Two women working out at Planet Fitness on South Main Street in Milford returned to their cars last Friday night to find shattered windows and stolen purses, kicking off a fast-moving police investigation that ended with a Hartford, Connecticut man in handcuffs behind a nearby 7-Eleven. Police say the suspect, 35-year-old Jonathan Jamal Walker, now faces a long list of charges tied to the break-ins and to an outstanding warrant that surfaced once officers ran his name.
Two Victims, One Night, One Gym Parking Lot
The Milford Public Safety Communications Center got its first call around 8:37 p.m. last Friday reporting a car break-in at Planet Fitness, 146 South Main Street, where a window had been smashed and a purse taken, according to Patch. A second victim came forward soon after reporting the same thing: a smashed window and stolen personal belongings, according to the Milford Police Department’s own account, posted to the department’s Facebook page.
Detectives turned to surveillance footage to piece together what happened next. The video let investigators identify a white Volkswagen Tiguan as the suspect vehicle and track it to Main Street, where they watched a man carry what looked like a satchel or purse down Central Street before returning several minutes later without it, Patch reports. That single stretch of footage effectively mapped out the suspect’s movements before officers ever made contact with him.
K-9 Ozzy Tracks the Stolen Goods to a Dumpster
Officers found the suspect vehicle parked behind the 7-Eleven at 127 Main Street around 10:40 p.m., and identified its operator as Walker, according to the Milford Police Department. K-9 Ozzy was deployed at 11:02 p.m. in the area where Walker had been seen carrying the suspected stolen property, and the dog located several stolen items stuffed inside a dumpster on Central Street, as reported by Newport Dispatch.
A records check through the National Crime Information Center, the FBI-maintained database that lets local departments instantly verify active warrants across state lines, turned up an active arrest warrant for Walker, per the Milford Police Department. That discovery added a warrant-arrest charge on top of everything else detectives had already built against him from the night’s events.
Charges Reflect Two Different Legal Thresholds
Walker was charged with two counts each of nighttime breaking and entering into a motor vehicle for a felony, malicious damage to a motor vehicle, and larceny under $1,200, along with possession of a burglarious instrument, a number-plate violation to conceal identification, and the outstanding warrant, according to the Milford Police Department. The breaking-and-entering counts are felonies: under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 266, Section 16, breaking into a vehicle at night with intent to commit a felony can bring up to 20 years in state prison or up to 2.5 years in a house of correction, per the General Court of Massachusetts.
The larceny counts fall under a different, lighter standard. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 266, Section 30 treats theft under $1,200 as a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail, a threshold that was raised from $250 back in 2018 under a state criminal justice reform law, according to Contant Law. Walker resides in Hartford, Connecticut, roughly 78 driving miles southwest of Milford, according to Rome2Rio route data.
Police Say Pattern Fits a Wider Regional Problem
Milford’s Detective Bureau and Patrol Division jointly investigated the break-ins, and Police Chief Robert Tusino said he was extremely proud of the department’s coordinated effort to identify and apprehend the suspect, per the Milford Police Department’s statement. Tusino added that the department will use every available resource to identify, locate and hold accountable people who steal from Milford residents.
Gym parking lots have become a recognizable target for cross-border theft crews elsewhere in Massachusetts. In July 2025, police in nearby Medway warned that similar smash-and-grab thefts at a gym parking lot were linked to organized groups traveling across state lines to target fitness center patrons, according to Boston 25 News. The Berkshire District Attorney’s Office issued its own alert in October 2025 warning that an active crime ring was targeting fitness studios across the Northeast by breaking into parked cars to steal purses and credit cards, per the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office.
Milford police have dealt with parking lot break-ins before. In June 2025, the department executed a search warrant that resolved a separate multi-vehicle break-in and credit card fraud case tied to a commercial property on Sumner Street, according to the Milford Police Department’s Facebook post. As with any pending case, Walker and any other suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
