By Patrick Anderson
Staff Writer
December 26, 2008 05:50 am Traces of DNA left on a discarded cigarette filter have led to a police search for a Winthrop man accused of stealing tires and rims from cars throughout the North Shore, including two separate thefts from a Gloucester dealership this year. The suspect, 46-year-old Randy Berry of 59 Crest Ave., Apt. 5, Winthrop, had already confessed in interviews to stealing auto parts from multiple areas in the region, and was cooperating with investigators when he disappeared this month, according to Gloucester police. Reacting to the news that Berry was still at large, Gloucester police took out a warrant for his arrest Tuesday and charged him with larceny, felony breaking and entering and malicious destruction of property. Gloucester's investigation into Berry's alleged thefts started in July, when a manager at Don Sudbay Automotive Center reported that four tire and rims had been removed from a GMC Yukon sport utility vehicle during the night. Four chrome handles had been stolen from another Yukon and a third had been broken into, but nothing taken. An estimate of the value of items stolen placed losses to Sudbay at around $7,000. No usable fingerprints could be taken from the handles, but whoever had stolen the tires had apparently smoked while removing them from the truck, and needed both hands free to finish the job. Detectives found a used cigarette filter laying on the front bumper of the vehicle parked right behind the tireless truck, apparently placed on the bumper while lit. A small plastic section of the bumper was melted from the burning section of the cigarette, according to the police report. Another used cigarette but was found on the lot pavement nearby. Both cigarette filters were sent to the state police crime lab for analysis. Before any suspects were identified, the thief returned to Sudbay's in early September. This time, surveillance cameras showed a blue Ford Windstar van with an American flag sticking up out of the window drive slowly through the lot moments before a man came into the lot, raised a 2007 Dodge Ram pickup on a jack and began removing tires one by one. The man in the video could also be seen opening the doors and hoods of other vehicles in the lot before leaving, according to the police report. Around two weeks later, Gloucester police were told by the state police crime lab that saliva left on the cigarette found at the scene of the first theft was sufficient to create DNA profile. In October, the crime lab informed Gloucester police in a letter that the DNA matched that of Berry, who had been arraigned on 84 separate charges over the years, according to the police report. A Registry of Motor Vehicle check showed a blue Ford Windstar van was registered to Berry, police said. Gloucester police contacted the Governor's Auto Theft Strike Force, a statewide anti-car theft unit, which joined the investigation. Detectives with the strike force visited Berry's Winthrop address and observed him transfer tires out of a Windstar matching the van observed in the Gloucester surveillance footage. In November, investigators from Strike Force seized 14 tires and rims from an property in Lynn that they identified as belonging to Berry's girlfriend. Questioned by police about the thefts, Berry admitted to taking tires and rims of cars from several cars in separate incidents, including the two in Gloucester. Strike Force investigators told Gloucester police that Berry was cooperating with their investigation of numerous thefts. But on Dec. 16, the state police trooper working on the case with the Strike Force told Gloucester police that Berry could not be located or contacted by phone, leading Gloucester police to seek charges against him. On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, the Governor's Auto Theft Strike Force could not be reached and state police could not say whether Berry had been arrested. Patrick Anderson can be reached at panderson@gloucestertimes.com
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