Published: 12/04/2007
Helping mom doesn't excuse car break-in charges By Bruno Matarazzo Jr. Staff writer
IPSWICH - A man police say was responsible for almost 30 car breaks within a two-month time span claimed he committed the crimes to support his disabled mother.
But the reasoning wasn't enough for a judge yesterday to reduce bail for Daniel Laterowicz, 20, of Ipswich, who faces more than two dozen charges of motor vehicle breaking and entering, receiving stolen property, and larceny.
Laterowicz remains held at Middleton Jail on $10,000 cash bail following his arraignment at Ipswich District Court in Newburyport. He was arrested Friday.
"He was trying to help his mother," police Lt. Daniel Moriarty said. "You do feel bad for the guy."
Police said out of the 37 reported motor vehicle break-ins since Oct. 4, police were able to connect 29 to Laterowicz from fingerprints collected at the scene and evidence found in his home.
Laterowicz's mother, Cheryl, declined to comment yesterday.
Moriarty said investigators were able to close in on Laterowicz after an off-duty Hamilton police sergeant spotted a suspicious car in Topsfield while heading home after work on Wednesday. He called in the license plate information to Topsfield police, who checked the license plate number, but nothing turned up.
A half-hour later, police received a report of a motor vehicle break-in in Ipswich when the car's owner went outside to retrieve something he forgot and noticed it had been broken into. The vehicle owner walked around and noticed a car nearby and was able to get a partial plate to police.
"Communications (dispatchers) were able to figure it out and put the two together," Moriarty said.
Patrolmen Ed Gallivan and Mark Ruggiero spotted the suspect vehicle while on patrol during the midnight shift. Sgt. Peter Nikas and Detective Peter Dziadose also investigated the case.
Moriarty said Laterowicz wasn't arrested that night and allowed to leave. Police obtained a search warrant to search his home at 17 Agawam Village, where they found drug paraphernalia and located some stolen property, credit cards, from previous break-ins.
Sgt. Mike Holleran and Trooper John Costa of the state police also responded to help Ipswich process all the fingerprint evidence that linked Laterowicz to 29 break-ins.
Police arrested Laterowicz the following day.
Moriarty credits the combined effort of the Ipswich, Hamilton, Topsfield and state police in helping to build a case against Laterowicz. The lieutenant suspects other neighboring towns may press charges against Laterowicz for similar offenses.
Ipswich and Hamilton have seen a high number of motor vehicle break-ins in past months as did other North Shore towns.
The arrest comes less than one week after various North Shore police departments met in Hamilton to compare information on their break-ins.
ma police, boston ma police, massachusetts police, massachusetts police, mass state police, mass police, ma, mass, massachusetts, massachusetts, massachutes, massachusetts law, massachusetts polece, police, officer, police officer, cops, police gear, law enforcement, police duty gear, state police, sheriff, law, police supply, police agency directory, police agency, police department, traffic officer, police dept, state trooper, dispatcher, massachusetts county sheriff, massachusetts sheriff, massachusetts department of corrections, ma doc, doc, dept of corrections, police information, civil service, ma civil service, massachusetts crime, police training, police academy, ma police academy, massachusetts officers, masscop, masscops, mpa, bpa, ibpoa, police association, massachusetts police news, massachusetts crime news, mass most wanted, police career information, police patrol, police administration, police books, crime scene training, police discussion, crime discussions, cops
About MassCops, the home for Massachusetts law enforcement.
The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network opened in 1998 and is now a part of the New England Police Network The site is a pro-police discussion forum intended for sworn police officers and civilian law enforcement officials as well as those interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement here in Massachusetts.
The goal of The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network is to provide an informal network of law enforcement officials here in Massachusetts for educational and informational purposes.
The forum covers many topics such as Police Related News Articles, Agency & Profession Discussions, Police Training as well as Law Enforcement Career Information.
The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network and The New England Police Network (NEPN) and it's network sites are privately owned websites/domains and are not affiliated with or endorsed by any government association or agency.
MassCops (masscops.com) and (masscop.com) are privately owned are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Massachusetts Coalition of Police (masscop.org)
ma police, boston ma police, massachusetts police, massachusetts police, mass state police, mass police, ma, mass, massachusetts, massachusetts, massachutes, massachusetts law, massachusetts polece, police, officer, police officer, cops, police gear, law enforcement, police duty gear, state police, sheriff, law, police supply, police agency directory, police agency, police department, traffic officer, police dept, state trooper, dispatcher, massachusetts county sheriff, massachusetts sheriff, massachusetts department of corrections, ma doc, doc, dept of corrections, police information, civil service, ma civil service, massachusetts crime, police training, police academy, ma police academy, massachusetts officers, masscop, masscops, mpa, bpa, ibpoa, police association, massachusetts police news, massachusetts crime news, mass most wanted, police career information, police patrol, police administration, police books, crime scene training, police discussion, crime discussions, cops