Man arrested for JP break-ins, allegedly came into apartments when victims were sleeping

A Hyde Park man has been taken into custody in connection with a pair of early August break-ins in Jamaica Plain, officials said. 

Michael Smith, 37, is charged with assault, breaking and entering, and breaking and entering in the daytime with intent to commit a felony and placing a person in fear, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office announced Tuesday in a press release. 

The first incident took place on Heath Street around 4 a.m. on Aug. 2, when a 23-year-old woman woke up to a sound in her home, Hayden’s office said. 

The woman reported seeing someone standing in her doorway, shining a flashlight at her. The person placed her cat inside her bedroom and shut the door. A few minutes later, the woman stepped outside her room and discovered a man, later identified as Smith, inside her bathroom, prosecutors said. 

Smith then allegedly lunged at the woman while yelling “boo!” before fleeing down the fire escape, which she had left open prior to going to sleep, the DA’s office said.

Smith is accused of a second break-in three days later at a different home on Heath Street. Around 6:50 a.m. on Aug. 5, he allegedly climbed through a window into a bedroom while a resident was sleeping and tried to pull off the victim’s blanket, the Boston Police Department said in a press release. 

The victim, identified by prosecutors as an 80-year-old man, said he had left the window partially open before going to sleep.

Investigators distributed images from surveillance video to residents to help identify the suspect. Afterwards, Smith called the police station and confirmed he was the person pictured, Hayden’s office said. 

During his arraignment Monday, Smith was ordered to wear a GPS monitor equipped with an “exclusion zone” to keep him away from the victims and their homes, according to prosecutors.

Smith has pleaded not guilty and is expected to return to court Oct. 1 for a pre-trial hearing, court records show. 

“These are the types of crimes that make residents feel unsafe in their homes and can put entire communities on edge. They impact quality of life,” Hayden said. “I’m grateful for the solid police work in circulating the images that led to this defendant turning himself in.” 

An attorney for Smith did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.