WESTFIELD – Police investigators identified a suspect whose image was caught on the security cameras at an Arch Road business by searching for his Facebook page which led to his arrest Tuesday morning.
The owner of EPI Center at 1 Arch Road, the former Decorated Metals plant, called police Monday morning at 10:16 a.m. to report that the building was entered and items were taken.
Detective Todd Edwards was assigned to investigate the incident which included breaking and entering in the night to commit a felony and larceny. Edwards’s task was simplified by the fact that the suspect was photographed by security cameras, including one full frontal image of the suspect looking directly up into the camera as he turned it aside.
The Detective Bureau posted that photo on its Facebook page and released it to local media seeking help from the public. That photo was removed Tuesday after the arrest 10:16 a.m. of Jeremy G. Higgins, 29, of 291 North Elm Street, exactly 24 hours after the crime was reported. A new posting from the Detective Bureau thanked the community for its help.
Edwards determined that the commercial building was entered when the suspect broke a window, and then reached into the building interior to release the window latch. Approximately $700 worth of tools and mailbox keys, which would have required several more hundred dollars to replace, was taken.
An external security camera photographed the suspect, his arms full of stolen items and wearing a bulging backpack, leaving the property around 3 a.m. Monday morning.
Edwards, with patrol officers, went to 291 North Elm Street and took Higgins into custody. The resident of that address allowed the detective to search a second floor bedroom where the backpack, seen on the security video, was located.
The owner of the business at the commercial building was requested to come to the search scene and identified the items found as those taken from his building. All of the stolen tools, with the exception of a power drill, as well as the mailbox keys, were recovered.
While the property was being processed a woman came to the police headquarters on Washington Street to report that her 2008 Subaru had been entered earlier in the day while she was working at the Ukrainian Credit Union at 103 North Elm Street and that an Android tablet was taken.
Investigating officers triggered a tracking signal which they followed to 291 North Elm Street. The resident of that location again allowed investigators to enter the home. The missing tablet was found in Higgins room.
Police Captain Michael McCabe reported yesterday that additional charges are pending and that the owner was notified that the Android tablet was recovered and would be returned to her after it was processed as evidence for the court.
