Melrose thief sentenced to jail, restitution for Lynnfield crimes

SALEM – A Melrose man who admitted burglarizing four homes in Lynnfield during a two-day crime spree earlier this year to feed his addiction may spend up to eight years in state prison and has to pay $1,000 in restitution.Brendan C. O’Connor, 24, of 62 Country Club Road, made the plea before Judge Timothy Q. Feeley Tuesday afternoon in Salem Superior Court, avoiding a jury trial.He pleaded guilty to four counts of breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, two counts of larceny of property over $250, as well as a single count of operating a motor vehicle negligently.The judge sentenced O’Connor to serve not less than five and a half years and not more than eight years in state prison.Upon his release from prison, O’Connor will be on probation for another three years, at which time he will be evaluated for substance abuse with treatment and counseling as deemed necessary, he will be submitted to random screenings, is not to take any non-prescribed substances and will be evaluated for mental health treatment and counseling as deemed necessary by probation.On Jan. 4, O’Connor broke into a home at 10 Lowell St. and stole a Rolex watch, a pocket watch, a Dell laptop computer, two iPods, cash and video camera. Police believe entrance was gained through a rear door.The following day, O’Connor stole $600 in cash and gift cards from a home at 18 Cortland Lane.That same day he then entered a home at 3 Cider Mill Road through a window, but when the alarm went off, he dashed away from the scene in his Audi.Moments later he went to the first home he saw on Huckleberry Road to find cash, but instead left empty-handed.A neighbor spotted the blue Audi driving suspiciously around the neighborhood and called police.Authorities pulled over O’Connor, but when he was asked to produce a driver’s license, he took off at a high rate of speed toward Summer Street.Police chased him through Lynnfield and Wakefield and finally stopped him in Reading after he drove down a dead-end street.O’Connor bolted from the Audi on foot, but police pursing him apprehended him as he tried to climb over a chain link fence, according to reports.O’Connor told police he had a drug problem and also confessed to the four break-ins.At the time of the incident, O’Connor was on probation for similar crimes out of Middlesex County.The sentence imposed by Feeley will run coincide with his Middlesex County jail term.The sentence imposed was less than what Assistant District Attorney James P. Gubitose sought.Lynnfield Police officers Sgt. Sean Donovan and Patrolmen Nicholas Secatore are credited with his arrest.The judge credited O’Connor the 104 days he has spent in jail in lieu of bail awaiting trial on the case.