Chelsea man with five outstanding warrants charged with assaulting Dollar Tree employee
BOSTON, March 4, 2025 – A Chelsea man with five outstanding warrants was arraigned last month in Chelsea District Court after filling multiple bags with unpaid merchandise and assaulting a store employee before fleeing, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
ROBERT MAZZEO JR., 41, was charged with unarmed robbery and assault and battery.
Mazzeo has five outstanding warrants out of Chelsea District Court and East Boston BMC. Prosecutors requested Mazzeo’s bail to be revoked on his warrants, including pending shoplifting and larceny cases.
Judge Amanda Ward ordered Mazzeo held on $250 bail. Mazzeo is due back in court on March 14 for a pre-trial hearing.
At about 2:22 p.m. on February 11, Chelsea police responded to Dollar Tree located at 1090 Revere Beach Parkway for a shoplifting call.
The store manager reported an unknown male, later identified as Mazzeo, filled multiple bags with merchandise and attempted to leave without paying. The manager told police Mazzeo punched him in the face and pushed him against a wall outside of the store when he tried to stop Mazzeo from leaving.
Officers observed minor bruising on the victim’s left eye.
Mazzeo dropped the merchandise before fleeing in a blue Toyota sedan with an unknown female.
Video footage shows the altercation occurring at the store entrance and corroborates the manager’s account. Police recognized Mazzeo from the video and obtained a warrant for his arrest. All items left behind were returned to the store, totaling just over $200.
“We want workers to be safe in their workplaces and shoppers to be safe in their shopping spaces. Retail crimes hurt everyone—sometimes physically, as in this case, and always from an economic and access angle, not just for the stores involved but the shoppers too, especially when stores close or when frequently-stolen items are locked up,” Hayden said.
Hayden’s office, the Boston Police department, and regional retailer groups and small business owners in 2024 launched the Safe Shopping Initiative, an effort to increase consumer safety and help store managers strategize responses to shoplifting and retail larcenies. The initiative formed amid increasing national and local frustrations around retail crime, along with concerns over the closure of several pharmacies serving minority communities in Boston.
All charged individuals are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, Mass. The office handles over 20,000 cases a year. More than 160 attorneys in the office practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Boston Juvenile Courts. The office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs to serve anyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system. This office is committed to educating the public about the services we provide, our commitment to crime prevention, and our dedication to keeping the residents of Suffolk County safe.
James Borghesani, Chief of Communications