DARTMOUTH, MA — A Fairhaven man was arrested early Saturday morning after police say he broke into a vision center and stole approximately $51,000 worth of sunglasses.
The Dartmouth Police Department responded to an alarm activation at Pearle Vision Center at 83B Faunce Corner Road at approximately 4:09 a.m. on May 9.
Officers discovered the front door to the business had been smashed.
Inside the business, glass display cases had also been damaged, and it appeared a significant amount of merchandise had been stolen.
Officers immediately began searching the surrounding area.
During the search, Officer Peter Canuel located Andre Kerman, 51, of Fairhaven, riding a bicycle in the immediate vicinity.
Officer Canuel attempted to speak with Kerman, however he fled the area on his bicycle and refused to stop.
Officer Canuel followed Kerman and observed sunglasses falling from a backpack he was carrying.
Kerman was eventually apprehended and found to be in possession of a backpack containing numerous pairs of sunglasses with the price tags still attached.
Further investigation determined the sunglasses belonged to Pearle Vision Center.
A sledgehammer was recovered from a bush in the immediate area.
During the investigation, Kerman later admitted to using the sledgehammer to break the business window and display cases.
Kerman was charged with breaking and entering building nighttime for felony, larceny over $1,200, larceny from building, two counts of vandalize property and possession of burglarious instrument.
Pearle Vision Center has been broken into on prior occasions within the past few years using a similar method, and the suspect in those incidents matched the description of Kerman.
Anyone with information regarding this case or the prior incidents is asked to contact Detective Kyle Berube at 508-910-1760.
