PARIS — The Oxford County Sheriff’s Office expects to present multiple felony charges to a grand jury against a Falmouth woman accused of vehicle break-ins at the Sunday River Ski Resort last week, according to a news release.
Holly L. Doherty, 47, of Falmouth, was detained and interviewed as a suspect by Maine State Police following a traffic stop in downtown Paris on Friday morning, according to the news release from the Sheriff’s Office. Doherty was not arrested.
Doherty is being accused in dozens of property crimes in the Bethel and Portland areas. In the release, Deputy Peter Casey said investigators uncovered thousands of dollars in stolen property after executing search warrants on her vehicle and her Falmouth home.
The evidence recovered allowed investigators to solve dozens of reported property crimes in the southern part of the state, Casey said.
Casey and Oxford County Cpl. George Cayer opened the investigation after the first reports of vehicle burglaries and the use of stolen credit cards late last Wednesday.
Using surveillance camera footage from an Irving gas station in Bethel and other locations in southern Maine, investigators identified a white female driving a maroon Chevrolet Tahoe as the main suspect in the case, Casey said.
On Friday morning, Maine State Trooper Ron Turnick observed a suspect matching the investigator’s description driving on Route 26 in Paris and stopped it, according to Casey.
The traffic stop led to Doherty being interviewed by investigators from the state police. Property crimes in Woodstock, Bethel, Newry, Portland, Westbrook and Yarmouth were identified, and search warrants for Doherty’s vehicle and her home were issued and executed, Casey said.
Investigators from the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, the state police the Falmouth, Yarmouth, Freeport and Westbrook police departments collaborated on the case, Casey said.
“This case and investigation was a tremendous example of tenacity and determination as well as proof of good working relationships between law enforcement agencies statewide,” Casey said.
In an email Monday, Maine State Police Lt. Walter Grzyb said officers are continuing to piece together evidence in the case, which may take some time because of the “huge amount of property discovered and the wide geographic area these crimes were committed in.”
State police Sgt. Kyle Tilsley, who is leading the agency’s investigation, expects many more cases will be revealed as the process continues, Grzyb said.
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