The owner of the Land’s End Gift Shop in Bailey Island caught two people on camera on Wednesday apparently stealing copper pipes from the building and causing a potentially catastrophic propane leak, and even explosion.
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Karen Hutchins, the shop’s owner, told WGME that at least 200 gallons of propane leaked out underneath the store, which has been in her family since 1959.
She entered her store and was suddenly overwhelmed by the smell of propane. Hutchins told the outlet that she went into the store’s basement to see whether anything was obviously wrong, but she didn’t initially see anything.
She decided to turn off the propane heaters in the store and contacted a technician to examine the problem.
After walking around the shop, the technician discovered that the copper piping had been removed and, according to Hutchins, that propane was spilling out and rising towards the building.
“For 8.5 hours, it was just coming out into the atmosphere and under the building,” Hutchins said, speaking with WGME. “So the potential could have been catastrophic for the whole area.”
Hutchins’ daughter reviewed the building’s security cameras and spotted two people at 1:00 a.m. who were caught on camera allegedly prying up 40 feet of copper pipe. The theft reportedly took only six minutes. The leak could have caused an explosion that would have destroyed the shop and killed or injured anyone nearby.
The security cameras were unable to capture clear footage of the alleged thieves’ vehicle.
A Southern Maine scrapyard told the news outlet that the stolen copper would likely sell for only $50 to $60.
“My biggest thing is not the cost of repairing this, but the potential for someone else getting hurt,” Hutchins said.
According to the news outlet, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department is interested in any information about the thieves, though the department has not posted any requests for public assistance.
