In November, a Dedham man left his broken-down Land Rover Range Rover overnight at an Auburn gas station for a tow. When the tow truck arrived, the car was gone. By then it was well on its way to being used in an alleged break-in of an East Brookfield home.
The large “DO NOT ENTER” sign plastered on the front door of the abandoned home at 126 Pleasant St. in East Brookfield did not stop Jesse Kramer from entering on Sunday, Nov 6. He went in through the back door, which was open, Kramer told police. Around 11:13 a.m., officers responded to the home after a neighbor called reporting two men attempting to break into the home, court documents showed.
The home, and its previous residents, were known to police for drug activity, East Brookfield Police Officer Ryan Kelly wrote in his report. It’s now the property of the town of East Brookfield after it was taken over for back taxes. The home sits in “complete disrepair” and is “unofficially condemned”, according to Kelly.
In the home’s driveway, a black 2011 Range Rover SUV with Massachusetts license plates turned around and came “nose to nose” with Kelly’s cruiser as the officer pulled into the driveway, court documents said.
Kelly noticed two men in the front seats, one who they would identify as Kramer, and the other as Peter Brozowski.
The officer asked the men what they were doing at the house and Kramer responded that the former resident “owed him money and that he wanted his property back that he believed to still be in the home,” Kelly wrote.
Both men were put into handcuffs before Kelly looked through the Range Rover. He discovered white dishes “with a blue oriental design” and glass serving bowls, the officer wrote.
Kramer told Kelly the previous resident owed him $40 and that he took the plates as compensation. He also told the officer there may be an autographed sports memorabilia item and a snow blower that he owns inside. Kelly explained to Kramer that the house was now owned by the town of East Brookfield and that it was taken for back taxes owed on the property, court documents said.
Kelly contacted a sergeant and it was decided that Kramer would be summonsed to court on charges of trespassing, breaking and entering for a misdemeanor. The second man was charged with trespassing, court documents showed.
The officer then learned both men had suspended licenses. And that’s when the Range Rover the two men arrived in comes back into question.
At this point, the car had not been reported stolen. So, Kramer told Kelly he had a friend, an old co-worker, who lived nearby and that he would ask her if she could drive the car to her driveway and park it there, court documents showed.
Kramer knocked on this woman’s door and when she came out, he gave her a hug and asked if she could help him out by driving the Range Rover from the 126 Pleasant St. home to her driveway where it would be parked, court documents said.
“I questioned him why and he said he didn’t have his wallet with his license and the officers would not let him drive,” the woman wrote in a statement to police.
The woman asked why the car was parked at the neighbor’s in the first place, and Kramer said the former resident owed him money.
The woman then drove the Range Rover to her driveway where she parked the car and left the keys in its console, court documents said.
Kramer was very talkative and “flirty,” but “he was always has been so I wasn’t surprised by it,” the woman wrote.
Kramer told the woman that Brozowski’s wife was going to come to pick up the car, records showed.
“I would say maybe 30-45 minutes later I noticed Jesse, by himself, walking up the street towards my house.”
This time, Kramer didn’t knock. He got into the Range Rover and drove off.
“I looked out the window to see if it was his vehicle and sure enough, it was gone,” the woman wrote.
The day after the break-in, Monday, Nov. 7, the Auburn Police Department contacted East Brookfield Det. Sgt. Paul B. Cowden to inform him that a 2011 black Range Rover had been stolen from a Shell gas station in Auburn.
Auburn police told the detective that AAA advised the owner of the car to leave the car’s keys under the floor mat. Due to high call volume, the car would be towed the following morning, the owner was told. The owner last saw the car around 9 p.m. on Nov. 6.
When the tow truck arrived the following morning, the car was gone.
The two stations pieced the information together and realized that the car was reported stolen after Kramer had driven off in it from his former co-worker’s driveway.
Later that day, Auburn police informed the EBPD that the Range Rover had been found in Providence, Rhode Island.
“Officer Gustafson told me that Jesse Kramer was involved in a chain of events that day, including many felonies.”
The North Brookfield man is facing several charges including receiving stolen property, motor vehicle; using motor vehicle without authority; trespassing with motor vehicle; breaking and entering for misdemeanor; larceny from a building and trespassing.
Ad Choices