Brazen burglar's arrest ends one-man crime spree

Michael Skidmore

A Rochester man has been charged in a string of Lebanon house robberies that occurred between early May and his arrest July 21.

Michael Skidmore, 25, was arrested in connection with five burglaries in Lebanon, Maine State Police Trooper Kyle Wells said today.

Wells said Skidmore was interviewed and charged at the Strafford County House of Correction where he is being held on charges stemming from several Dover, N.H., burglaries, also committed mostly in July.

Meanwhile, Dover Police Lt. Brant Dolleman said Skidmore was responsible for six burglaries in the Garrison City.

Skidmore’s one-man crime spree ended on July 21 when he attempted to run from Dover Police after a routine traffic stop, and police were able to link him to a burglary he had allegedly been involved in earlier in the day.

Dover police show Skidmore’s last known address as 1 Short St. in Somersworth and his age as 26. Dolleman said Skidmore committed four burglaries between June 29 and July 20 and two more the day he was arrested.

Wells said most of the Lebanon burglaries took place in the early morning hours when residents were sleeping, and Skidmore entered the residence through unlocked doors.

Dolleman said most Dover burglaries were done during the overnight hours, and Skidmore would enter through an unlocked door or often remove air conditioners from windows to gain entry.

Skidmore is said to have stolen several guns from one River Road residence, including a black powder pistol later found on sale at Kittery Trading Post, Wells said. The brazen burglar also stole medication including Oxycodone, Klonopin and morphine from another River Road home.

The other three Lebanon burglaries occurred on Upper Guinea Road.

Most of the Dover burglaries involved the theft of wallets and purses, although in one a car was stolen and later recovered.

Both Dolleman and Wells agreed that breaking into homes during the overnight, while residents were asleep, was a very disturbing part of the case.

It appears Skidmore was never armed during the commission of the crimes and that none of the residents neither awakened nor confronted him, Dolleman and Wells said.

Skidmore remains jailed on $2,500 cash bail at the Strafford County House of Correction awaiting trial.

It was not clear when he would face the Maine charges in court.