One-man car wrecking crew

Police accuse a 32-yearold Jamaica Plain man of being practically a one-man minor crime spree responsible for a significant chunk of Boston’s theft from motor vehicles.

Justin Caterson, 32, was arraigned at municipal court in West Roxbury late last month for possession of a burglarious instrument, carrying a dangerous weapon (brass knuckles), trespassing, and resisting arrest. He also faces charges of breaking and entering a vehicle in the nighttime and vandalizing property.

Caterson was ordered held on $500 bail and is scheduled to return to court on April 23 for pretrial hearings in both cases.

He was back in court the next day, March 29, this time in Roxbury, for another seven incidents between Jan. 5 and March 24 for which he was charged with 11 counts of breaking and entering a vehicle in the nightime, five counts of vandalizing property, three counts of larceny under $1,200 and trespassing.

For that, he was ordered held on another $1,1750 bail, according tio the Suffolk District Attorney’s office, and is due back in court on May 14 for hearings.

But that’s not the end of things, because he’s facing 14 more larceny from motor vehicle and vandalism charges that have yet to be arraigned.

As of Sunday, Boston has seen a total of 714 larceny from motor vehicle complaints around the city so far this year, according to police statistics. In a city with a population last estimated as north of 650,700 people according to the Census Bureau, Caterson is accused of contributing well more than his fair share to that statistic.