FRYEBURG — A Mechanic Falls man was arrested Friday morning during an investigation into the thefts of five trucks and a car from Maine and New Hampshire, Oxford County Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Harriman said.

Derek Foster, 20, of 323 Pleasant St., was apprehended off Little Chatham Road in Fryeburg, after crashing a vehicle on nearby Route 113 and fleeing on foot, Harriman said. Maine State Police Trooper Adam Fillebrown and his tracking dog found Foster.

Foster, who previously lived in the Fryeburg area, was taken to the Oxford County Jail in Paris and held on a probation violation. A jail official said Foster was on probation for a burglary conviction.

Harriman said six law enforcement agencies from both states were involved in the investigation, which began early Friday after a report of suspicious activity in Lovell, where investigators found a stolen abandoned vehicle.

That investigation led them to five other stolen vehicles: one each from Denmark, Fryeburg and Stow, and two from Chatham, N.H., he said.

The Lovell vehicle was burned completely; one in Fryeburg and one in Chatham were partially burned, the lieutenant said.

The thefts occurred from about 11 p.m. Thursday to about 7 a.m. Friday. All but one of the owners had been contacted by Friday evening.

Lt. Harriman said the investigation is continuing and more charges are expected to be filed.

Harriman was assisted by members of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, the State Fire Marshal’s Office, Maine State Police, Fryeburg Police Department, Conway (N.H.) Police Department and New Hampshire State Police.

mdelamater@sunjournal.com