Wellesley Police Aid in Arrest of Multiple Town Burglary Suspect

Wellesley Police Department and other area law enforcement arrested a man responsible for burglaries in five different towns.

Benjamin Clay, 44, of Fall River, was arrested by Fall River Police Department Wednesday.

Thursday, Oct. 17, Wellesley police officers Jenny Rowe and Travis Dixon investigated a break in to a Pond Road residence. A Wellesley resident reported that several electronic items, credit cards and jewelry were missing from the home. The resident reported that they had been out of the house for only a few hours during the afternoon on Thursday. The resident also reported that they had left several doors to the house unlocked.

BCI detectives Robert Gallagher and Christopher Connelly also responded and processed the crime scene for evidence. The two detectives then began tracing fraudulent credit card transactions made in the Fall River area with the stolen cards. These fraudulent purchases were made immediately following the break in. 

During the course of their investigation, detectives identified a possible suspect in the break in, and obtained photographs of the suspect actually making the purchases. They further learned that their suspect was also being investigated by the Westwood and Foxborough Police Departments for similar burglaries in those respective communities. Wellesley Police detectives often work with detectives in other towns to solve crimes of this nature.

According to 7News, police in Westwood received numerous tips after a surveillance video of one of the break-ins was shown on the channel.

Wellesley Police detectives then travelled to Fall River and began surveillance in the area where the suspect potentially lived. This surveillance included some of the stores that the suspect was known to frequent. During the course of their surveillance, they were able to locate and positively identify the suspect as well as his residence. The suspect was the same person who had been photographed making fraudulent credit card purchases with the stolen credit cards from Wellesley.

Wellesley, Westwood, and Foxborough detectives, working together under the NORPAC Task Force, applied for and received search warrants from Dedham District Court for the suspect’s apartment in Fall River. The NORPAC task force then executed these search warrants in Fall River. 

During their search of the apartment, detectives recovered jewelry that had been stolen from the Pond Road home in Wellesley. One particular ring that had been stolen from the home was actually being worn by the suspect during the search of his apartment.

The suspect was placed under arrest in Fall River. During the booking process in Fall River, other stolen items were located on the suspect’s person that had been taken in Wellesley.

Currently, the suspect is facing charges stemming from the Wellesley break in, as well as break-ins in Foxborough, Westwood, Newbury and Georgetown.

Clay is currently being held on bail at the Norfolk County House of Correction.