A 39-year-old man was arrested and charged with burglary, theft and criminal mischief on Sunday after breaking into several businesses on Monument Square in Portland, police said.
Jimmy Burnett broke windows and other items to get into David’s Restaurant and The Lady in the Moon, a boutique store, according to Portland police. Burnett, for whom no address was given, faces three counts of criminal mischief and one count each of the other two offenses. He was being held Sunday night at the Cumberland County Jail on $1,500 cash bail.

Officers responded to reports of vandalism around 6:10 a.m. Sunday and found that several business had damaged storefronts, including broken windows, police spokesman David Singer said. The Lady in the Moon had a large hole smashed in a window, and other businesses had overturned and damaged exterior tables and chairs, photos of the scene show.
David Turin, owner of David’s Restaurant, said his business would have to replace two $2,500 tempered-glass windows and some damaged tables and chairs. But he said he thought of the incident as a “tragedy” because he had heard that Burnett was suffering from a mental health crisis.
“It is too bad, really,” Turin said. “I just can’t even imagine the indignity and the trauma of someone experiencing that kind of stuff.”
Turin said Monument Square has seen a number of similar incidents during the pandemic, which has put pressure on mental health services and services for those experiencing homelessness, some of whom congregate in the square.
“It’s been this kind of crescendo of difficulties going on,” he said.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less