HAVERHILL — Police said a tip from a Plaistow pawnshop helped them catch a man who offered to shovel snow outside women's homes and later broke in and stole their jewelry.
Investigators said they got a break in the case when information from the pawnshop led them to Charles Rogers, 50, who has an extensive criminal record, according to court documents. Rogers, of 11 Park St., Apt. 8, Haverhill, was found hiding behind a door in a bedroom crawl space when police went to his home with an arrest warrant on Wednesday at 4:23 p.m.
Police said Rogers subsequently admitted to breaking into the homes of women last weekend, as well as breaking into two Webster Street apartments on Dec. 29, the same day he got cash from the pawnshop for jewelry he stole. Police said he pawned some of the items from the Dec. 29 break at Rockingham Trading Post, 51 Plaistow Road, Plaistow. The shop provided police with identification of Rogers, including a copy of a Massachusetts liquor ID.
Yesterday in Haverhill District Court, Judge Michael Uhlarik ordered Rogers held on $25,000 cash bail, saying he posed a risk of fleeing the area. He must return to court Feb. 8 for a pretrial hearing. Rogers was also ordered to have no contact with his victims. He had not made bail as of late yesterday and remained behind bars.
Rogers' lawyer asked for $1,000 bail at the arraignment, saying his client has a large family in Haverhill and would not flee.
In response, the judge referred to Rogers' lengthy criminal record, including numerous convictions for breaking and entering and larceny.
He said Rogers was sentenced to five to 10 years in 1983, 12 years in 1989, three to five years in 1996, and 2 1/2-years in 2001.
"He's been indicted six times since 1977," the judge noted.
Police said one of Rogers' victims was a 79-year-old Mill Street woman who, during a recent snowstorm, paid him about $40 to shovel her driveway.
He returned a short while later, asking for $50 for rock salt he claimed he spread on the driveway, according to a police report.
The report said Rogers returned to the woman's home on the morning of Jan. 2 and kicked in the kitchen door, shattering the door frame.
The woman heard what was happening and shouted, and Rogers ran away, police said.
"He's a thief and now he's turning to 79-year-old victims," prosecutor Ashlee Logan told the judge in reference to one of the older victims of the breaks. "Frankly, it's barbaric."
Logan said Rogers has every reason to flee, and referred to his eight-page criminal record as "an unremitting history of thievery."
"Frankly, the number of commitments (of crime) on the defendant's record are stunning," she said.
Police said Rogers stole thousands of dollars in jewelry as well as cash from homes on Chestnut, Mill, Webster and Main streets between Dec. 29 and Jan. 4.
Police said that in several of the cases,
Rogers approached his victims during recent snowstorms with offers to shovel their driveways for a fee.
Police charged him with four counts of breaking and entering in the daytime, and one count of breaking and entering in the daytime and putting a person in fear.
He was also charged with two counts of receiving stolen property.
ÔÇæÔÇæÔÇæ
Join the discussion. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com.
Details in terror plot revealed
Red Sox players, fans react to the epic collapse
Buy Shonda Schilling's clothes for a good cause
Sox fans feeling let down again
