ERIC F. CHRETIEN
WESTFIELD – An apparent car thief was arrested after he came to the attention of city police by allegedly accosting a woman jogging on Western Avenue early Monday morning.
Officer Melissa Burns reported at 6:35 a.m. that she had been flagged down by a jogger who pointed out a brown Mazda sedan and said that the operator had just tried to entice her into the car. Burns reports that she saw the car pull off Western Avenue and park in someone’s driveway before the operator got out and walked away.
Officer Elijah Wolfe was dispatched to assist Burns, who was with the car parked in a Kipling Avenue driveway, and made contact with the operator who was subsequently identified as Eric Francis Chretien, 49, of no fixed address.
The Mazda was found to be registered to a Pittsfield resident and a dispatcher asked police in that city to attempt to make contact with the owner. Pittsfield police reported, less than ten minutes later, that the car had been stolen. Chretien was found to have a former address less than a mile away from the vehicle’s registered address. His license was found to have been suspended.
The car was towed to the police impound yard.
Wolfe transported Chretien to the station where he was arrested. He was charged with receiving stolen property valued more than $1,200, using a motor vehicle without authority (a second offense) and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license (a subsequent offense).
Chretien was arraigned Monday in Westfield District Court and released on his personal recognizance pending a June 12 hearing.
