A Portland man – believed to be the car thief who eluded police in a manhunt near the Windham/Westbrook border last month – is now in custody after a foiled burglary in Scarborough.
Last Thursday morning, Shawn Tarr, 29, of 18 Congress St. in Portland, was attempting to flee a Scarborough residence on Broad Turn Road when the car he had stolen two days prior got stuck in the icy driveway.
When the home’s owner, Lynn Muller, and her daughter Alisha returned home, Tarr told her that he was just “turning around” in her driveway and asked her if she could help get the car unstuck, according to a police report.
The homeowner then noticed her daughter’s laptop in the rear seat of the vehicle and agreed to help Tarr by steering the car while he pushed. Meanwhile, her daughter called the police from inside the house where she was joined by her mother after Muller retrieved the laptop from the car.
The two waited inside for police while Tarr “frantically” attempted to free the stolen vehicle from the ice.
Officer Douglas Weed arrived on the scene while Tarr was shoving boards under her tires to give them traction.
He was arrested without incident on three outstanding warrants.
Police found class ‘W’ drugs in Tarr’s possession and stolen Christmas cards from Mullers home in the vehicle.
The vehicle itself, a ’94 Plymouth coupe, had been stolen two days prior from American Motors in Westbrook. Tarr reportedly had been negotiating with the dealership to buy the car, but instead came back during the night, affixed stolen plates and drove off with the vehicle.
Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department and Portland Police had been actively pursuing Tarr as a suspect in the theft of a Jeep that led to a police chase and manhunt on Nov. 22.
In the incident, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Lathrop pulled over a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which had been reported stolen that morning, and ordered the driver, a young male matching Tarr’s description, to get out of the car. When the officer approached the vehicle, the Jeep took off at a high rate of speed.
Lathrop pursued the vehicle down routes 202 and 302 until the suspect failed to negotiate a corner at Vance Drive near the Windham/Westbrook line. The Jeep crashed into a front-end loader at the reconstruction site of D&J Excavating and fled on foot.
Cumberland County Sheriff’s deputies, Windham and Westbrook police departments and Maine State Police canvassed the area with K-9 units, but were unable to track down the thief. Evidence pointed to Tarr as a suspect and police were close to getting a warrant issued for his arrest, said Chief Deputy Kevin Joyce of the sheriff’s department.
“We pretty much had an idea of who had stolen vehicle,” said Joyce. “It was just a matter of putting the pieces together.”
Tarr faces numerous charges in connection to both car thefts, the Scarborough burglary and for eluding police.
Tarr pleaded “no answer” in Cumberland County District Court on Tuesday to charges of burglary and eluding police. He is being held at the Cumberland County Jail and due to appear in court for a probable cause hearing on Jan. 31.
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