BOSTON, April 30, 2013—A Roxbury man with a decades-long record for larceny and robbery has been charged in a 16-count indictment alleging six thefts in Boston and even one in Cambridge, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

KEVIN DRAYTON (D.O.B. 12/4/63) was arraigned yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court on four counts of larceny from a person, two counts of receiving stolen property under $250, five counts of receiving stolen property over $250, and one count each of larceny under $250, attempted larceny from a person, and attempted larceny over $250. 

Based on Drayton’s 17-page record, which dates back to 1981 and includes 8 aliases and 35 prior convictions for similar offenses, Conley’s office indicted Drayton as a habitual offender and a common receiver of stolen goods.  Suffolk Superior Court Clerk Magistrate Gary Wilson set Drayton’s bail at $30,000.

According to Assistant District Attorney Michele Granda of the DA’s Special Prosecutions Unit, Drayton stole wallets, bags, and electronics from people at restaurants, cafes, and libraries across the city between December 2011 and December 2012. A map with the dates and locations of the various thefts can be viewed at http://goo.gl/maps/YZvLr.

“He operated anywhere people might leave their things unattended, even for a moment,” Conley said. “Fortunately, many of the thefts were captured on surveillance footage and we were able to identify him after the fact.”

A witness watched as Drayton and a female accomplice took a laptop from a backpack belonging to a student at Northeastern University’s Snell Library on Dec. 5, 2011, prosecutors said.  Drayton used his real name on a sign-in sheet as he entered the library and was recorded on surveillance video as he entered and exited the library.

On Jan. 6, 2012, surveillance images captured Drayton taking a laptop from a bag left in the reading room of the Boston Public Library, prosecutors said.

That very same day, Drayton allegedly stole a wallet from a woman’s purse at the Grille 705 restaurant.  The incident was also captured on surveillance video, and the victim was able to identify the defendant when she saw him on the street while driving through the Dudley Square area with Boston Police the next day, prosecutors said.

An employee of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design confronted Drayton on Jan. 30, 2012, after seeing him take a tablet computer from a student’s backpack in the school’s food court, prosecutors said.  He dropped the tablet and walked out but was stopped by police one block away.

On July 12, Drayton allegedly stole a backpack belonging to a man dining at the Mass Ave Tavern, which prosecutors said he replaced with his own backpack.  The theft was reported immediately, and the victim called police an hour later after seeing Drayton carrying the stolen yellow backpack in the Back Bay neighborhood, prosecutors said.  Police discovered this backpack also contained items belonging to at least two different victims that had been stolen from different locations within the city that same evening, prosecutors said.

Drayton is alleged to have stolen a backpack belonging to a patron of the Crema Café on Brattle Street in Cambridge on Dec. 14.  Two hours later in Boston, a surveillance camera captured him switching the first victim’s backpack with that of a patron of the Boston Common Coffee Company.  The victim at the Boston coffee shop discovered the backpack belonging to the Cambridge victim and initially believed that someone had innocently mistaken the two bags for one another.  An iPad was missing from the Cambridge victim’s bag, which still contained library books and the victim’s identification when it was found, prosecutors said.

Drayton returned to the Crema Café the next day, where he was recognized by a manager.  Police discovered he was carrying the backpack stolen from the Boston Common Coffee Company, prosecutors said. Suffolk prosecutors were able to charge Drayton with the Crema Café larceny because he brought the stolen property into Boston, Conley said.

Drayton is represented by Michael Tumposky.  He will return to Suffolk Superior Court on June 4 and currently faces additional charges in Middlesex and Norfolk counties.

–30–

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