Jul. 22--TEWKSBURY -- It started out with one stolen handheld radio.

By the time North Attleboro police tracked down the rest of the pilfered loot, they were facing a van stuffed with $30,000 worth of fire equipment.

"It was filled from top to bottom with helmets, boots, protective gear, axes, bolt cutters, dozens of portable radios," Detective Lt. David Dawes said yesterday. "Evidently, the suspect was interested in the firefighting field. But I don't think he even knew what he was going to do with all of it."

Tewksbury Fire Chief Richard Mackey was notified Friday that a self-contained breathing apparatus -- SCBA for short -- from his department had been found in the van, along with an oxygen bottle and a first-aid kit.

The SCBA alone is worth $5,000, Mackey said.

North Attleboro police believe that Jacob LaPointe, 20, stole the material from a Tewksbury fire engine while it was having a leaking fuel tank replaced at Greenwood Emergency Vehicles Inc., in North Attleboro, three weeks ago.

LaPointe, a North Attleboro resident who is studying to become an emergency medical technician, targeted firetrucks at the company for four weeks, Dawes said. At least 10 fire departments were affected by the thefts.

"He wanted to, basically, see what it was like to be a firefighter," Dawes said.

Greenwood Emergency Vehicles is the largest fire-apparatus dealer in New England. Executive Vice President Dennis Carvalho declined to discuss the case yesterday.

"Until we hear back from the North Attleboro Police Department and get a better understanding of what happened here, we will not be in a position to comment," he said.

The Lowell Fire Department also has its trucks serviced at Greenwood but was not affected by the thefts, Chief Edward Pitta said.

Tewksbury firefighters noticed that some of their equipment was missing shortly after the repair. Mackey was trying to track down when and where the gear may have gone missing when he was notified of LaPointe's arrest.

North Attleboro police were first tipped off about the thefts during a routine traffic arrest Friday about 3 a.m. The 18-year-old driver of the car had a handheld radio from the Wrentham Fire Department, which he said he had gotten from LaPointe.

Officers tracked down LaPointe's van and its stolen contents shortly after.

"We were taken aback," Dawes said. "This was one of these cases where a simple traffic stop turned into something significant."

LaPointe, who has a minor criminal record, posted $2,500 bail in Attleboro District Court yesterday after being arraigned on charges of breaking and entering into a building during the nighttime to commit a felony, trespassing and 10 counts of larceny over $250.

He is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on Oct. 4.

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