West Newbury Police have brought an end to an alleged ring of car breaks with the arrest of five individuals, that town’s Police Chief Jeffrey Durand said Friday.
Durand confirms that a 17-year-old male juvenile from Jamaica Plain joins a 21-year-old man from Boston, a 20-year-old man from Boston and a 19-year-old man from Jamaica Plain in facing one count each of receiving stolen property under $1,200 and conspiracy to commit a crime.
A fifth man, a 20-year-old from Jamaica Plain, has been arrested and charged with two counts of larceny under $1,200, two counts of credit card fraud and receiving a stolen credit card, among other offenses, police said.
West Newbury Police were alerted to the allegedly fraudulent activity after receiving multiple reports of cars that were broken into overnight on June 16 in the area of Robin Road and Crane Neck Street. One item stolen included a TD Bank card. That same day, Groveland and Haverhill Police received multiple reports of car break-ins. The stolen card was reported as being used at the CVS on Lowell Avenue in Haverhill several times between 4:30-4:45 a.m., police said.
Surveillance video from the CVS later identified the 20-year-old Jamaica Plain man as the person who used the card. It was also used to make purchases at Walmart stores in Quincy and Weymouth.
The four other suspects were arrested in Weymouth three days later after allegedly breaking into cars in that city. According to police, a laptop reported stolen from West Newbury was found in a car driven by the suspects at the time of their arrest.
All of the men will be summonsed to Newburyport District Court to answer to the charges, police said.