By Renee Worthing 

Staff Writer

Sanford police spent several hours July 22 searching the woods between Shaw’s Ridge Road and Cottage Street following a reported home burglary on High Street.

Sanford Police Maj. Gordon Littlefield said police received a call at 2:17 p.m. about the burglary. He said a 61-year-old woman who works the night shift was awakened when her dog began to bark. When she heard other noises, she opened her bedroom door and found a man wearing a dark shirt and camouflage shorts coming out of her son’s bedroom, Littlefield said.

Littlefield said the woman yelled at the intruder, described as a white male in his late teens or early 20s, who fled the house.

He said the woman was not injured and there was no physical contact between the woman and the intruder who allegedly stole “more than $100 and less than $1,000” from the home.

An examination of the area around the home led police to believe the intruder escaped on an ATV.

Officers on ATVs and a dog from the Maine State Police scoured the woods along CMP’s power lines. While police did not locate the man, they did recover an abandoned ATV in the woods behind Deer Ridge Park on Cottage Street. Littlefield said it is unclear whether the ATV was stolen or if it belongs to the suspect, however, officials are following up on leads.

As of press time, the suspect has not been located.