way he did,” she said.

When police arrived, Tarr was desperately trying to get out of the driveway and had even tried placing boards under his tires for more traction, all to no avail.

Police say in addition to stealing the computer, Tarr also had taken two Christmas cards.

“We were fortunate that everything turned out as it did,” Muller said.

Muller said she was not concerned for herself until after the incident when people began asking about the experience. But for now she has made only one change to her life.

“We lock our doors now,” she said.

Tarr surrendered to police and was charged with burglary. He also has warrants for failing to appear for burglary, possession of burglary tools, possession of a scheduled “W” drug, failing to pay a fine for operating after suspension in Portland and failing to appear in court for operating after suspension in Scarborough.

In addition, Tarr also is a suspect in a Windham incident in which police believe he stole an SUV and lead them on a high-speed car chase, before crashing the vehicle and fleeing on foot.

Shawn Tarr