Luck didn't last for suspect in string of city thefts

By OWEN BOSS
Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON — An Amherst man freed by police after being stopped for driving with a revoked license and expired registration must have thought he got off easy.

That was Nov. 16. On Thursday, police arrested him in connection with a string of break-ins in Northampton and the theft of that very car.

Patrick M. Lynn, 27, of 170 E. Hadley Road, Amherst, pleaded innocent Friday to charges of larceny over $250, two counts of larceny of a motor vehicle, subsequent offense, seven counts of breaking and entering a vehicle during the nighttime, a felony, and five counts of larceny under $250.

The story began Nov. 16 when, police reports indicate, a state police officer based in Westfield pulled Lynn over after noticing the expired registration. Police would later learn that car Lynn was driving had been stolen, but in the meantime, they released Lynn and impounded the vehicle.

Meanwhile, on Nov. 17, Northampton Police Detective Craig R. Kirouac was assigned to investigate reports of two stolen cars and a string of thefts that had occurred in the city the night before, during which more than a dozen unlocked cars were broken into and cars were reported stolen on Washington Avenue and Fruit Street, according to court documents.
Both stolen vehicles, Kirouac reported, had been left unlocked with the keys inside. Meanwhile, the owners of the other cars that were broken into reported missing change, phone chargers, GPS systems and electronics.

During the investigation, Kirouac learned that at 11 p.m. on the night the break-ins occurred, state police had stopped Lynn and that he had been given a summons to appear in court, though the car he was in was towed to Red’s Towing on Riverdale Street in West Springfield, according to Kirouac.

When the car was reported stolen, Northampton police did a records search and found it at Red’s. A search of the vehicle yielded GPS system paraphernalia, missing electronics and the keys to the other car reported stolen in Northampton.

Lynn has an extensive criminal record, including multiple charges of larceny of a motor vehicle, breaking and entering, drug offenses and other crimes, according to court documents. In May 2007, he was sentenced in Hampshire Superior Court to serve two to three years in jail for stealing a car, according to court documents.

Judge Richard J. Carey set Lynn’s bail at $2,500 cash or $25,000 surety Friday. He is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 4 for a pretrial hearing.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.