SOUTH PORTLAND – New details emerged Saturday evening with the second press release in 22 hours issued by the South Portland Police Department regarding a string of car break-ins Friday morning in the city’s Ferry Village neighborhood, near Southern Maine Community College.

It now appears that in addition to folks relieved of cash and credit cards left in their vehicles overnight, a sheriff’s deputy also lost his handgun.

Within 12 hours of the incident, South Portland Police Sgt. Steve Webster issued a grainy photograph captured around 5:20 a.m. Friday at an ATM on Commercial Street in Portland. The image shows a “relatively young” white male using a credit card allegedly taken from one of the vehicles in South Portland. The public’s help was actively solicited in locating the man, further described as having “a thin build . . . wearing a dark colored Champion sweatshirt, dark sunglasses, a white shirt under the sweatshirt, and a baseball cap,” along with a pair of “unique gloves.”

On Saturday, a second release from Webster noted that a “person of interest” not publicly identified by him had been identified and questioned by the Portland Police Department.

“He was interviewed and subsequently released,” wrote Webster. “At this point this is an open investigation, and anyone with information is asked to contact dispatch at 874-8575.”

Why the seemingly intense interest in locating the car thief?

Webster’s second release revealed that in addition to pilfering at least one credit card during his spree, the burglar also netted “a handgun and law enforcement identification” from a car said to belong to an unidentified “deputy from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department.”

Neither Webster nor a spokesperson for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office could be reached Saturday evening.

Stolen credit card user in South Portland. (Courtesy photo)
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