A teenage male from Cambridge was taken into custody this morning by the Cambridge Police Department following a multi-day regional investigation involving a BMW that was stolen out of Brookline while a dog was inside of the vehicle. On Saturday afternoon a woman went into TJ Maxx on Harvard Street in Brookline, parking her car in the lot and leaving her dog in the vehicle. The vehicle was unlocked and is push-to-start, and the owner left the key in the console. When she came out of the store at approximately 4:15 PM she realized that her car had been stolen with her dog still in it. Around 4:30 p.m., local Emergency Communications Centers issued a “Be on the Lookout” for a 2017 BMW stolen out of Brookline. Approximately 15 minutes later, Cambridge Emergency Communications received a call that a vehicle matching the description of the stolen BMW was seen in Cambridge in the area of Amherst and Wadsworth Street, and that the operator got out of the car, pushed a dog outside of the vehicle, returned and backed up in the car nearly injuring three students, and drove off towards Memorial Drive. The dog was safely recovered by students and responding officers with the MIT and Cambridge Police. Cambridge Police officers were then able to locate the stolen BMW, which was parked and unoccupied, on Winter Street just after 5:30 p.m. The owner was reunited with the dog and vehicle later that night.
A description given for the suspect matched the description of a Cambridge teenager, who was arrested last week for a carjacking out of Medford in February 2023. He was located this morning in Cambridge by detectives with the Cambridge Police.
As a result of diligent work by Brookline, Cambridge, and MIT Police, and local dispatchers, the teenage male was taken into custody for warrants from the following Juvenile Courts:
Norfolk Juvenile Court:
- Larceny of a Motor Vehicle and Larceny over $1,200
Middlesex Juvenile Court:
- Receiving a Stolen Motor Vehicle
- Receiving Stolen Property -$1,200
- Number Plate Violation
Additional charges from Cambridge Police are expected to follow.
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