Alleged Thieves Arrested

Harvard police arrested a Roxbury man early this week after he and another man allegedly burglarized two area stores, police said.

John Willis, 35, of Roxbury, was arrested after he and an accomplice smashed the stores' front windows with bricks and made off with expensive electronic equipment, Harvard Lt. John F. Rooney said yesterday.

The pair led Harvard officers Dennis Maloney and Maureen Morrison on a high-speed chase in a stolen Oldsmobile through the Medical School area in Roxbury early Monday morning, Rooney said.

Willis and his accomplice, who fled the officers and was not apprehended, shattered a plate-glass win- dow at the Radio Shack store at 28 JFK St.around 1:30 a.m. and stole a VCR, according to thepolice report.

The pair then drove to Brookline where theyshattered another storefront window and took threemore VCRs and several stereo amplifiers, accordingto the report.

Willis was charged by Brookline police withbreaking and entering, receiving stolen propertyand receiving a stolen vehicle, Rooney said.Cambridge police may also file charges againstWillis, he said.

But according to Cambridge police, Willis hasnot yet been charged in connection with theincident at the Radio Shack on JFK St.

Willis' phone number in Roxbury is unpublishedand he could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Orlando Lima, the Radio Shack store manager,said the VCR was worth $300. He said two similarincidents had occurred within a one-week periodabout a year and a half ago, but nothing like thishas happened since.

Lima said the smashed window was repairedTuesday around 3 p.m. The hole had been coveredwith plywood before then, Lima said.

After hearing a radio transmission about thetwo "smash and grab" incidents around 4 a.m.Monday, Maloney and Morrison observed the twosuspects sitting in a the white Oldsmobile onParker St. in Roxbury, Rooney said. The officersthen activated their lights and sirens, and theOldsmobile pulled over.

But when the officers got out of their cruiser,the suspects drove off and the officers returnedto their car and chased the alleged burglars.

The suspects again pulled over after anextensive chase through Roxbury, then ran indifferent directions. Willis was placed underarrest, but the other suspect escaped, Rooneysaid.

In plain view inside the car police found fourVCRs, six amplifiers and two bricks, police said.

A license-plate check of the car identified itas stolen, according to the police report. TheOldsmobile's steering column had been damaged inthe theft, Rooney said

The pair then drove to Brookline where theyshattered another storefront window and took threemore VCRs and several stereo amplifiers, accordingto the report.

Willis was charged by Brookline police withbreaking and entering, receiving stolen propertyand receiving a stolen vehicle, Rooney said.Cambridge police may also file charges againstWillis, he said.

But according to Cambridge police, Willis hasnot yet been charged in connection with theincident at the Radio Shack on JFK St.

Willis' phone number in Roxbury is unpublishedand he could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Orlando Lima, the Radio Shack store manager,said the VCR was worth $300. He said two similarincidents had occurred within a one-week periodabout a year and a half ago, but nothing like thishas happened since.

Lima said the smashed window was repairedTuesday around 3 p.m. The hole had been coveredwith plywood before then, Lima said.

After hearing a radio transmission about thetwo "smash and grab" incidents around 4 a.m.Monday, Maloney and Morrison observed the twosuspects sitting in a the white Oldsmobile onParker St. in Roxbury, Rooney said. The officersthen activated their lights and sirens, and theOldsmobile pulled over.

But when the officers got out of their cruiser,the suspects drove off and the officers returnedto their car and chased the alleged burglars.

The suspects again pulled over after anextensive chase through Roxbury, then ran indifferent directions. Willis was placed underarrest, but the other suspect escaped, Rooneysaid.

In plain view inside the car police found fourVCRs, six amplifiers and two bricks, police said.

A license-plate check of the car identified itas stolen, according to the police report. TheOldsmobile's steering column had been damaged inthe theft, Rooney said