Somerville police have nabbed a man suspected of stealing more than $100,000 worth of merchandise from the Sunglass Hut at Assembly Row.
Officer David Ruf, on patrol in the Assembly Square retail center near its Sunglass Hut on Sunday, was primed to bust Roberto Alves, 50, of Boston: He knew from bulletins that Alves was suspected of stealing $12,434.44 worth of merchandise from Sunglass Hut just the week before, and that he was wanted on nine active warrants in Somerville, Boston and Wrentham – most for felony larceny charges.
Sunglass Hut managers said they had been “hit” for approximately $100,000 worth of merchandise by Alves over the past several months.
At 2:19 p.m., Ruf recognized Alves, according to the Somerville Police Department’s weekly arrest log.
Alves managed to evade Ruf, police said, and approximately one minute later made an interesting choice: He ducked into the Sunglass Hut, where an employee filmed him stuffing several pairs of sunglasses in his backpack from unsecured displays at the front of the store.
When Alves tried to leave the store, police said, Ruf was in the doorway. They collided.
In the ensuing scuffle, Alves ended up on the ground and in restraints, where he threatened retaliation, saying he would “send his NOB boys” after the employee who recorded him, police said. That seemed to be a reference to the Norton/Olney/Barry Streets gang based in Dorchester. A 2023 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts describes the gang as “a violent criminal enterprise whose members and associates are involved in numerous types of criminal activities, including murders, attempted murders, armed robberies, drug trafficking, sex trafficking and illegal firearms offenses.” It is unknown if Alves is affiliated with or a member of the gang.
There were 29 pairs of designer sunglasses in Alves’ backpack, a value of $12,423, police said. He was arrested on charges of felony larceny, because what was taken was valued at more than $1,200; intimidation of a witness; and resisting arrest.
At his arraignment Monday in Somerville District Court, Alves pleaded not guilty on all charges. At the request of Wrentham District Court, bail was revoked for 90 days – meaning Alves is stuck in jail for that time – while the judge in Somerville had been headed toward an offer of $1,000 cash bail in connection to the arrest Sunday and release on personal recognizance with the stipulation that he stay away from Sunglass Hut.
Can Alves stay away from Sunglass Hut, though?
He was arrested May 24 in downtown Boston in connection with approximately 10 shoplifting incidents at the Boston Public Market’s Sunglass Hut, police said, and when stopped had around $2,009 worth of sunglasses hidden on him with security tags still attached. Alves pleaded guilty to shoplifting in Boston Municipal Court on July 11 and was put on probation with orders to stay away from the Faneuil Hall Sunglass Hut.
Two weeks before his arraignment in Somerville District Court, his probation officer requested a new warrant for “violation of the terms and conditions of probation.”
A stronger
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