‘The surveillance was definitely key to this investigation’: Man arrested after targeting Providence convenience stores

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Last month, ABC 6 News reported on a local, family-owned business that was broken into overnight. Now, Providence police said they’ve made an arrest in the case.

Eastside Mart on Lloyd Avenue was burglarized just after 4 a.m. on June 28, when an unidentified man broke in using a rock and stole between 50-100 packs of cigarettes.

“At that time, we realized we had a pattern of entrance to certain stores in Providence,” said Det. Capt. Timothy O’Hara, who oversees Providence’s detective bureau.

Detectives then investigated further to find the connection between the small business break-ins. With the use of surveillance footage, they linked one suspect to the break-ins.

“What we understood was that somebody was using a rock to smash a window, gain entrance, and mostly target cigarettes,” O’Hara said.

He told ABC 6 that two other small convenience stores were broken into around the same time.

The first known break-in was was on June 17 at Lasalle Corner Store on Smith Street. There, a man used a rock to break through a window before entering and stealing cigarettes.

Then, on June 22, Eastside Mart was broken into in the same manner. The suspect was caught on surveillance footage.

On June 28, Douglas Food Mart was also burglarized.

Police noticed the trend and while reviewing surveillance, police realized the break-ins were connected.

“We were able to identify that suspect through enhanced video surveillance,” said the detective captain.

Surveillance form Eastside Mart was aired on ABC 6, and tips began to flood in. With the community’s help, police received the suspect’s name and information.

“The suspect seemed to be targeting independently owned markets, so I’m sure that the victims, the store owners, were appreciative to the work [detectives] do to find who this was that broke into their business and stole their inventory,” said O’Hara.

That suspect was identified as 40-year-old Somsack Sithong. He was arraigned Thursday and charged with three counts of breaking and entering.

“It was certainly a collaboration between the community and the detectives, that we were able to bring an arrest warrant out on this subject, then eventually tie him to two different breaks,” said O’Hara.