Thieves caught on camera stealing copper pipe from Bailey Island gift shop

BAILEY ISLAND (WGME) – A pair of thieves were caught on camera stealing copper pipe at an iconic gift shop.

The owner says at least 200 gallons of propane leaked out of the severed pipe right under their shop.

Since 1959, three generations of the Hutchins family have owned and operated Land’s End Gift Shop at the end of Bailey Island.

In one night, they say they could have lost it all from a propane leak and buildup under the gift shop.

“When I got to the top of the stairs, I was overwhelmed with the smell of propane,” Land’s End Gift Shop Owner Karen Hutchins said. “So I went down to see if there’s anything obvious, like a broken line or anything like that, I didn’t see anything. So then I’m thinking I better turn off my propane heaters in the store.”

She did so despite the risk of an explosion.

A technician later found the source of the leak.

“He took a walk around the back of the building, and that’s where he discovered from the regulator to under the building, copper piping was missing,” Hutchins said.

It was stolen in the middle of the night.

“The propane was spilling out,” Hutchins said. “And actually rising up towards the building.”

Her daughter checked their security camera footage and saw two people pulling up 40 feet of copper pipe around 1 a.m. Wednesday.

“She saw two people,” Hutchins said. “And she could actually see them pulling up the line.”

The entire theft took six minutes.

Because it was dark, security cameras didn’t get a good look at the vehicle.

All they saw was it had running boards.

A scrap yard in southern Maine says 40 feet of copper would likely only be worth $50 or $60.

“You can salvage it and get a little bit of money, but not much,” Hutchins said.

Hutchins says the propane leak caused by the theft could have cost, not only her business, but her and her daughter’s lives.

“For 8.5 hours, it was just coming out into the atmosphere and under the building,” Hutchins said. “So the potential could have been catastrophic for the whole area.”

She hopes the suspects are caught to prevent this from happening to someone else.

“My biggest thing is not the cost of repairing this, but the potential for someone else getting hurt,” Hutchins said.

If you have any information about this theft, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office would like to hear from you.