Man Arrested After Homeowner Confronts Him

City Marshal Mark Murray reported today that the Newburyport MA Police Department arrested a man for breaking and entering into a vehicle parked in the owner’s driveway last night, according to a press statement.

Anthony J. Leclair, 27, of Seabrook, was charged with breaking and entering into a motor vehicle with intent to commit a misdemeanor.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Newburyport Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link to find out how to get a name removed from a New Hampshire Patch police report.

On Sept. 17, at approximately 11:30 p.m., police responded to a residence on Lois Street for a reported vehicle in progress that was interrupted by the homeowner.

Upon arrival, the homeowner stated that he had confronted a man wearing a light blue shirt, jeans, and sneakers sitting in the front seat of his wife’s vehicle, which was parked in the driveway. The homeowner observed that Leclair was allegedly holding a small blue purse and other items in his hands, which he reportedly handed to the homeowner and then fled on Lois Street toward Simmons Drive.

Leclair was observed by an officer on Avon Street, where a Salisbury police officer and a K-9 unit initiated a track. Soon after the track was initiated, Leclair was reportedly observed by a Newburyport Police dispatcher on surveillance cameras, as he walked behind the Bresnahan Elementary School. The dispatched relayed the location, and officers quickly found Leclair, who was then placed under arrest.

Police recovered approximately $11 in loose change and a black Utilitech flashlight belonging to the victim from Leclair, who allegedly admitted to police to breaking into two other vehicles and being high on Klonopin and Heroin.

“We are pleased to see this case solved so quickly and hope that justice will be served,” Murray said. “I am proud of the work by our officers and the assistance from the Salisbury Police K-9 Unit on this case.”

Leclair has been ordered held without bail at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Middleton pending arraignment Friday at Newburyport District Court.