Contractor allegedly attempts to rob neighbors

REVERE – More than a dozen Revere and State police officers stormed a home on Dolphin Avenue Wednesday when an allegedly strung-out contractor took a break from his work to try and rob the neighbors.
Police arrested Barry Southworth, 36, of 1 Water St., Haverhill, shortly after 1 p.m. after he allegedly left the job he was working with his nephew at 38 Dolphin Ave., and attempted to break in to 42 Dolphin Ave., located next door.
Southworth is charged with attempt to commit a crime, malicious destruction of property over $250, assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, and possession of burglarious tools.
One officer was reportedly hurt during the arrest when he fell on some stairs, cutting his face.
For furnace repairman Thom Smith, who was working on the same house separately from the alleged thief, a rare trip to Revere took a strange turn in a hurry when he learned that it was the same man he lent a screwdriver to minutes before that had used the tool in the attempted robbery.
“I was working in the basement on the furnace and some guy came down to ask when the heat would be back on, so I told him when I would have it ready and he left. A little while later he came down and asked to borrow a screwdriver, he told me he was working upstairs,” said Smith, an employee of Atlas Glen Mor Furnace Repair out of Chelsea. “Next thing I know I see all these cops running in, one of them came down and told me to stand outside and watch and see if anyone came out the window. Evidently, he used my screwdriver to break in to the place.”
Smith, a South Shore resident who typically works close to home, said he was only working in Revere Wednesday because he needed to bring his van to the company headquarters to get some work done, so he was assigned to a few jobs in the area. He said he assumed Southworth was a resident of the house and never thought twice about lending him the screwdriver.
“Somebody comes down and asks me when I am going to have the heat back on, I just figure ?Man, this guy is freezing in his house,'” Smith said. “After the cops showed up I had to call work and asked if I was being ?Punk’d’ (referring to a popular MTV show involving videotaped pranks). I couldn’t believe how many cops were here.”
One resident of the multi-story apartment building said he came down stairs when the police arrived, but was not aware that anyone was working on the house.
“There were probably 12 or 14 officers, I have never seen so many cops in my life,” said the resident, who asked to remain anonymous. “The State Police were here first, then Revere showed up and just stormed in looking for the guy. I guess the guy was just working with his nephew on the house and he took off and decided to rob the house next door. This is a quiet neighborhood, nothing like this happens around here.”
Southworth’s nephew, who was questioned by police but not arrested, would not confirm that he was related to the alleged robber, and refused comment other than to blame police for losing his identification during the altercation.
Both Smith and the resident said they heard Southworth’s nephew tell police that he was strung out on morphine and may have been looking for money or drugs from the neighbor’s home.
Police responded to the Dolphin Avenue incident shortly after responding to a robbery at 10 Winthrop Ave., where victims were allegedly duct taped and robbed inside a labor-for-hire business. Police do not believe the incidents are related.
For Smith, his latest trip to Revere will not be one that he soon forgets, because of the robbery and because he then had to attempt to fix a furnace without a screwdriver.
“Yeah, they took my screwdriver, I guess it is evidence now,” he said. “Well, I guess I’ll have to get back to work anyway.”