North Hampton Electric Barn burglary: Hudson man charged in $26K theft
NORTH HAMPTON — A Hudson man is facing charges in connection to the theft of more than $26,000 in merchandise from the Electric Barn in North Hampton, according to police.
Chad Breault was arrested in Amesbury, Massachusetts, on Friday, May 10, allegedly attempting to sell the stolen goods to a business, according to North Hampton Police Chief Robert LaBarge.
The burglary at the Electric Barn occurred around 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 8. LaBarge said they issued a warrant for Breault’s arrest on Thursday, May 9.
LaBarge said Breault must first face charges in Massachusetts before he is returned to New Hampshire to be arraigned on the North Hampton burglary charge. Amesbury police are charging Breault with allegedly dealing in stolen goods. He was arraigned Monday at Newburyport District Court, and his next court date is June 10, according to LaBarge.
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According to Lucus Kohlhase, vice president of the Electric Barn, the attention he received from local police and the swiftness with which Breault was caught impressed him.
“I’m very happy with the way the police handled this,” Kohlhase said.
LaBarge said his department, Kohlhase, the Amesbury business owner and Amesbury police, all worked together to solve the crime.
According to Kohlhase, he reported the theft of valuable electrical breakers to North Hampton police Thursday morning, shortly after he opened and discovered the store had been burglarized.
Kohlhase then called other businesses in the area to alert them of the burglary.
“I reached out to distributors and similar businesses and told them what had happened,” Kohlhase said. “I thought whoever did it would try to sell the stolen merchandise.”
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Soon after, Kohlhase got a call from a fellow businessman in Amesbury who believed the alleged thief had done exactly that. Kohlhase moved quickly to tell North Hampton police, and he and LaBarge drove south to Amesbury. There, Kohlhase identified the items stolen from the Electric Barn from pictures of the items Breault allegedly tried to sell.
Kohlhase said the owner of the Amesbury business had stalled Breault, asking him to come back Friday morning to finish the deal. That allowed LaBarge and Amesbury police to work together to set up the sting.
According to LaBarge, upon returning to North Hampton on Thursday, police drew up the warrants they needed.
On Friday morning, Amesbury police moved in to arrest Breault when he returned to sell the merchandise to the Amesbury businessman. North Hampton police served their warrant, and the stolen merchandise was recovered during the arrest.
“This crime got solved quickly because of cooperation and teamwork,” LaBarge said, “not only between law enforcement agencies but between the police, the community and its stakeholders.”
As for Kohlhase, he’s as pleased as he can be after suffering a costly crime.
“This is the second-best scenario that could have happened,” Kohlhase said. “The first being it never happened at all.”
Anybody with information regarding this crime or associated crimes is urged to contact North Hampton officer Ryan Stephens at rstephens@northhampton-nh-pd.gov or (603) 964-8621.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: North Hampton Electric Barn burglary: Hudson man charged in $26K theft
