Three men nabbed in Park Street break-in
Published on March 8th, 2006
STONEHAM, MA - A trio of Revere men were caught in the middle of a breaking and entering last Thursday evening, and may face charges in up to 13 other cities and towns in the area for similar crimes - including several other breaks in Stoneham.
"This was a great arrest for everyone in Stoneham, and people in the surrounding areas," said Stoneham Police Lt. Rick McCarthy. "We found police scanners tuned in to 13 communities (Wakefield, Melrose, Reading, Woburn, Stoneham, Peabody, Winchester, Medford, Quincy, Danvers among others), along with walkie-talkies, flashlights and cell phones in the back of their car, so we're assuming they were pretty active in the surrounding communities. There had been a lot of breaks in the area recently, and I think people were getting pretty tired of it."
"The Stephens Brothers have a long history and are pretty well known to police, so it was nice to get them off the street," added McCarthy. "We've already had several departments contact us about similar breaks that we think they may be responsible for."
Walter Geary, age 20, of 21 Taft Street/Unit 1, Revere, Frank Lentini (AKA Robert Stephens), age 47, of 129 Stevens Street, Revere, and Ronald Dean Stephens, age 42, of 57 Oak Island Street, Revere, were arrested after police were summoned to a breaking and entering to a Park Street home at 6:57 p.m. According to the police report, the Park Street resident came home from vacation with his son to find a burglary in progress.
The Park Street resident noticed a man in his neighbor's driveway, who - upon their arrival - walked to the back of their home and then began to whistle in the direction of the Park Street home.
The man, later identified as Ronald Stephens, then sprinted away from the home, but the resident noted that another suspect was still in the home. The resident went to the back door and his son waited by the front door, and both parties cornered the suspect while waiting for police to arrive.
Stephens reportedly attempted to leave through a 12-foot high dining room window, but fell in the process and was subdued with the aid of a baseball bat by the Park Street resident.
Stoneham Police managed to arrest Stephens at the scene, and arrested Geary while he reportedly waited in a getaway car parked on South Marble Street. With two suspects in custody at the scene, Stoneham Police nabbed the third with the help of Wilmington Police and their K-9 search dog Kimo.
The pooch was called to the scene, and was able to track down Robert Stephens hiding under a pile of construction debris in the rear of a residence in the area.
A subsequent search of the car found a litany of tools utilized in the break-in as well as a pillowcase and several other bags filled with assorted jewelry - a collection of stolen valuables that were reportedly worth more than $45,000.
All three suspects were charged with breaking and entering in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony, illegal possession of burglarious tools and receiving stolen property over $200.
Officers Ponzo, Marshall, Norton, O'Toole and Kranefuss made the arrest, and each of the suspects had several outstanding warrants for their arrest as well.
Robert Stephens was also charged for giving Stoneham a false name of Frank Lentini at the time of arrest.
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!