Eye In The Sky: State Police Go High Tech To Nab Tree-Dwelling Worcester Burglar, Cops Say

Yorbis Peguero, 24, of Boston, is accused of breaking into a Worcester business with several other men, police said, but his capture was far more dramatic than his alleged co-conspirators. 

Worcester officers called to the Shoe Supply Store at 1114 Pleasant St. around 2 a.m. after someone threw a rock through a window to steal items inside, authorities said. When police arrived, the group scattered. 

One of them, later identified as Peguero, jumped into a 2010 Mercedes-Benz E350 sedan and led police on a 20-mile chase along Route 146, officials said. 

The car crashed into the woods in Southborough after it hit drove over a spike strip, which blew out the tires. Peguero jumped out and sprinted into the trees with several police and K-9 units in pursuit, authorities said. 

But it was the Massachusetts State Police Air Wing that proved to be the deciding factor in Peguero's capture. A helicopter team used a Forward Looking Infrared camera, which detects heat, to find him hiding more than 20 feet up a tree in the backyard of a home on Cordaville Road in Southborough, police said. 

Peguero climbed down once police surrounded the tree, and troopers took him back to Worcester without incident. 

Police charged Peguero with willful and malicious destruction of property, breaking and entering during the nighttime to commit a felony, larceny from a building, and a fugitive from justice on a court warrant, authorities said. 

Other men accused of taking part in the Worcester break-in that officers arrested near the scene are:

• Raffy Santos, 18, of Lawrence, was charged with breaking and entering in the nighttime to commit a felony, vandalism (joint venture) trespass, and larceny from a building.
• Mr. Cruz (no first name provided), 20, of Lawrence, was charged with breaking and entering in the nighttime to commit a felony, vandalism, larceny from a building, and trespassing.
• Jorge German, 20, of Lawrence, was charged with breaking and entering in the nighttime to commit a felony, vandalism, larceny from a building, and trespassing. 

Worcester police provided the names and charges. 

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