SOMERVILLE — On Monday, March 16, 2026, at approximately 12:33 p.m., Officer Priscilla Ribeiro of the Somerville Police Department said a man ran up to Officer Kristopher Taylor’s cruiser outside of 300 Broadway to report that his friend’s tools were stolen from 72 Jaques Street and that he was following the individual who took them right now.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from a summary of the incident written by Officer Priscilla Ribeiro in the Somerville Police Department’s weekly arrest log and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“He pointed westbound on Broadway, to Mr. [name redacted] who was wearing a high-visibility, yellow shirt,” Officer Ribeiro said.
Officer Ribeiro said she caught up to the reporting party’s friend just before the Walgreens at 343 Broadway, who them pointed to another man, later identified as Michael Forster, and stated that he had his power tools.
According to police, Michael R. Forster, 46, is homeless in Somerville, MA.
“Mr. Forster remained with Officer Taylor in the parking lot of Walgreens, while I gathered more information from [the reporting party] and [his friend],” Officer Ribeiro said.
At around this time, Officer Jorge Morel arrived on scene to assist.
“[The reporting party’s friend] stated that he works construction, and he has been working on a house at 72 Jaques Street for some time,” Officer Ribeiro said.
According to Officer Ribeiro, the man said he left work for the day around 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, 2026, and returned to work around 7:00 a.m. that day.
“When he got to the house today, he discovered that most of his power tools were missing,” Officer Ribeiro said. “Shortly after, the neighbor from across the street, Mr. [name redacted] approached him and asked him if they had anyone working on the house yesterday, Sunday, March 15.”
The man then showed him videos that he recorded the night before of a white male wearing a jacket, black-and-white Nike sneakers and khaki pants, carrying a blue backpack as he exited the house.
“Mr. [name redacted] stated that the male in the video exited 72 Jaques Street around 5:40 p.m. with a full backpack,” Officer Ribeiro said. Later adding, “He added that the male went back to 72 Jaques Street, a second time, around 8:00 p.m. and left with another bag of items and took off on his bicycle.”
Officer Ribeiro said the man reported that a second individual, described only as a white male, remained outside watching while the male seen in the video entered the house both times.
“While I was gathering information from Mr. [name redacted], a white male, very well known to Somerville Police as Mr. [name redacted], was crossing Broadway, from 350 Mart, over towards us at Walgreens,” Officer Ribeiro said. “I walked up to him and asked what the problem was and he stated that the men I was talking to were eyeballing him and that he was coming over to check out what they needed and to check on Mr. Forster. He was asked to stay seated, on the ground, next to Mr. Forster, with Officer Morel while I continued collecting information.”
Officer Ribeiro added that when stopped, Forster had the same sneakers and pants on as the man in the video.
“Mr. Forster was annoyed because we were ‘wasting his time’ and stated that he would tell us where the tools were,” Officer Ribeiro said. “He stated that they were at the park where the homeless people live by School Street.”
Officer Ribeiro said that Officer Taylor then responded to Homans Park at 350 Medford Street and retrieved the tools, which were in a black trash bag.
“I tried to read Mr. Forster his rights twice but he kept cutting me off, stating that he knew all his rights and he could recite that card to me without looking,” Officer Ribeiro said. “Eventually, he stopped and let me finish. When I finished, he said that he knew his rights and he didn’t care because this was a waste of time since they were getting their tools back.”
The construction worker then looked through the bag of tools and told police only one item — a construction heater — was missing. He added that he saw Forster holding the construction heater before he was stopped by police.
Officer Ribeiro said the construction heater was found to the right of Walgreens where Forster left his bicycle. The construction worker reported that the total cost of the tools and batteries that were stolen amounted to approximately $1,300.00.
“While awaiting the transport wagon to pick up Mr. Forster, he yelled out to Mr. [name redacted] ‘I’ll be back to 72 Jaques don’t you worry. It’ll happen again,’” Officer Ribeiro said. “He continued to yell at them and call them names. He then looked at the officers and on scene and called us ‘b*tches’ and said that the judge was just going to let him out because even the judges think this is a waste of time.”
According to Officer Ribeiro, Forster added that judges let people out every time if the property has already been returned.
“He was aggravated that we were “wasting the judges time by arresting him,” Officer Ribeiro said. “I then advised him that I would be adding another charge of Massachusetts General Law 275, § 2: Threat to Commit a Crime.”
Michael Forster, 46, homeless in Somerville, was charged with the following:
- Breaking & Entering Daytime for Felony
- Breaking & Entering Nighttime for Felony
- Threat to Commit a Crime
“Mr. Forster continued yelling that he knows who the neighbor is that ‘ratted him out,’” Officer Ribeiro said. “He said it was his stepfather because that would be the only person that would identify him and that he lives on Jaques Street as well. He then stated that arresting him was ‘bullsh*t’ because he was just going in there to stay warm, taking the tools ‘just happened.
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