Drug Related Theft Arrest

On 9-11-2014 Contractor Todd J. Whittaker (38 years old) from Brewer was arrested for Class B Felony Theft by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. Whittaker was arrested after investigation into a theft of just over $14,000 from BBS Lobster Company in Machiasport. Mr. Whittaker was contracted for a job at the facility in Machiasport. After the job was completed, Mr. Whitakker fraudulently cashed a check in excess of the 14k$ from the company. Routine accounting audits discovered the theft.

Upon further investigation by the Sheriff’s Office, Mr. Whittaker was also found to be on 2 active bail conditions (conditions of release) for drug related crimes. The first set of conditions is from Aroostook County Superior Court for Unlawful Trafficking in Schedule Drugs and the second set is from Penobscot Criminal Court for Unlawful Possession of Schedule Drugs.

Upon his arrest here in Washington County he was charged with Theft by Unauthorized Taking Class B and Violation of Conditions of Release Class E. His bail was set at 20,000$ cash for the Theft and bail was denied for the violation of conditions of release. Mr. Whittaker is being held at the Washington County Jail pending an appearance in front of the court.

During the investigation, Mr. Whittaker indicated that this crime was connected to his addiction to Heroin. This is yet another property crime that was committed in Washington County that appears to be consistent with a spike in drug related crimes and calls for service throughout the County.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is currently working collaboratively with other Local, State, and Federal agencies to address both the increase in illicit drugs, in particular Heroin, and the increase in property crimes expected.
The influx of illicit drugs have also caused an increase in the amount of overdose calls that police and EMS have responded to in the past weeks.

Sheriff Donnie Smith