RAYMOND – In the more than 20 years that Downeast Sharpening has done business at the corner of Main Street and Route 302 in Raymond, owner Glen Gisel has never had anyone steal a piece of equipment from his shop.

That was the case until Wednesday, Dec. 21, when the streak of good fortune came to an end. However, the historic moment was caught on tape, and the shop owner is looking for the public’s help in solving the crime.

At around 4 p.m. that day – about five minutes after Gisel left with his wife to do some Christmas food shopping at the Hannaford in North Windham -someone stole a top-of-the-line Craftsman 1333 snowblower, measuring 33 inches wide and valued at about $2,000, one of many snowblowers located outside the shop, Gisel said, that had just been repaired and were ready for customer pickup.

Thanks to a camera surveillance system that overlooks the front driveway, Gisel was able to get a visual recording of the robber’s vehicle, a white Ford SuperDuty extended cab pickup truck that entered his property, hoisted the snowblower onto the truck bed and drove off. Unfortunately, the camera’s resolution wasn’t high enough to make out the license plate, so Gisel is reaching out to the public for help identifying the burglar.

“It was a nice truck with chrome wheels and tubular steps so I don’t know why they would stoop so low as to steal a snowblower,” Gisel said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Gisel believes the burglar may have been observing the business prior to the burglary waiting for Gisel to leave.

“We left at five (minutes) of 4 p.m., and the camera records the truck at 4 p.m., so it’s like they were waiting,” Gisel said.

Gisel initially reported the incident to Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office as a case of someone avoiding payment for repairs amounting to $152. When he contacted the snowblower’s owner, no one answered and calls from the sheriff’s deputy investigating the case went unanswered as well. However, last weekend, the snowblower’s owner returned from vacation and returned the messages denying any involvement in the matter, even showing Gisel a receipt proving he had been out of town on the day the piece of equipment was stolen. It was at that point Gisel checked his video recording from the day and saw the truck.

The burglary of Downeast Sharpening is the latest of several burglaries in Raymond last month. The owner of Cricket’s Corner on Route 302 reported $150 worth of Christmas lights, extension cords and all, swiped during daylight hours on a busy Saturday, Dec. 10. And in mid-December, the Sheriff’s Department reported a string of a dozen burglaries at seasonal homes along Indian Point Road off Route 302 beside Panther Run.

Thankful that he installed the surveillance camera and hopeful his insurance company will cover the stolen property, Gisel is nonetheless left stunned.

“Not sure what’s going on but we’ve started having a ration of burglaries lately here in Raymond,” he said.

A surveillance camera perched above the entrance to Downeast
Sharpening in Raymond captured video of the driver of a Ford pickup
truck making off with a $2,000 snowblower. (Courtesy photo)