Peabody Man Among Pair Nabbed for Storage Unit Break-Ins

Two men -- one from Peabody and the other from Waltham -- were arrested by Lynnfield Police this past Thursday in connection with some recent thefts at a self-storage facility in the town.

Over the past week, several Lynnfield police log entries have referred to thefts from units at the Simply Self Storage business located on Broadway.

On Thursday, Lynnfield police arrested 43-year-old Eric Reeves of Peabody and 28-year-old Michael Miramaldi of Waltham on numerous charges after a short investigation. A full list of the charges appears at the bottom of this story.

Lynnfield and Saugus police met during the week to set up surveillance at the business, where the thefts appear to have started about a week ago. On Thursday morning, police watching the property from the Christmas Tree Shop parking lot and elsewhere observed two men drive in to Simply Self Storage with a U-Haul box truck that would later be confirmed as stolen.

A Ford pickup truck arrived at the scene several minutes later, driven by an individual renting a storage unit there. Police had reason to believe that this vehicle was also connected to the matter.

While Lynnfield officer Ray Barnes spoke to the driver of the pickup truck, Detective Anthony Hnath approached the two men with the U-Haul, who were allegedly loading it with items from a storage unit. One of the suspects allegedly threw down a child's chair he was carrying and ran out of the unit when Hnath confronted them, while he ordered the second suspect to wait by the U-Haul as Barnes arrived on the scene. Chief David Breen and Capt. Karl Johnson arrived soon after.

Hnath reported a brief struggle with Reeves, who indicated he was out of breath but declined medical treatment. Both he and Miramaldi were brought to the Lynnfield Police Department and booked, and the U-Haul, which turned out to be reported stolen from a lot in Salem, was later taken there as well. Bail was denied to both individuals that night. Officer Paul Tomich reportedly transported Miramaldi to the station while officer Mark Bettencourt transported Reeves.

With the two suspects in custody, police continued to speak with the other individual at the scene. The man, who was not charged with anything, reportedly declined to let police examine or photograph the contents of the storage unit he was renting, although it was noted that he did hold its door open for about 8 to 10 seconds for them.

Police are continuing to investigate these thefts and there is a possibility that there could be additional victims or defendants identified.

The complete arrest information for the two defendants named above is as follows:

• Eric Reeves, 43, of 136 Goodale St., Peabody, was charged with breaking and entering for a felony, larceny from a building, on an out of town warrant for failure to appear in court, using a motor vehicle for a felony or a larceny, receiving a stolen motor vehicle, conspiracy and resisting arrest.
• Michael Miramaldi, 28, 119 Crescent St., Waltham was charged with larceny from a building, breaking and entering for a felony, conspiracy, furnishing a false name or Social Security number, receiving a stolen motor vehicle, use of a motor vehicle in a felony or larceny and on three fugitive from justice court warrants.