By Terence J. Downing, Enterprise staff writer
TAUNTON — One of the men believed to be involved in a recent wave of break-ins across the city was caught in the act of breaking into a downtown store, police said.
John S. Randall, 41, of 28 Weir St., was captured late Thursday night as he broke into Dermody Cleaners at 34 Cohannet St.
It marks the second time Dermody Cleaners has been broken into in almost four months.
Randall was arrested by Patrolman Peter MacDougall and charged with breaking and entering in the night to commit a felony.
Randall was arraigned Friday in District Court where Judge Francis L. Marini ordered him held at Bristol County House of Correction in lieu of $500 cash bail or $5,000 surety.
Police were called shortly after 10 p.m. when a passerby reported seeing someone break into the store. MacDougall, Detective Edward Pearson and Patrolman Mark Brady responded.
Pearson and MacDougall then entered the building and began a search. As the officers were searching the front of the building, they saw Randall crouching near the front windows, the police report said.
Randall was ordered to lie on the ground, at gunpoint, and then was taken into custody.
Dermody Cleaners was broken into on Sept. 19.
At the time, two men were charged with the theft of two cash boxes and a computer system, which were recovered about a 100 yards away along the Mill River near a foot bridge.
That break-in was discovered by owner Terry Dermody when he arrived for work early in the morning.
Randall is the 11th person police have charged in connection with the crime wave of break-ins, which hit the Weir Village and downtown area particularly hard.
Police Chief Raymond L. O'Berg said break-ins were being fueled largely by the need for people to get money or steal goods to feed their drug habits.
O'Berg said the task force assigned to stop the crime wave of break-ins has slashed the number of breaks from 90 to just 6.
The city was hit by a crime wave of 90 breaks from Oct. 1 through the early part of November, and it wasn't letting up, O'Berg said.
A church was among the victims and even the the district attorney's office was broken into.
He said a series of measures were undertaken, including setting up a task force. He said the mayor authorized extra spending to combat the crime.
The plans included undercover patrols in targeted areas at certain times.
O'Berg said the number of break-ins has dropped to just 6 from Nov. 18 to Tuesday.
The task force, which started Nov. 10, has conducted several raids, obtained search warrants, recovered thousands of dollars in stolen goods and charged 10 people. More will be charged as the investigation continues.
Jason Fleck, one of the top suspects, was sentenced this week to two years in prison, O'Berg said.
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