SALISBURY — Local police believe the two men accused of stashing stolen items inside an empty house on Cable Avenue stole most of the items from the Ocean Street house recently deemed uninhabitable by town officials.
John Dominic DeFeo, 37, 1110 Broadway Ave., Haverhill, and Shaun R. Strong, 27, no fixed address, Salisbury, were arrested shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday as they were leaving the Cable Street house known as the "Shanty Town," located across the street from the Railroad Avenue police station.
A Salisbury police official said at least one of the suspects was spotted by police carrying a television down Cable Avenue.
After stopping the suspects, officers searched the house. Inside, they found several electronic items, including a portable DVD player and a video camera. Police also found a cache of prescription drugs, including codeine, high-strength ibuprofen, lisinopril and propranolol.
Salisbury police Chief David L'Esperance said the suspects entered the empty five apartments at 14 Ocean St., and stole items left there by former occupants.
After trying for months to get the building's landlord, Jack Kitzis, to fix the dilapidated house, town officials declared it unsafe, forcing the 15 people who lived in its five apartments to move out quickly.
Asked why the suspects decided to pick a house so close to the police station to hide their take, L'Esperance said, "They didn't graduate with a degree in brain surgery."
L'Esperance said DeFeo is well known to Salisbury police, with more than 130 entries on his criminal record.
DeFeo and Strong gained entrance to the Ocean Street house through the back entrance, located adjacent to the municipal parking lot. The chief added that his department was trying to contact the owner of the Ocean Street house to better secure it.
DeFeo and Strong were arraigned at Newburyport District Court Monday and are being held without bail in the Middleton Jail. They are due back for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 13.
DeFeo is facing three counts of receiving stolen property greater than $250, unarmed burglary, larceny of a drug and trespassing. Strong is facing a single count of receiving stolen property greater than $250, larceny of a drug, unarmed burglary, giving a false name to police and a previous warrant.
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