Civic-minded Revere man helps out police

REVERE – Anthony Sabella boasts he lives “in the best part of Revere” and the Dawes Street resident acted quickly when he saw two men run away from nearby Stark Avenue last week as a house alarm sounded.Sabella was driving to his aunt’s home on the way to church shortly before 1 p.m. when he spotted the pair and wondered why the men, who he described as heavy set, were running up Davis and onto to Stark Avenue.He followed the pair down Stark to Malden Street and over to Revere Street, dialing police as he crossed Broadway and onto Lee Street, where he lost sight of them. He asked a Comcast worker parked on Lee if he had seen the men and the worker pointed to a nearby fence.”When the police cruiser pulled up, I pointed to the fence but they were gone again,” he said.Officers began scouring the area near the fence and spotted the men behind a shed.With guns drawn, officers Michael Dellorusso and Patrick Hartigan questioned the pair.”They gave conflicting stories of why they were hiding behind the shed and where they were coming from,” Hartigan wrote in his report.Police arrested Anthony Paragona, 26, of 41 Ambrose St. on three outstanding arrest warrants and charged him with breaking and entering daytime and possession of burglary tools after find a chisel, wrench and screwdriver in Paragona’s possession.His companion, Rocco Troiano, 26, of East Boston, was not arrested, according to the police report.Sabella’s role in apprehending the pair earned him praise from the police officers and congratulations from City Councilors at Large Daniel Rizzo and John R. Correggio. The councilors plan to recognize Sabella before the Council at its March 28 meeting with a city certificate of commendation.”He went above and beyond the call of duty. You don’t see many people who do that,” Correggio said.The 58-year-old unemployed construction worker is no stranger to good citizenship. In 1977, he rescued two people from a burning East Boston building, earning him a Revere City Council certificate of merit.Sabella said his nerves were frayed after the pursuit, especially when he saw Hartigan and Dellorusso pull out their service weapons. He said a recent increase in house and car breaks in his neighborhood motivated him to pursue Paragona and Troiano.”Our neighborhood has been hit hard. I was telling myself, ‘These guys are robbing my area and we’re paying for it,'” he said.He hopes to be recalled to work soon by a Wakefield firm.