Three Salem Men Charged with Stealing from 35 Storage Units

Police have arrested three men who allegedly stole valuables from storage units at  on Goodhue Street.

Michael Politano Jr., 30, of 2.5 Beckett St.; Curtis Perry McDermott, 20, of 13 Palmer St. and Justin Michael Smith, 24, of 21 Essex St. have been charged with one count each of breaking and entering in the night with intent to commit a felony, larceny in a building and possession of burglarious tools, police said. 

Their arrests and Wednesday arraignments at Salem District Court came after an intensive two-day investigation into break-ins at the storage facility. 

"The investigation has shown that the three are responsible for the breaking and entering into approximately 35 individual storage units and removing valuables into Politano's truck," police said. 

Politano's truck was seized on lower Derby Street, police said. Detectives obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and have already recovered "a large amount of property valued in the tens of thousands," police said. 

Police said additional charges are expected as victims come forth and identify the recovered property.

"It should be noted that all three had rented their own storage units, some in other people's names giving them legitimate access to the facility," police said.

Police said the management at Public Storage "has been fully cooperative with the investigation and did not hesitate to report the crimes once they were discovered."

Dets. Dennis Gaudet and Eric Connolly lead the investigation and were assisted by Patrolman Dee-Jay Gagnon and Sgt. Harry Rocheville of the Community Impact Unit as well as Dets. Kevin St. Pierre, Thomas Brennan and John Doyle.

If you believe you are a victim of this crime, police urge you to call Salem Detectives at 978-745-9700.