PORTLAND (WGME)-- Over the weekend Portland Police saw multiple acts of vandalism, and have charged a suspect after two incidents happened on Congress Street.
Portland police responded to the call shortly after 2 PM on Saturday. Portland’s Flea For All stores’ windows were broken, just 24 hours after another business a block away was also vandalized.
Michael Leonard, a resident of Portland who also lives above ‘Flea For All’ said, "The crime is spiraling in the Congress Square Park area. Clearly there has been a lot of vandalism done for business owners. I think we're probably only scratching the surface of what we know."
The other incident happened at Reny’s as manager Scott Witt was dealing with another crime at the time.
"I was on location, I was dealing with a theft with an officer in the store at the time. And we got a phone call from one of my employees here where they were panicking,” Witt said.
$3,000 worth of windows were smashed open Witt says.
Witt stated that, "A brick was used. I'm not sure how he managed to do it specifically but he got a good wind up as far as I can say. I mean they're old windows so I am sure that didn't help."
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Portland police have identified 50-year-old Michael Hale as the suspect of both incidents. He was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal mischief.
"To my knowledge it wasn't premeditated towards the business itself, just that the individual felt distain to my knowledge to different businesses along Congress Street and has decided to take action towards them,” said Witt.
The same weekend, Jefe Juan’s and Rathskeller on Wharf Street were also vandalized. Leonard says incidents like this make him want to move out of the Portland area.
"I joked to my girlfriend that maybe it's time to overpay for a house in Gorham. Because we were trying to be patient and wait for the markets there to relax a little bit in housing but at this point I don't like my girlfriend to walk our dog at night,” stated Leonard.
Police say that acts of vandalism on Congress Street are not related to the ones on Wharf Street. The incidents that occurred on Wharf Street are still under investigation.