SWAMPSCOTT — A 33-year-old homeless man was arrested after police said they caught him breaking into a car on Salem Street early Thursday morning.
Police believe the man, identified as Alexis Fuentes Vega, whose last known address is in Lynn, is the culprit behind more than 20 early morning car break-ins in town over the past two weeks.
Vega was charged with nighttime breaking and entering for a felony and receiving stolen property. He will be charged later with the additional past break-ins.
The breaks have mostly been near the Lynn/Swampscott line and have all included theft. Lynn and Salem Police have also been investigating a rash of early morning car breaks.
Swampscott Police said Sgt. Tim Cassidy and Detective Candace Doyle caught Vega in the act after driving down Salem Street near the Tedesco Golf Course. They noticed a car door open at 117 Salem St. with a bike laying next to the vehicle, Cassidy said.
Cassidy said they saw Vega rummaging through the car, and called for backup, which arrived seconds later. He was arrested at the scene.
Cassidy said the man is well-known to police and became a suspect after a cell phone with his information on it was found in a car that was broken into on Fairview Avenue recently.
Police had also obtained video surveillance footage of a man, believed to be Vega, on a mountain bike eating food and looking into a parked car in the Pine Street area.
In a town that doesn’t see any car breaks on an average week, the last two weeks have marked a substantial increase. Cassidy said police will see a similar rash every now and then.
Anyone with information or who has yet to report their car was broken into should notify Swampscott Police at 781-595-1111.
