By Jim Clark

Police responded to a report of a possible breaking and entering at a Summer St. location last Wednesday evening.

The responding officer was reportedly told by the dispatcher that a neighbor had phoned in a report of two men entering a construction site, lighting their way with flashlights. The witness also stated that he saw the men removing what appeared to be pipes from the building and tossing them onto a nearby resident’s yard.

Upon arrival at the vicinity of the alleged break-in, police were flagged down and told by a witness that the two men in question had walked down Summer Street towards Cedar Street.

The officer caught up with the two men and asked them where they were coming from. The men reportedly told the officer that they had just been at a job site where they were employed.

When the officer asked if they were working there so late in the evening, one of the men said that he had gone back to retrieve a shirt that he had left there.

The officer asked for the men’s identification as well as a name and phone number for the contractor they were allegedly working for.

One of the men, Sean Gnerre, of Gloucester, supplied a phone number, but just as the officer appeared to begin placing the call he reportedly admitted that he had been working at the construction site but was fired from the job earlier that day.

After further questioning, Gnerre reportedly admitted that he and his companion, Robert Pratt, had entered the building that evening and took several pieces of old copper pipe, which they placed in a nearby yard.

The officer asked Gnerre to show him where the pipes were placed, and after searching the area the officer located approximately 20 pieces of copper pipes.

Both Gnerre and Pratt were subsequently placed under arrest and charged with felony nighttime breaking and entering.

They were immediately transported to the police station for booking.