Man Charged In Burglary After Stopping At Restaurant

A man is facing burglary charges after police allegedly spotted him in a downtown restaurant with jewelry spread out across a table.

Wakefield Police report that around 6 p.m. Monday, Officer David Rando walked in to Brother’s Restaurant on Main Street in the downtown to talk to an off-duty officer having dinner in there. While there, the two reportedly observed a man wearing a black hood at a table with what was described as a large quantity of jewelry spread out.

The officers reportedly approached the man, who said that he had found the jewelry on Main Street while walking around the lake and that he had initially found it all in a black bag. However, the man allegedly claimed that he discarded the black bag and instead put all the jewelry into his pockets.

The police report also stated that when asked, the man said that he had planned on reporting the jewelry so it could be returned to its rightful owner, but also allegedly inquired about keeping it if nobody claimed it – which gave police the opportunity to get the man’s identification. The report said that the suspect’s statements were “inconsistent and difficult to follow.”

From there, officers reportedly kept the suspect under surveillance and were able to arrest him soon after a Quannapowitt Ave. resident reported a break-in at her home that allegedly included stolen jewelry matching the description of what the suspect what observed with. The suspect was also allegedly found to have a cut on his hand consistent with a broken window found at the home.

Police arrested William R. Adams, 31, 974 Main Street, Woburn, and charged him with receiving stolen property +$250, breaking and entering a building in the daytime for felony, larceny from a building, and felony vandalizing property.

“This was a great arrest that was the result of very good police work as well a good luck. The off-duty officer paying attention to Adams’ behavior and following up on it, Officer Rando’s ability to converse with Adams and get further information as well as the work of the detectives while keeping Adams under surveillance showed initiative, was great police work and great teamwork.  We were able to solve a resident’s house break within hours and recover the majority of items that were stolen,” wrote Lieutenant Scott Reboulet of the Wakefield Police in an email to this website.