A Roxbury man was held on $2000 cash bail today following his arraignment on charges that he tried to burglarize a Boston firehouse while its occupants were fighting a fire, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

DESI HALSELL (D.O.B. 7/17/69) was charged in Roxbury District Court with breaking and entering at night with the intent to commit a felony, larceny over $250, and possession of burglarious tools. In addition to setting bail, Judge Michael Coyne granted prosecutors’ requests that Halsell be ordered to stay away from the Boston Fire Department’s Engine 42 / Rescue 2 firehouse at 1870 Columbus Ave.

Assistant District Attorney Sulynn Walton told Coyne that Boston Police responded to a call for a larceny in progress at the firehouse shortly after 10:00 last night.

On arrival, the officers spoke with the caller, a firefighter assigned to the station. The firefighter told them that he and his compatriots had just returned from a call when they found the suspect in their firehouse with a black hockey bag over his shoulder and the caller’s Apple laptop computer in his hands.

Firefighters pointed out to the officers that the firehouse’s back door was closed but unlocked, and that the suspect may have entered through that door, Walton said. Police pat-frisked Halsell at the scene and recovered a hammer from his rear pocket before taking him into custody.

“This is a new low,” Conley said. “We like to think that a person’s conscience would prevent him from robbing the very people who risk their lives to keep him safe, but sadly that doesn’t appear to have been a factor here.”

Halsell was represented by attorney Paul Derby. He will return to court on Jan. 27. prosecutors are aggressively investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding the man’s death.

Investigators urged anyone with information on the incident to contact Chelsea Police detectives at 617-466-4800 or State Police homicide detectives at 617-727-8817.