WESTFIELD – Although state police arrested a man who was in possession of a gun stolen during a spate of thefts in the city shortly before Christmas, city police report that the case remains under investigation.
During the weekend before Christmas, at least 16 vehicles were reported to have been broken into in South Side neighborhoods.
The incidents occurred in the neighborhoods north of the Silver Street on Day and Holland avenues as well as Pleasant, Yale, Noble, Pearl, Hancock and East Silver streets. Two breaks were reported on Lindbergh Boulevard and one on McKinley Terrace.
Property reported stolen included a handgun, tools, a wallet, a debit card, loose coin, a variety of electronics including a GPS device, strobe lights, a keyboard and earbuds, and Christmas presents.
Several of the residents who reported that their vehicles had been entered said that, although the contents of their vehicles had been disturbed, nothing was stolen.
Police report that almost all of the victims said that their vehicles had been unlocked when they were burgled but the owner of the pistol said that his vehicle had been locked at the time the locked metal case which contained his gun was stolen from the pickup truck parked on Noble Street. Police report there were no signs of forcible entry in that case.
State Police report that a trooper stopped a car on Belmont Street in Springfield on Friday, Jan. 2, and the operator, Jose Vasquez, 19, of 19 Hall St., Springfield, was found to be in possession of a gun, a Smith and Wesson pistol. State Police report that the pistol seized in that incident was the one which had been stolen on Noble Street.
Also recovered at the same time, State Police report, were electronics in the series of thefts which included the pistol stolen on Noble Street.
Vasquez was also found to be in possession of drugs, four bundles of heroin and a bag of cocaine.
Arraigned in Springfield District Court, Vasquez was held in lieu of $50,000 cash bail but city police report that his arrest does not close the books on their investigation.
Capt. Michael McCabe said yesterday that while the arrest of Vasquez and the recovery of the pistol are important developments in the case, they are not breakthroughs which wrap it up.
Det. Lt. David Ragazzini said that his detectives are making progress on the case but, as it is an ongoing investigation, declined to discuss specifics.
He did say that the investigation to date suggests that the break-ins were not limited to his jurisdiction.
“We believe they’re related to some other breaks which occurred around the same time over in West Springfield” he said.
One avenue of investigation which would appear to be likely to bear fruit is the record of where the stolen debit and credit cards were used.
One victim reported that both credit and debit cards had been in his wallet when it was stolen and another victim learned that his debit card had been stolen only when his credit union called him to inquire about a suspicious transaction.
Police can often gather clues and insights when thieves use stolen credit and debit cards because, not only does their use indicate when and where a thief has been, many business establishments routinely monitor transactions with security video recordings which can provide police with images of suspects.
