Man Arrested For Stealing A 13 Yr-Old's Xbox 360

A Dorchester man was arrested after stealing an Xbox 360 computer game system from a 13-year-old boy.

Richard Maldonado, 41, was charged with armed robbery after threatening the boy with a large rock, and the game was returned to the boy, Deputy Police Chief Russell Jenkins told the Forum.

The boy was playing the game on the afternoon of June 28 while watching the Laundromat in North Braintree Square for his mother.

“Maldonado was in the Laundromat with his girlfriend and her daughter, who both live in the North Braintree Square area,” Jenkins said.

The boy left his game unattended for a few minutes. “When he returned, he saw Maldonado exiting the Laundromat with a blue laundry bag that had wires hanging out of it,” Jenkins said. “The boy then noticed that his Xbox 360 was missing, chased Maldonado across Washington Street, and confronted him in the Braintree Cooperative Bank parking lot. The boy pleaded with Maldonado to give him back his game and told him that it was a gift from his mother after his father died. The boy later explained to officers that the game was a gift from his mother on his first Christmas after his father passed away. It was meant to make him feel better even though she could not afford such an expensive gift.”

According to Jenkins, Maldonado’s response to the boy’s plea was to pick up a rock and order him several times to “back off.”

A witness told officers that he saw a man fitting Maldonado’s description running down River Street.

“Officers learned that the woman in the Laundromat whom Maldonado came in with lived nearby,” Jenkins said.

When Officer Susan Zopatti attempted to speak with the woman, whose name is not being released because she has not been charged with a crime, her daughter, Yvonne J. Lopez, 19, of Braintree, interfered by yelling, swearing, and flailing her arms, Jenkins said.

Officer Ronald Solimini and Detective Brendan McLaughlin asked Lopez to step outside.

Once she was outside, Jenkins said, Lopez continued to create a disturbance and was placed under arrest and charged with disorderly conduct.

“The officers learned where the woman in the Laundromat lived and believed that Maldonado might be there,” Jenkins said. “They attempted to raise him inside the house, but got no response. When the woman returned, she allowed the officers to search her home, and they quickly located Maldonado and the computer game.”

News-Source: http://www.townonline.com