BOSTON, June 10, 2013—A rash of break-ins targeting parked cars ended after a Chelsea man was arrested for the second time by Chelsea Police and convicted at his Suffolk County trial, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

KIRK CROWLEY (D.O.B. 3/16/68) was convicted May 20 of breaking and entering into a motor vehicle, larceny over $250, and malicious destruction of property. Shortly after the Chelsea District Court jury returned its verdict, Crowley pleaded guilty to a second set of charges alleging breaking and entering into a motor vehicle, malicious destruction of property, and carrying a dangerous weapon.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Ozbolt recommended total of two and a half years in a house of correction. Judge Benjamin Barnes sentenced him to 14 months.

“Cases like this one show the immediate difference that police and prosecutors can make in a community’s quality of life when residents report criminal activity,” Conley said. “Chelsea Police worked very hard to gather the facts and evidence here, and our prosecutor was so effective in trying the first case that the defendant threw in the trial and pleaded guilty to the second.”

Crowley was convicted of two incidents. He went to trial on a Dec. 25, 2012, incident in which he broke into a red Ford Fusion in the area of the Wyndham Hotel; Chelsea Police responding to an early-morning call for the sound of breaking glass found him inside the vehicle with two automotive GPS devices, a charger, a cell phone, and a flashlight.

At the time of that incident, Crowley was free on his own recognizance after being arrested for a similar offense a few days earlier. On Dec. 14, 2010, Chelsea Police were called to a car break on Everett Avenue after a resident spotted Crowley breaking into his car. The resident chased Crowley off after Crowley threw a brick through his passenger’s side window, but Chelsea Police apprehended him a short distance away with four cell phones, 10 chargers, and an expandable baton.

Crowley was arraigned later the same morning. Prosecutors recommended that he be held on $1,000 cash bail, but he was released without monetary bail. After his subsequent arrest for the same offense 11 days later, prosecutors’ request for $5,000 bail and revocation of his personal recognizance were granted.

Reports of car breaks in the area sharply decreased after Crowley was arrested the second time, authorities said.

“Every police officer knows that a small number of offenders commit a disproportionate number of offenses,” Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes said. “This is one of those offenders, and I’m very proud of the team that took him off our city’s streets.”

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.