WESTFIELD – A Southwick man will be on probation for two years after ten charges stemming from a series of breaks into houses in Southwick were adjudicated recently in Westfield District Court.
Sgt. Robert Landis of the Southwick Police Department reports, in a document filed in Westfield District Court in support of an application for a warrant, that he and other members of his department had been investigating house breaks in their town and his investigation led to a suspect, Kirk A. Reynolds, 23, of 83 Berkshire Ave., Southwick, who was asked to come to the Southwick police department to discuss the investigation.
Landis reported that images of footprints at two of the crime scenes had been saved and, in preparation for his interview with Reynolds, Landis had covered the floor of a hallway leading to his office with white paper. Landis ensured that nobody else walked on the paper and provided a colleague, Sgt. Kevin Bishop, with images of the suspect’s footprints.
When Reynolds arrived for the interview he denied culpability.
However, while Landis was explaining that he knew of Reynolds’ history of struggles with substance abuse and suggesting that his addiction led him to the crimes, Bishop came in and gave Landis current images of his footprints that matched those found at the crime scenes.
Landis reports that, confronted by the evidence, Reynolds eventually admitted to breaking into three houses and made a formal statement about his actions.
In his statement, Reynolds identified what he had stolen and the Springfield pawn shop and jewelry store where he had sold the proceeds of his crimes.
He also said in his statement “I have a terrible addiction to opiates. I have had it for over a year. It has taken over my life. It is the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about when I go to bed.”
Landis traveled to Springfield and spoke with the owners of the two stores who made their ledgers of transactions available to him.
At the jewelry store, the owner surrendered several items of jewelry that Reynolds had sold to him.
Landis then went to the pawn shop that Reynolds had specified and the owner there gave him a television and control box which Reynolds had admitted stealing from a house on Brayton Drive.
The pawn shop owner also surrendered a camera and an electric bicycle that Reynolds had sold to him.
Landis said that when he returned to the station he found that Reynolds had delivered a “pit” motorcycle that he said he had stolen when he broke into the Brayton Drive house a second time.
Sixteen of the 25 jewelry items recovered, Landis said, were identified by two of the Southwick victims and Landis said that the camera, bicycle and some of the jewelry items were identified by Westfield police as property stolen in a break in at a Shaker Road address.
Westfield police report that a criminal complaint for receiving stolen property has been filed but the defendant has not yet been arraigned.
As a result of his investigation, Landis applied for a warrant charging Reynolds with two counts of breaking and entering a building in the daytime with intent to commit a felony, two counts of breaking and entering a building in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony, four counts of larceny of property valued more than $250 and two counts of wanton destruction of property.
In his application for a warrant, Landis added that Reynolds is under investigation by both Southwick and Westfield for “passing bad checks” which had been stolen.
He also said “Reynolds admittedly has an extensive opiate addiction. He remains a threat to those who he can financially exploit to support that addiction.”
The warrant was issued Dec. 20, 2011 and on Dec. 23 Reynolds surrendered himself.
He was arraigned that day, placed on pretrial probation and released on $5,000 personal surety.
On Feb. 3, Reynolds was found to have violated probation when he tested positive for Oxycontin and admitted taking a Percocet pill. He was then held without right to bail.
On March 2, Judge Philip Contant adjudicated his case.
Reynolds pleaded guilty to the two charges of wanton destruction of property stemming from the damage he inflicted when he broke into two of the houses. He was sentenced to the time he had served while awaiting disposition of his case.
Reynolds admitted to facts sufficient to warrant guilty findings for the remaining eight charges and the case was continued without a finding with probation for two years. An alternate sentence of a one-year term in the house of correction was imposed in the event that probation is violated.
Several conditions were also attached to the judge’s ruling.
Reynolds was enjoined from making any threats or violence toward the victims and was ordered to have no contact with them and to stay away from them. He was also ordered to remain drug and alcohol free, submit to random testing and to complete a rehabilitation program.
