Crime was down in Somerville in 2007. But there was still plenty to keep the police busy. Here are the biggest crime stories in Somerville as we see it in 2007.

Women use 4-year-old to help steal
And the award for the worst parent of 2007 has to go to Tarshesha Ross, 26, of 96 Heath St. who allegedly used her four-year-old daughter to help steal $61 worth of items from Kmart in September. Ross was arrested and charged with shoplifting. Let’s hope Ross puts shoplifting behind her, or at the very least, leaves her toddler out of her future schemes.

East Cambridge Savings Bank robbed, “It’s a big one”
In an era of note passing bank robbers known more for distinctive nicknames (the Average Joe Bank Robber, the Baby-faced bank robber) than skill in their trade, the robbery of the East Cambridge Savings bank on May 26 was a departure. Featuring a high level of planning (the robber kidnapped a teller the night before, drove around with her all night without allowing her to see him and brought her back to the bank the next morning to empty out the vault) and, according to a police source, a $200,000 score, the heist was the most meticulously planned and executed robbery in Somerville in decades. “It’s a big one,” said the source the day of the crime. The FBI offered a reward last month but no arrest has been made yet in the case.

Alleged serial rapist caught
A neighborhood was held in fear from late March to May as a man allegedly attacked  at least five women, including two rapes, in the neighborhood surrounding Tufts University. Nicholas R. Chacon, 19, of 268C Powder House Boulevard, confessed to the crimes after police arrested him on May 4. Police were led to Chacon after receiving information from citizens who recognized him from video surveillance stills released to the media. Somerville, Medford and Tufts University Police had combined forces to catch Chacon.

Bike path robber foiled by MySpace page
Proving that the internet can be used for anything, a man robbed of his cell phone on the city’s bike path found it for sale on Craigslist and when he clicked on a link to the seller’s MySpace page saw the man who had robbed him at knife point – Casey Kolenda, 21, of 62 Hinckley St., according to police. Undercover police set up a meeting to buy the phone from Kolenda – who they knew on sight because of the pictures he posted of himself on the MySpace page – and arrested him for armed robbery.

Anonymous tips lead to biggest drug bust in city history
A six month investigation into drug activity on Franklin Street – begun after citizen complaints to a crime tip hotline and the city’s 311 line – ended in the biggest drug bust in city history when police, accompanied by four drug sniffing dogs, seized 941 grams of pure heroin at 49 Franklin Street. The street value of the drugs was estimated at close to $1 million. Drug unit detectives had not seized more than 30 grams of heroin at a time for two years before the bust. Arrested as Somerville’s biggest drug dealers ever were Fiorlenis Jiminez, 22, of 110 Standard St., Mattapan, Xiomara Ortiz, 43, of 9 Plain Court, Jamaica Plain and Ricardo Gomez, 38, of 66 Terrace Ave., Providence, Rhode Island.

Ex-cop guilty of shocking child rape sentenced to two life terms
Keith Winfield joined the Somerville Police Department in 2000. In 2007 he was convicted of a brutal rape of his 23-month-old niece in which the child sustained “shocking” burns and injuries, according to doctors who examined her. When the jury announced its guilty verdict on Nov. 15 Winfield’s brother, John Winfield, 23, of Somerville, cursed and threatened them. As all available court officers dragged him from the courtroom, John and Keith Winfield’s mother Margaret Winfield ran to the 23-month-old victim’s mother, pointed and shouted, “She did it! She did it!” Both John and Margaret Winfield were arrested for their outbursts. On Dec. 11 Winfield was sentenced to serve two life terms in prison by Judge Patrick Reilly who likened Winfield’s crime to torture. The case against Keith Winfield centered around the 45 minutes he was alone with the victim on Oct. 13, 2005 the day she was attacked. At the trial the girl’s grandparents described the child’s change in demeanor after returning from Keith Winfield’s home that day. There was no physical evidence used against him and no weapon was ever seized. Winfield turned in his badge and gun after city officials learned he was being investigated for the crime.

Hacker erases attendance records from High School computers
In one of the most amusing crimes of the year an unknown person hacked into the Somerville High School computer system on Sept. 11 and deleted the attendance records for the day. Police released few details and have yet to arrest the hacker.

Dead man found on Broadway
John Joseph Meaney was found dead lying between two red-brick apartment buildings on Broadway in Winter Hill in the early morning hours of July 12. Police sources and witnesses said he was found with his pants and underwear pulled down and driver’s license on his stomach. Major media outlets used the discovery of Meaney’s body in Winter Hill to dredge up stories of James “Whitey” Bulger and his infamous Winter Hill Gang which had not actually been in Winter Hill for decades. While news outlets used Meaney’s death as an excuse to bring up Bulger, his sister Theresa DiNicola said she simply missed her brother, “the baby of the family.”