ROCHESTER — Police say a Walnut Street couple came home Saturday night to find a man burglarizing their house.

Now Justin Fuller, 25, of 11 Whipple Road in Kittery, Maine, is being held on $10,000 bail after a police dog tracked him to a hideout behind a dumpster, according to Rochester Police Sgt. Todd Pinkham.

The couple at 124 Walnut Street at 11:12 p.m. to report someone was in their home, Pinkham said. The responding officers found evidence that someone had broken in and fled on a bicycle, Pinkham said. That's when they police called in a police dog.

“A K-9 track was performed and officers discovered what appeared to be a bicycle track in the wet grass a few houses down,” Pinkham said. “The K-9 and officers then located a male, later identified as Justin Fuller, in camouflage, hiding behind a dumpster with a maroon bike and grey checkered backpack.”

Fuller was reportedly wearing a head lamp when he was found by police. Fuller was already wanted by police on an arrest warrant charging him with receiving stolen property, according to Pinkham. He was arrested behind the dumpster and taken into custody.

Inside Fuller's backpack, police found a plethora of allegedly suspicious items, according to Pinkham, including an air pistol, a machete, a hammer, a screwdriver, some duct tape, a hatchet, some thin metal wire, a pry bar, bug spray, binoculars, and a large coffee container full of change. Pinkham said Fuller also had a key to the Walnut Street home, which the homeowners reported missing.

Pinkham reports Fuller was seen by another homeowner in the area, acting suspiciously. That witness told police Fuller came to their home earlier in the evening and started talking to the child in the home, asking if any adults were home, Pinkham reports. That homeowner immediately went running to the door to confront Fuller, who then claimed he was lost, Pinkham said.

Fuller is charged with burglary, theft, criminal trespass, prowling, attempted burglary, and possession of burglar tools. He is due to be arraigned today.

New Hampshire Union Leader reporter Paul Feely contributed to this report.
dfisher@unionleader.com