A Portland man arrested Wednesday after a break-in attempt at the Maine Historical Society has now been charged with a string of burglaries in the downtown area during the last several weeks.
The additional charges against Tim Toun, 30, were revealed during an initial court appearance Friday afternoon. Toun was ordered held on $50,000 bail.
Portland police said they believe Toun is responsible for nine recent burglaries or burglary attempts, including at the historical society. Toun, whose criminal history includes theft, confessed to breaking into the business and told police he is homeless, needed cash and has a drug problem, court records show.
Toun did not enter a plea and spoke only when the judge asked if he was Tim Toun.
“Tim claimed that none of these burglaries were planned out and were completely random and opportunistic,” Detective Andjelko Napijalo wrote in a court affidavit.
Police were alerted to an attempted burglary of the Maine Historical Society early Wednesday after someone had shattered a pane in a glass door but failed to get inside the building.
Toun and another person were found nearby. Toun was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant and was later charged with attempted burglary. The other person was not charged.
Toun has since been charged with theft or attempted burglary and criminal mischief in connection with break-ins at the following additional locations:
• Bayside American Cafe on Portland Street
• Squeaky Clean Laundromat on Washington Avenue
• LB Kitchen on Congress Street
• Toni’s Touch on Forest Avenue
• Leavitt & Sons Deli on Kennebec Street
• Boda on Congress Street
• Little Tap House on High Street
• Mekong Thai Restaurant on Forest Avenue
Additional burglaries took place recently at Eyes on Rosemont on Middle Street, Maine Oyster Company on Portland Street, Maine Juice Company on Spring Street, Wallace James Clothing on High Street, Lio Restaurant on Spring Street, Others! cafe at Monument Square and Still a Good Cause thrift shop on Forest Avenue.
No charges have been filed in those cases and police have not said whether Toun is a suspect.
Affidavits filed in the case show detectives used security cameras from a number of businesses and buildings around Portland to help piece together the case against Toun. Detectives also recovered a safe from East End Cemetery, discarded clothes from behind a building and a cash register that were linked to Toun by DNA evidence, court records show.
In interviews with police, Toun admitted to breaking into nine businesses, often through unlocked doors and windows, the court records show.
“Tim made statements during the interview such as ‘I did a bunch of places’ and ‘I was just tired of everything,'” Andjelko wrote in an affidavit.
Court records indicate Toun detailed how he broke into multiple businesses. He told police he entered LB Kitchen through an unlocked front door, found the safe key in the cash register and took the safe to East End Cemetery to open it. It was recovered later the same day by police, court records show.
Toun’s recent criminal history includes guilty pleas in November 2018 to charges of theft, unlawful possession of drugs and violating the conditions of his release.
Another Portland man, Danny Arnold, 42, appeared in court Friday on charges related to a burglary Thursday.
He was charged with burglary, theft and criminal mischief after he was caught at a construction site at 100 Fore St. early Thursday. Police were called after an alarm alerted an off-site employee that someone was inside a construction trailer at the historic industrial site known as the Portland Company complex.
Danny Arnold makes his initial appearance at the Cumberland County Courthouse on Friday, charged with an attempted burglary at a Cianbro construction trailer at the former Portland Co. Complex on Fore Street in Portland. At right is attorney Phil Notis, a lawyer of the day representing Arnold at his appearance. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Arnold previously served nine months of a two-year sentence for burglary in 2010 and has convictions for assault, domestic violence assault, carrying a concealed weapon and violating a protective order, among other charges.
His most recent conviction came in 2017 for aggravated assault and criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, both felonies for which he was sentenced to serve nine months of a three-year sentence. Arnold violated his probation multiple times and was incarcerated for short periods following each violation, including one notable incident in 2018 when he was a suspect in the killing of a pregnant goat at Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook.
Arnold wasn’t charged with killing the goat, but he was charged with violating probation for possessing a crossbow, the same weapon used to kill the goat.
Though the burglaries have been concentrated around downtown, they didn’t appear to target specific businesses. The burglar or burglars typically went after cash registers and safes inside the businesses, sometimes taking a register or small safe if it could not be opened.
Staff Writer Gillian Graham contributed to this report.
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