Everett Man Indicted on Thirty-one Counts for Carjacking Spree Across Five Towns

WOBURN – Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced today that an Everett man has been indicted by a Middlesex County Grand Jury on thirty-one counts in connection with a cross-town carjacking spree that started in Newton, and continued through Billerica, Carlisle, and Concord before coming to an end in Bedford.
 
Donald Hall, 28, of Everett, was indicted on charges of armed carjacking with a firearm (six counts), armed assault to murder (two counts), breaking and entering in the daytime with the intent to commit a felony putting a person in fear, breaking and entering a building in the daytime with the intent to commit a felony, assault with a dangerous weapon on a person over the age of sixty (three counts), assault and battery on a person over the age of sixty, assault with a dangerous weapon (four counts), possession of a firearm without a license (five counts), and leaving the scene after property damage (eight counts). 
 
An arraignment date has not yet been set.
 
“We allege that this defendant engaged in dangerous and violent behavior that put many civilians and police officers at risk,” District Attorney Ryan said.  “It is because of the careful, deliberate actions and  coordinated efforts of officers from the Newton, Billerica, Carlisle, Concord and Bedford police departments, along with the Massachusetts State Police, that the risk to the public was contained and this defendant was apprehended and safely taken into custody.”
 
According to authorities, on March 31, at approximately 5:14am, Newton police responded to a motor vehicle crash in the area of Craft Street and Ashmont Avenue.  At their arrival, police observed a car in the front yard of 99 Craft Street, and discovered that it had been reported stolen.  It is alleged that Hall was one of two men who were seen by witnesses fleeing the vehicle.
 
At approximately 5:40am, Hall then allegedly approached a person sitting in their driveway in Newton.  Hall showed a firearm and threatened the driver, but when the driver grabbed his wrist he fled.
 
At approximately 12:50pm, Hall then allegedly knocked on the door of a nearby home and claimed, falsely, to the homeowner that he had sideswiped her car.  Hall then entered the home, grabbed the keys to the resident’s car and, while displaying a firearm, drove away in the car.  
 
Through their investigation, authorities discovered that immediately prior to this, the defendant had allegedly also entered a separate upstairs residence.  This homeowner reported that several items had been taken.
 
Shortly thereafter, according to authorities, Newton police observed the defendant driving the stolen vehicle.  They attempted to stop the defendant, but instead the defendant allegedly accelerated the car and drove directly at an officer.  The defendant fled after striking and damaging three nearby vehicles.  Newton police pursued the defendant, but eventually lost sight of the car.
 
At approximately 1:30pm, the defendant was next seen parked at an automotive shop in Billerica.  It is alleged that Hall had a brief exchange with the owner and then, at gun point, took another driver’s car and fled.
 
Soon thereafter, officers in Carlisle allegedly observed the defendant driving that stolen car.  When they began to pursue the defendant, he drove his car into another car, causing damage.  Hall then forced a vehicle off the road and approached the driver of that car, with gun in hand.  He attempted to drive off in that car, but was not able to because it was stuck in the mud.  As an officer approached, Hall allegedly fired his gun through the vehicle’s windshield directly at the officer.  Hall brandished the gun a second time, but did not fire and then fled the scene in the car he had been driving previously. 
           
The defendant then forced yet another vehicle off the road, and approached that driver while pointing his firearm at him.  When an officer approached him, the defendant allegedly pointed his firearm directly at the officer.  The defendant was unable to gain entry into that car and again fled in the car he had previously been driving. 
 
At approximately 1:41pm, the defendant crossed into Concord at which point he allegedly crashed that stolen vehicle into a tree and ran into the nearby drugstore parking lot. Hall allegedly ran towards a driver who was entering his vehicle.  While pointing a firearm at him, Hall then grabbed the driver and threw him to the ground.  The defendant entered the driver’s vehicle and fled the parking lot.
 
The defendant then drove into Bedford and allegedly sideswiped another vehicle, causing damage.  At that time, he crashed the vehicle he was driving and was taken into custody.
 
These charges are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
 
It is alleged that this series of events began earlier in the morning, at approximately 2:25am, in Haverhill, when the defendant, along with another man, approached a driver outside of a convenience store. At that time, Hall and the second man, tried to take that driver’s car at gunpoint. When they were unable to start the car because they had the wrong keys, they fled the scene.  Thereafter, it is alleged, that acting alone, the defendant approached a driver and passenger nearby, displayed a firearm, and fled the area in their car.
            
Charges are currently pending out of Haverhill.
 
This investigation was conducted by the Newton, Billerica, Carlisle, Concord, and Bedford police departments, and the Massachusetts State Police.

The prosecutors assigned to this case are Assistant District Attorney Tom O’Reilly and Assistant District Attorney Sarah Fallon.  The Victim Witness Advocates are Amanda Zacchilli and Katie Keefe.