SOMERVILLE — On Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at approximately 2:06 p.m., Officer Dylan Lambert of the Somerville Police Department was dispatched to the TJ Max located at 105 Middlesex Avenue following a report that a “suspicious” person was “attempting to break into vehicles.”
“The suspect was pulling on several door handles and was described as a white male with a black hat and blue backpack,” Officer Lambert said in a brief summary of the incident published to the Somerville police’s weekly arrest log.
Sergeant Samir Messaoudi and Officer Brian Pavao were also dispatched to the scene.
“Officer Pavao and Sergeant Messaoudi arrived on scene shortly before me,” Officer Lambert said. “Officer Pavao interviewed the witness, [name redacted]. Sergeant Messaoudi attempted to locate the suspect and requested a description of suspect over the radio. Officer Pavao provided the description and Sergeant Messaoudi stopped the suspect, Mr. Sean Driscoll, in front of TJ Max.”
According to police Sean Christopher Driscoll, 36, is a resident of 110 Perkins Street in Somerville.
“Sergeant Messaoudi told me that prior to my arrival, he attempted to make contact with Mr. Driscoll, who was walking at a fast pace toward TJ Max,” Officer Lambert said. “Sergeant Messaoudi gave Mr. Driscoll commands to stop and place his hands on the cruiser. Mr. Driscoll was slow to respond to Sergeant Messaoudi and started to look around. Sergeant Messaoudi noticed loose change and sunglasses sticking out of Mr. Driscoll’s pocket. Loose change is typically taken during a motor vehicle B&E.”
Sergeant Messaoudi pat frisked Driscoll for weapons and contraband. During the search, Sergeant Messaoudi inquired whether Driscoll was carrying any weapons. Driscoll responded that he had a knife in his backpack.
Sergeant Messaoudi handcuffed Driscoll.
“While being detained, Mr. Driscoll claimed that he was trying to play a prank on his friend, by entering the friend’s vehicle,” Officer Lambert said. “Mr. Driscoll said the friend drives a Honda Civic.”
Driscoll claimed that he was with his friend who resides on Perkins Street in Somerville. [The name Driscoll provided for his friend was redacted from the report].
According to Officer Lambert, Driscoll’s account contradicted the witness.’ The witness told police that he saw Driscoll pull on multiple vehicle’s doors until he entered a Subaru Outback. (Police looked up the owner of the Subaru through the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services’ (CJIS) website and were unable to locate her).
The witness told police that when Driscoll entered the Subaru, he appeared to be looking for items in the car, he then exited the vehicle when he noticed police cruisers in the parking lot.
Before Driscoll was taken to the Somerville Police Department, Sergeant Messaoudi conducted a search of his backpack. Inside the backpack were the following items:
- A two-sided knife with two blades
- Eleven debit cards and a MassHealth card belonging to a woman whose name was redacted from the report
- A Tory Burch wallet belonging to a woman that contained a MA driver’s license, AAA card, MassHealth card, and debit card
- A black Guess wallet with a MA driver’s license belonging to a woman. The wallet also contained a debit card and BJ’s membership card.
- A brown wallet containing a MA driver’s license that belongs to a man. The wallet also contained four debit cards, a BJ’s member card, a MA EBT card, and an SSI card.
- Three debit cards belonging to three different men
- Three debit cards belonging to one woman
- A black Nokia smartphone
- A black Samsung smartphone
- A black smartphone (the brand was not mentioned in the report)
- A medicine bottle containing Buprenorphine strips prescribed to a woman
- A $468.39 check belonging to a man
- A work ID belonging to a man
- Various change totaling approximately $17.87
- A Louis Vuitton Bag
In Driscoll’s backpack, police also located a Columbia jacket that Driscoll claimed was his.
“The jacket still had a price tag on it and when Sergeant Messaoudi asked Mr. Driscoll what size it was, he stated it was a small. The size of the jacket was a large,” Officer Lambert said. “The jacket was returned to Columbia by Officer Pavao, who was provided a receipt, which stated the jacket was worth $129.”
Driscoll was transported to the Somerville Police Department where he was booked on the following charges: Breaking & Entering of A Motor Vehicle, Receiving Stolen Property Over $1200, and Possession of a Dangerous Weapon (Per Se).
Officer Lambert said that following the arrest, Sergeant Messaoudi contacted one of the women whose items were stolen. The woman said that her vehicle was broken into on Feb. 12, 2024, at the Home Depot located at 75 Mystic Avenue in Somerville. However, when officers looked up the woman’s name in the Somerville Police Department’s MNI Database, the database indicated that a death investigation of a woman with the same name took place on Feb. 16, 2024.
At around 5:10 p.m., a different woman contacted the Somerville Police Department.
“I spoke to Ms. [name redacted] and informed her of the incident that occurred,” Officer Lambert said.
The woman said she didn’t notice any missing items in her vehicle, but at 5:40 p.m., her mother called in to report that her vehicle had appeared to be rummaged through. The woman’s mother said that her Louis Vuitton bag, worth about $300, had been stolen from her vehicle which was parked close to her daughter’s in the TJ Maxx parking lot.
“The bag was the same one recovered from Mr. Driscoll,” Officer Lambert said.
All of the stolen items were logged in as evidence at the Somerville Police Department, Officer Lambert said.
