Crime & Safety

Melrose Man Arrested in New Hampshire

The following information comes from the Manchester (N.H.) Police Department. When arrests are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.

A 34-year-old Melrose man was arrested Saturday night in Manchester, N.H., and charged with possessing burglarious tools and driving with a suspended/revoked license.

Manchester police approached James Brietzke, as someone reported a suspicious vehicle, his white Ford Ranger, near Manchester’s Fair Point Communications, which has had a couple recent thefts of copper cable.

[Editor's note: A relative of Brietzke said Brietzke has never lived at the Melrose address supplied by police.]

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In both thefts, thousands of dollars of copper cable was taken after someone gained entry by cutting a chain-linked fence. A vehicle matching Brietzke’s Ranger can be seen on surveillance footage at the time of both thefts, according to police.

After Brietzki consented to a search of his vehicle, officers found numerous bolt cutters, masks, gloves and multiple changes of clothes, police said. Brietzki has a history of arrests involving burglaries, according to police.

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