Russell Graves (Bangor PD)
Russell Graves (Bangor PD)
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A man who allegedly stole thousands of dollars of war memorabilia from the Bangor Public Library was caught when he tried to sell them to a local merchant, according to police. Bangor Police say the man had worked as a volunteer at the library.

Bangor Police received a report on February 26th of items stolen from the library. Paul Zebiak, owner of Maritime International reported to police that a man had come into his store the day before trying to sell a large number of Civil War photographs and World War II memorabilia. Zebiak said he was suspicious about where the man got the items and so refused the sale.

Knowing that the Bangor Public Library has a large collection of war memorabilia, he contacted them. Sure enough, library employees discovered that approximately $31,000 of collectibles had vanished.

On February 27th, a woman walked into the same store with the same stolen items and tried to sell them. Zebiak called police and stalled the woman until officers could arrive. As a result of the subsequent investigation, police were able to recover all of the stolen items.

Arrested was Russell Graves, 27, of Bangor. Graves had worked as a volunteer at the library. He's been charged with a class C (felony) Theft and Violation of conditions of Release.

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