This photo released Wednesday, April 10, 2013 by the Maine Department of Public Safety shows a camp in a remote, section of Rome, Maine, where authorities believe Christopher Knight lived like a hermit for decades. Knight, known as the North Pond Hermit, was arrested April 4, 2013, while stealing food from another camp in Rome. Authorities said he may be responsible for more than 1,000 burglaries.ROME, Maine – A man who lived like a hermit for decades in a makeshift camp in the woods and may be responsible for more than 1,000 burglaries for food and other staples has been caught in a surveillance trap at a camp he treated as a “Walmart,” authorities said Wednesday.
Christopher Knight, 47, was arrested last week when he tripped a surveillance sensor set up by a game warden while stealing food from a camp for people with special needs in Rome, a town of about 1,000 whose population swells with the arrival of summer residents.
Authorities on Tuesday found the campsite where they believed Knight, known as the North Pond Hermit in local lore, has lived for 27 years.
Some residents say they’ve been aware of the hermit for years, often in connection with break-ins that have occurred. He was so well known to some summer cottage owners that they left food out for him so he wouldn’t break in during the colder months, state Trooper Diane Vance said.
But others were hardly aware of the hermit living within their midst without detection since 1986.