PEABODY — A man with a history of arrests for robbery and theft is back in custody after being identified in a series of car break-ins in Peabody this week thanks to doorbell cameras — and then, even as police were looking for him, holding up a Salem gas station and carjacking a woman at a second gas station Thursday night.
Ryan Hussien, 29, who was homeless after being removed from a Fay Avenue home he shared with his girlfriend and their two young children on Tuesday, was ordered held on a total of $20,000 bail by Peabody District Court Judge Susan McNeil on Friday. Pleas of not guilty to two counts of breaking and entering to a vehicle and a charge of larceny of more than $1,200 were entered.
His lawyer, John Lalikos, told the judge that Hussien is not expected to come up with that amount of bail.
Prosecutor Gabrielle Foote Clark said Hussien "has essentially been on a crime spree the past few days."
That spree, Salem police said, culminated in a knifepoint robbery at a gas station on Boston Street shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday.
Police say it was Hussien who walked into Spiros with a knife and asked for all the money in the cash drawer, which the clerk provided.
The robber ran away toward another gas station, a Shell station located at 146 Boston St., where he attempted to carjack a vehicle. The victims in that incident fought him off and he ran on foot toward Peabody.
Salem police and the district attorney have filed charges of armed robbery, carjacking and assault, and say the investigation is ongoing.
On Tuesday, his girlfriend called police to have him removed from their home due to his drug use, including smoking cocaine, Foote Clark said.
Later that night, police were called about a break-in to a vehicle on Central Street, during which $1,100 in cash and multiple tools were taken.
A neighbor's Ring doorbell camera caught the theft on video and police quickly recognized Hussien from many prior encounters.
Officers subsequently received multiple reports of vehicle break-ins in the downtown area over the next couple of days.
Another one of those, on Crowninshield Street, was caught on a resident's security camera on Thursday, said the prosecutor.
The prosecutor said a team of 10 police officers and a police dog canvassed locations where Hussien was known to frequent, eventually tracking him down in an apartment on Crowininshield Street, where he was arrested on warrants for the car break-ins.
While arresting him, officers also found wet shoes and sneakers and a hooded sweatshirt either seen on surveillance videos or matching the description of what the suspect was wearing.
Hussien's eight-page criminal record includes crimes of violence and larceny.
In 2017, Hussien used a screwdriver to rob a McDonald's in Danvers, then fled from police and crashed. While he was initially charged with armed robbery, prosecutors agreed to reduce the charges so that his case would remain in the district court and he could serve a shorter term and then receive drug treatment. Two days before the robbery his family had tried to get him into a treatment program.
Drugs have been the driving force behind his crimes, his family and attorney said at the time.
In 2015 Hussien avoided jail time for a violent struggle with a Salem police officer who was punched repeatedly after stopping Hussien in connection with a shoplifting investigation. He was also convicted of assault and battery charges for his role in what started out as a home invasion in Salem in 2013.
Salem police say anyone with information about the crimes in their city can contact them at 978-745-9700 or the anonymous tip line at 978-619-5627.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis.
