ROCKLAND – A Union man was arrested by the Maine Marine Patrol on March 28 for allegedly stealing two crates of lobsters from a Tenants Harbor dock.

Charles N. Collins, 46, was charged with theft by unauthorized taking or transfer. The charge is elevated to a felony because the value of the stolen items exceeded $1,000.

Collins made his initial appearance in Knox County Court March 30. Judge Sarah Gilbert set his bail at $2,500 unsecured. A condition of bail is that he cannot be within 100 yards of any commercial fishing dock or possess any live lobsters unless lawfully licensed.

According to the affidavit filed in Knox County Court by the Maine Marine Patrol, the lobster crates were stolen from Art’s Lobster Dock in Tenants Harbor on March 24. The value of the two lobster crates and floats that were also stolen totaled approximately $2,000.

The Maine Patrol is also investigating a similar theft in Bremen during the previous week.

Surveillance footage from Art's Lobster Dock showed a silver van that pulled up to the dock with a man and woman. Both suspects shielded their faces from the camera. They pulled two crates of lobsters onto a float and then took a metal hook from the shed to pull the two crates up onto the dock. They loaded the crates in the van and drove away.

The surveillance video from the Tenants Harbor incident did not identify the license plate number on the van. Another Marine Patrol officer who was investigating the Bremen theft that also occurred late at night shared the video from the location and it confirmed the same vehicle was used. This time the license plate was visible.

According to the court report, on the same night after the Tenants Harbor theft, police stopped the van for a traffic violation at a convenience store parking lot in Augusta. The officer found two crates of lobsters in the van but at that time, it was not known they were stolen.

Collins was in the van and police allowed him to leave with the vehicle because he had a valid driver’s license and there was no apparent reason to hold him at the time.

An arrest warrant was later issued after police confirmed that Collins was wearing the same clothing as the man seen in the videos and likely travelled to Augusta after the Tenants Harbor theft, according to the affidavit.

Collins is scheduled to appear in court again on May 14 for a dispositional conference.

Reach Sarah Shepherd at news@penbaypilot.com