Massive Interstate Burglary Investigation Ends In 2 Arrests

NATICK, MA — Two men were arrested and charged Wednesday in connection to a series of burglaries across Middlesex and Essex counties and southern New Hampshire in 2019 and 2020, according to law enforcement officials.

A Natick home was one of seven properties that were burglarized during the spree, according to Middlesex DA Marian Ryan. Gabriel Estuardo Rojas, 28 of Methuen, and Manuel Jose Lopez, 24 of Lawrence, were charged with five counts of unarmed burglary, breaking and entering a dwelling house in the daytime with intent to commit a felony, breaking and entering a vehicle at night, three counts of receiving stolen property, two counts of possession of burglary tools and conspiracy to commit unarmed burglary.

The burglary spree began in November 2019, and the pair began burglary spree of homes in Natick, Waltham, Wilmington, Westford, Methuen, Tewksbury, Andover and Pelham, NH. Stolen items were later sold in Concord, Dracut and Pelham, Mass., according to Ryan.

Investigators used surveillance images to identify the burglars, and later found evidence on their cell phones about the burglary conspiracy, Ryan said in a news release. Rojas was arrested last May in New Hampshire after he was found riding a stolen motorcycle in New Hampshire. Police later found a storage unit he rented in Tyngsborough filled will stolen goods.

Over 20 police departments from Dedham to Natick to Salem, NH, participated in the investigation.