BELFAST — A Belfast man was sentenced for a slew of crimes in Waldo County Unified Court May 15, many in relation to multiple area break-ins that occurred last fall.

Peter McCaffrey, 46, faced seven charges in relation to the 2017 spate of burglaries, including theft by receiving stolen property, two counts of burglary, two counts of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, and two counts of violating conditions of release.

He was sentenced to six years in prison with all but two years suspended for one count of burglary, in addition to three years of probation and an order to pay $3,698.91 restitution to his victims; he received two years in prison for his second burglary charge.

McCaffrey was also sentenced to two years in prison for theft by receiving stolen property. He was sentenced to six months in jail for each of the following: both counts of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, and both counts of violating conditions of release.

McCaffrey had been a suspect in the investigation of the 16 burglaries reported in Belfast from Oct. 11 through Nov. 7, according to Sergeant John Gibbs at the time. He was arrested after police secured a search warrant for his home Jan. 30, where they discovered a large and eclectic stash of items known to be missing from the reported burglaries and other suspected stolen property.

The items taken ranged from a Kitchenaid mixer to tires, kayaks, bicycles, and tools, with the rightful owners of the property streaming into the Belfast Police Department for nearly a month after the recovered property was posted on Facebook. Police said at the time that several victims weren’t even aware they were missing items until after they were discovered by police.

The majority of the stolen property was taken from homes, garages, and other outbuildings in the downtown area, though there were also items stolen from the outskirts of Belfast.

McCaffrey came to the attention of Belfast Police again March 23, after a concerned witness reported him trying to break into vehicles parked in a local grocery store parking lot. The witness reportedly told police that someone was going through the parking lot checking vehicle doors and going through the personal contents of at least two vehicles.

Police responded to the scene where they discovered the identity of the suspicious man. Police were able to match property found on McCaffrey to property missing from one of the vehicles in question.

As a result of the parking lot incident, McCaffrey was charged with burglary of a motor vehicle, theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, and violating conditions of release. He was sentenced to six months in jail for each charge.

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com