Westport police are trying to determine whether a Fall River man charged with breaking into a car early Sunday morning has any connection to more than a dozen similar breaks recently reported in the American Legion Highway area over the past three weeks.

At about 3 a.m. Sunday, a Lighthouse Lane resident called 911 to report hearing a car alarm, and spotting a suspicious man breaking into a car.

Westport officers were tied up with several other calls at the time, but police called for mutual aid from Dartmouth. Officers from that town set up a perimeter around the neighborhood, and while searching the area, a Dartmouth officer spotted a man with a power washer walking down a driveway. After he spotted police, the man allegedly left the power washer and ran into a nearby wooded area.

As he did, Westport officers arrived, reviewed footage from a surveillance camera and relayed a description of the suspect to Dartmouth police. About 45 minutes later, David Oliveira, 47, of 83 Swindell St. in Fall River, was spotted on Spinnaker Way, taken into custody, and later booked by Westport police on a breaking and entering charge.

Since the arrest, police have been trying to establish if there is any link between Oliveira and at least 14 other recent car break-ins reported since Sunday, Sept. 24, on Ridgeline Drive, Jordans Way, American Legion Highway, Sodom Road, Monique Drive and Robert Street. In all cases, police said cars broken into had been left unlocked. Since Oliveira's arrest, Westport police have processed more than a dozen cars for fingerprints, and ask that anyone who might have captured the suspect on video to call detectives at (508) 636-1122.

“We would like to thank the Dartmouth Police Department for assisting our community in taking this suspect off the street,” Westport police said.