Man accused in string of Boston package thefts arrested after neighborhood watch caught him on camera
BOSTON - A man wanted in a series of package thefts in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood was arrested early Thursday morning.
Police said they found 41-year-old Michael Vega loitering in the vestibule of the Prudential Mall's garage. They said he matched the description of the man seen breaking into buildings and upon approaching him, learned, he had an active warrant out of Brookline for several charges, including larceny from a building and attempted larceny.
WBZ first broke this story on Wednesday when neighbors began pooling together surveillance videos of the numerous break-ins. In the video, police say Vega can be seen with a mysterious device used to open the locked building doors. When he was arrested, no device was found on him. Once inside, he rips open packages looking for items to steal. According to one police report, he got away with a coat valued at roughly $1,000.
"You can kind of see a white object in his hand when he comes through the door," said Jonathan Sweig, a resident with surveillance video of a break-in at his Marlborough Street residence.
The neighborhood watch in the area believes roughly six buildings may have been hit, however police only have reports at three locations. Residents began posting their numerous surveillance videos on social media, with the watch working to connect the dots with them. The watch utilizes an Instagram handle called "Back Bay Stolen Packages" to help pool some of the information. The block captain for the watch says they have assisted Boston Police in half-a-dozen cases so far.
The Block captain spoke with WBZ anonymously because residents have been threatened for assisting police. They believe the threats could be coming from potential suspects.
"Some have unfortunately raised the level of threats, and are showing up in the area and making threatening statements to homeowners or on camera," said the captain. "When we were chatting on NextDoor, Facebook, and Instagram we saw an influx of home burglaries penetrating not just the first door, but the inner most door."
The neighborhood watch suggests residents and homeowners get a metal bracket to barricade the doors, so this potential device has a harder time unlocking the door.
"We don't really want to have to do what we are doing, but we are holding the ground here," said the captain. "We thought let's share our information with each other then be communicative back into law enforcement with the neighborhood watch program. Even just sharing a still shot [from a surveillance camera] helps us be on guard, and on the lookout for places where suspects are finding entry points. I have noticed post COVID era, there is a definite resurgence of connection with the community, neighbor to neighbor, even block to block."