RANGELEY PLANTATION — Two juveniles and an adult were charged Wednesday morning in connection to a stolen pickup truck found Tuesday in Rangeley Plantation, according to a Franklin County Sheriff’s Office news release.
A stolen truck, found by the side of the road, was discovered Tuesday by someone who knows the truck’s owner at the Height of Land stop in Roxbury.
Logan Smith, 24, of Rumford was charged and released to a caregiver, a 16-year-old from Mexico was charged and released to family and a 14-year-old with previous juvenile conditions of release was charged and transported to a juvenile detention facility.
Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols said deputies responded to an early Tuesday morning complaint of a stolen pickup truck out of Oxford County, which was spotted in Rangeley Plantation.
The driver of a tractor trailer was traveling on Route 17 in Rangeley Plantation when he spotted a vehicle in distress at the Height of Land scenic stop. When the driver stopped to render assistance, he recognized the Ford F250 Super Duty truck as his supervisor’s truck, which was supposed to be in a Mexico repair shop for work related to a moose accident, the release said.
The driver confronted three young males who got into the truck and sped away. The driver notified his boss who called the Mexico Police Department, which was relayed to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver continued his route into Rangeley Plantation where he discovered the truck once again, overheated and abandoned on the side of the road on Route 17 near South Shore Drive. The truck’s occupants fled through the woods, the release said.
Deputies initiated a search with the help of Border Patrol agents and K9 Rahka from the Sheriff’s Office. An informant passed information on to deputies that the man and two juveniles were lost in the woods. The search was called off for the night.
Early Wednesday morning, the search resumed beginning with a tip from a Sandy River Plantation resident who had security camera footage of two people. Police established a perimeter around the Edelheid Road residence and apprehended the 16-year-old male.
Another tip shortly after revealed the two other males had hitchhiked south on Route 4. They were picked up by a couple who did not know the two were involved in criminal activity and dropped them off in Farmington at the 317 Main St. Walgreens. Deputies and Farmington police officers located the two males and took them into custody.
Assisting Franklin County Sheriff’s Office were U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Mexico Police Department, Oxford County Sheriff’s Office and Rangeley Police Department.
Note: Height of Land is located in Rangeley Plantation.
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