BATH
Two police officers and a police dog tracked a burglary suspsect over ice and through snow Friday afternoon after he was allegedly found hiding in the shower of a Ridge Road home and fled.
Bath Police Chief Michael Field said Nicholas Mitchell, 32, with a last known address of Bath, was in custody shortly after 2 p.m. Mitchell was charged with burglary.
Field said a woman and her 10-year-old son came home to their Ridge Road residence, which is located on a section of the road closer to the Old Brunswick Road, and went inside to find Mitchell hiding in the bathroom shower. The woman was able to chase him out of the house and luckily, “he wanted to get out as well,” Field said. Police were called at 1:19 p.m. about the intruder, who fled on foot.
Eight officers and a police dog responded from Bath and Brunswick police departments, and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff ’s Office. Cpl. Ian Alexander with the sheriff ’s office and his dog Brix tracked the suspect across the New Meadows River to east Brunswick and located Mitchell on Bridge Road — roughly a mile away as the crow flies, Field estimated.
Alexander said that once he located footprints alongside the road near the Ridge Road home, he and Brix began tracking, accompanied by Brunswick Police Lt. Tom Garrepy. They tracked through woods, crossed the New Meadows River where both men fell through ice, and then continued through woods and thick brush, moving at a good pace. They may have tracked a couple miles when they came within view of Mitchell, who stopped and didn’t try to resist officers.
Field said Mitchell had been charged with Class B burglary, which could be elevated to Class A burglary because he had knives on his person. The case is still under investigation and additional charges could be filed.
A $10,000 cash bail was set for Mitchell and he was transported to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset.
Without a dog, it would have been extremely difficult to catch the suspect in this incident, Field said, and the homeowner can at least have the peace of mind that this person is in custody.
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