FALL RIVER — Police arrested the person allegedly responsible for two overnight break-ins at local laundromats earlier this month: a 40-year-old city man who authorities allege was also driving an SUV recently stolen from a North Quarry Street used car lot.
Keyante Mills, of 246 Quequechan St. Apt. 2, was arraigned in District Court Monday on charges that include felony nighttime breaking and entering and possessing a stolen vehicle.
The Fall River Police Major Crimes Division launched an investigation after an employee of East Coast Laundry, 529 Quarry St., arrived at work 6 a.m. Feb. 11 and found the rear door to the business had been tampered with, according to Detective John Robinson.
Robinson said the laundromat’s Video Teller Machine, which patrons use to put money on laundry cards, had also been damaged but not breached.
“He broke in the back door and attempted to break into the VTM,” Robinson alleged of the suspect.
Investigators attempting to identify the suspect gathered possible latent fingerprints for analysis. Robinson said police combed through surveillance footage and found a bowlegged man wearing a dark puffy coat, dark clothing and a hat inside the business for approximately eight minutes before the laundromat opened.
Several days later, just before 7:30 a.m. Feb. 17, police received a report of a 2010 GMC Acadia with no plates parked near the intersection of London and Johnson streets, Robinson said.
Police learned where the car had come from about an hour later, when an employee of Allan Auto Sales, 59 North Quarry St., reported a 2010 GMC Acadia stolen.
The spokesman said the keys to the vehicle were stolen from a garage along with a dealer plate. On Monday, Robinson said Mills had not been charged with stealing the vehicle.
“The investigation is ongoing,” Robinson said.
Officer Kevin Bshara obtained surveillance footage from the intersection where the Acadia was located, and Robinson said the footage showed a man matching Mills’ description drive to the area, exit the driver’s seat, walk behind the vehicle, then get back inside.
Robinson said the driver drove away but returned to the area of London and Johnson streets sometime before the vehicle was discovered there at approximately 7:30 a.m.
Three days later, an employee of Laundry Palace, 1706 President Ave., called police after she arrived at work early and discovered the front door had been forced open and an interior glass door to the business shattered, Robinson said.
Officer Gary Pasternak responded to the business Thursday morning and learned that several-hundred dollars had been taken from its lottery register. Robinson said the surveillance footage showed a black male with bow legs in a grey sweatshirt, winter hat, dark pants and distinctively patterned boots entering the business.
Major Crimes Division Detective Luis Vertentes identified Mills as the suspect in all three incidents.
Mills was the target of a 2016 search warrant on Pine Street that led to his arrest on suspicion of heroin possession to distribute.
Detectives Jon Rose and Neil Rodrigues arrested Mills on Harrison Street about 1 p.m. Friday, according to the spokesman. Mills was wearing items of clothing similar to those worn by the suspect in all three incidents, police said.
On Monday, Mills was arraigned in Fall River District Court on two counts of felony nighttime breaking and entering, larceny from a building – attempting to break into a depository and receiving a stolen motor vehicle. His bail was set at $1,000 cash, according to the clerk’s office.