Freedom–March 25, 2013–Area police departments warn there have been a number of daytime burglaries in several Carroll County towns and nearby communities in Maine. Freedom police chief Josh Shackford said the suspect seems to be roaming around Freedom, Ossipee, Effingham and parts of Maine. Law enforcement has a possible suspect but they don’t have enough evidence at this point to make his name public. Shackford said the suspect is being “hunted.”

Recently there have have been two burglaries in Freedom and two attempted burglaries, said Shackford. Electronics, loose change, jewelry and other items of value have been stolen. Shackford recommends making your home as difficult as possible to access by locking your doors and installing deadbolts and alarm systems.

“They are in and out in less than a minute,” said Shackford of the burglars. “They are lazy they don’t want to work too hard and they don’t want to stay too long.”

A couple from Maine returned to their house and saw a burglar walking out the door, Freedom’s police chief said.

Shackford said people should call police immediately if they see something suspicious.

“It’s too late the next day,” he said.

Shackford said he’d much rather respond to a false alarm than a successful burglary. The burglaries in Freedom have occurred all over town and seem random, but they tend to be happening in midday.

Bob King, of Ossipee police, said he is dealing with burglars with two different styles. One uses a “smash and grab” style to nab electronics and the other burglar uses a methodical approach to steal copper from homes in the rural parts of town.

“It appears to be two separate strings,” said King.

King says there have been about half a dozen smash-and-grab burglaries and about eight copper thefts. King suggests that people should pay attention to cars that don’t seem to belong in their neighbor’s driveway.