ELLSWORTH – A local teenager was arrested Thursday afternoon on charges that he stole a car early that morning, crashed it into a tree, left the scene of the accident and then stole another car.

Scott Cote, 19, of Ellsworth was found at his home on Main Street by Ellsworth police detectives, who transported him to Hancock County Jail.

Cote has been charged with two counts of Class C theft.

Ellsworth Police Chief John Deleo said Cote apparently got into an argument with his mother sometime late Wednesday night and left his house on foot.

He was walking the streets of Ellsworth when he decided it was too cold, Deleo said, so he took the first car he saw.

That car was a 1994 Saturn parked at a residence on Spruce Street. The vehicle had the keys inside.

Police found the Saturn shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday, wrapped around a tree on Red Bridge Road.

While police were investigating that crash, another stolen car report came in. A 1996 Pontiac was taken sometime Thursday morning from a residence on Red Bridge Road not far from the accident site.

The owner told police that the keys had been left inside that car as well.

Police connected the cases and received information from a witness that led them to Cote, according to Deleo.

When the young man was arrested, the Pontiac was found parked in a public lot near Cote’s home.

The Saturn had about $2,500 in damage and was towed away. The Pontiac, which Deleo said did not appear to be damaged, was returned to its owner.

Cote, who has at least one prior theft conviction last year, will appear in Hancock County Superior Court later this month.