SPRAGUE — A Baltic man was arrested in connection to burglaries in 2017 at the former Fusion Paperboard plant in Sprague in which $200,000 worth of copper wire was stolen, the town's resident trooper said Monday.

Frank Stahlinski, of Baltic, was arrested Friday morning without incident, the town's resident state trooper, Trooper First Class Brian Sumner said. Stahlinski was charged with third-degree burglary and first-degree larceny.

Police said Stahlinski posted a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in New London Superior Court on Dec. 7.

Sumner said Stahlinski turned himself in to police Friday morning, and said he now has signed warrants for three others alleged to have participated in the burglaries. Sumner said all four have confessed to the burglaries, including two taped confessions. He said the additional arrests are imminent.

First Selectman Cathy Osten said she believes the investigation into the burglaries has lasted more than a year and said the town has hard evidence linking the accused and others to the stolen property.

"It was a long and intensive timeframe," Osten said, adding the town's resident state trooper, Trooper First Class Brian Sumner deserves a great deal of credit for his role in the investigation and arrest.

"It was a very good job on the part of our resident trooper," Osten said. "Without the resident trooper program, we would not have had the investigative resources to resolve this."

Osten said none of the copper wire has been recovered, but said the town has documentation evidencing when and where the town's property was sold for scrap.

Fusion Paperboard, at 130 Inland Road, abruptly closed in September 2014.