BELFAST — Four men and one woman were indicted March 17 on various charges, including robbery, burglary, and theft by unauthorized taking or transfer. 

David W. Pedone, 22, of East Newport; John M. Ryan, 19, of Fairfield; Michael McGregor, 22, of Canaan; Matthew A. Shaw, 20, of Hartland; and Sarah B.J. Chase, 19, of Burnham, were all charged as a result of a Jan. 7 crime.

The burglary, which was captured on a security camera, was interrupted by the store’s owner, who lives adjacent to the store. 

After awaking around 2:30 a.m. and noticing the security light for the store was off, the owner drove the short distance to the store to investigate, according to court documents. The owner reportedly noticed that the door had been kicked in, and went in to investigate. He then saw one of the burglars and chased him from the store, but was knocked to the ground by another unseen burglar fleeing the scene. 

Waldo County Sheriff’s deputies, and eventually a K9 unit, were called to the scene, where law enforcement was able to follow fresh footprints in the snow to an apartment complex. After interviewing a resident of the complex, law enforcement was directed to David Pedone, who was ultimately arrested and interviewed Jan. 15. 

According to court documents, Ryan, McGregor, Shaw, and Chase were implicated by Pedone during the course of the interview. 

Pedone reportedly told investigators that after being picked up by the group, they told him they had just robbed a motel in Waterville, and were trying to think of other places to break into. It was at this point that Shaw allegedly mentioned a store in Burnham. 

After traveling to the store, the vehicle stopped in the road where Pedone, Shaw, and McGregor donned masks and gloves, according to court documents. When initial attempts to jimmy the door open failed, McGregor reportedly kicked it in at around 1 a.m.

The three then proceeded to remove cases of beer and cartons of cigarettes, although Pedone was allegedly unaware of everything taken in the heist. The group reportedly left the store at roughly 1:30 a.m., traveling to McGregor’s residence to drop of the stolen goods, before Pedone and Shaw decided to return to the store in search of cash. 

It was only during the second crime that the owner arrived, at which point both Shaw and Pedone fled to an area where the car was supposed to be waiting, only to discover it wasn’t there. At that point the two ran to a nearby residence that Pedone had reportedly been to before. Both Pedone and Shaw were later picked up from the residence by Chase and Ryan.

Sarah Chase, John Ryan, Matthew Shaw, and David Pedone were indicted on charges of robbery, burglary, and theft by unauthorized taking or transfer. McGregor was indicted on charges of burglary and theft by unauthorized taking or transfer.  

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com