UPDATE: Thieves Stole Parts from Parked Buses

Police are seeking the public's assistance in solving recent vehicle part thefts from "multiple" First Student Inc. buses parked in a storage lot in North Hampton.

Detective Pete Cormier said in a release the thefts likely occurred between 4 p.m. on July 3 and 6 a.m. on July 5 on the 25 Lafayette Road lot, which is behind Verizon Wireless.

Cormier said in a phone call with Patch he didn't want to disclose the type of the parts stolen, although he said the items are valued at "over $1,000" and likely were stolen with the intention of selling the items to a salvage yard or similar business — possibly to support a drug habit.

"Over the last six months to a year, a lot of the burglaries and commercial thefts basically have been drug-driven," said Cormier. "Any arrest we’ve made on any of those thefts — it drives that line straight to an addiction, mainly a drug addiciton, whatever their drug of choice may be. That seems to be the root of all evil."

Cormier said the bus thefts were reported to the North Hampton Police Department on July 5. He declined to say how many buses were hit, although he said it "wasn't the majority of the fleet" and said First Student likely "had the ones in question repaired and up and running within a couple days" of the thefts.

North Hampton has seen several similar thefts recently, from a to on the dealership lot. Cormier said it's "hard to tell" if there is a link between the storage facility and bus thefts, although he said the incidents are similar because they each involve targets "off the beaten path."

No updates were available on the storage facility thefts Tuesday, although Cormier said his department is pursuing possible leads on that case and the bus thefts.

"We have a couple of pretty good leads we’re going to try to roll with and see what shakes out," said Cormier.

Anyone with information about the bus part thefts or other crimes is asked to contact Cormier at 964-2198, extension 2238, or through e-mail at pcormier@northhampton-nh.gov.

Anonymous tips can also be given to the Crimeline for the Hamptons by calling 929-2222, e-mailing hamptonscrimeline@yahoo.com or posting information on the Crimeline's Facebook page.

Cash rewards are paid out for tips to the Crimeline that lead to the arrest and conviction of the suspects.