Man Breaks Into Car Right In Front Of Officer: Brookline Police

BROOKLINE, MA— A police officer working an overnight shift near the Comm Ave Bridge construction earlier this month helped bust a man he saw break into a car right across from where the officer was working his detail shift, according to a police report released Tuesday. The officer had seen the driver of that car park it there earlier. And the guy rummaging in the car was not the same man, he said.

Police arrested a 20-year-old from LA at 4:25 a.m. on Friday Aug. 3, the day after his birthday, and charged him with breaking and entering in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony.

UPDATE: The charges were dismissed in court.

According to the police report, Officer Oscar Santos was working a paid construction detail at the corner of Amory and Dummer streets when around 3:44 a.m. the officer saw a man appear to break into a blue Ford Focus parked on Amory. It just so happened the officer had previously seen an older man who was contracted to work on the Comm Ave Bridge project park the car there earlier. The officer saw a man rummaging through the car, according to the police report.

The officer then saw the young man get out of the car with a white cable in hand and start walking toward Dummer Street and then Saint Paul Street.

The officer got in his personal car and drove down Dummer Street where he found the man sitting down. Santos got out of his car, told the man he was a police officer and then radioed for help with the stop, asking him to sit on the sidewalk.

Two other Brookline Police cars showed up, and then five other officers who were nearby on details came to help with the arrest, according to the police report.

Related: Police detail work is a second job for many Brookline officers

Photo by Jenna Fisher/ Patch Staff. Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).