Boston man allegedly broke into Trillium Brewery weeks after getting out of prison for break-ins

A Boston man allegedly smashed his way into a Fenway brewery just weeks after being released from prison for a string of similar break-ins. Michael Dias, 46, has been charged in connection with breaking into Trillium Brewery at 401 Park Drive. Boston Police officers in the middle of the night on July 3 responded to a breaking and entering call at the Fenway brewery. Officers spoke with a security guard who reported making his rounds around 3 a.m., and finding the front door to Trillium’s outside bar and gift shop smashed. The front door was shattered, and there was a large rock on the bar’s floor. Detectives spotted apparent drops of blood on the bar top, cash register and floor — sending samples to the crime lab for analysis. Video surveillance from the nearby Timeout Market shows two men walking around the exterior of the brewery. The first man, later identified as Dias, suddenly stops and allegedly throws a rock at the front door, shattering it. Dias is seen allegedly kicking a hole in the door, then throwing the rock again before kicking the glass more and entering the bar. The second man is seen walking away from the area. Once inside, Dias allegedly takes the cash register off the counter, and repeatedly smashes it on the ground. Dias is seen leaning over the bar top in the area where the blood droplets were found before leaving the bar through the smashed door. Detectives sought an arrest warrant for Dias based on the surveillance footage, forensic evidence recovered from the scene, and the pattern of break-ins committed by Dias in 2019 and 2020. In those incidents, Dias broke the front door of commercial properties with a rock, then smashed the registers for cash before fleeing. Dias pleaded guilty in September 2020, and received a seven-year sentence — in which he served five years and was released from custody on June 17. “Incarceration is a punishment we seek only when the facts and circumstances support it and public safety demands it,” Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden said. “It is always our hope that incarcerated individuals keep their lives moving forward when they re-enter society. The facts here indicate that this person reverted, very quickly, to the behavior that sent him to prison in the first place.” Dias has been charged with breaking and entering during nighttime, malicious destruction of property over $1,200, larceny from a building, and common and notorious thief. The judge released Dias on personal recognizance, and ordered him to stay away from the location of the offense. Dias is due back in court on Sept. 25 for a probable cause hearing and appointment of counsel.