$5,000 bail for NY man who smashed Macy’s jewelry case with a brick

BOSTON, September 16, 2025 – A New York man was ordered held on $5,000 bail Monday after being arraigned for using a brick to smash a glass case containing more than $235,000 in jewelry and then picking up the scattered items before being apprehended by store security, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.

RONALD PAIGE, 49, of Schenectady was charged in BMC Central with larceny over $1,200, malicious destruction of property over $1,200, breaking into a depository and possession of a burglarious instrument. Judge James Stanton set bail at $5,000 and ordered Paige to stay away from Macy’s if released.  Paige will return to court October 9 for a pre-trial hearing.  

At about 4:50 p.m. on Tuesday September 9, Boston police responded to a radio call for shoplifting at Macy's on Washington Street in Downtown Crossing. Loss prevention personnel told the officers that Paige, who they recognized from a shoplifting incident several days before, came into the store and went to the jewelry section. Paige produced a brick and smashed through a locked glass jewelry case valued at about $7,000.  He then began to pick up the jewelry with his hands, at which point Macy's security detained him. The value of the jewelry within the case was $235,297.00. The incident was captured on video.

Paige has open warrants in Middlesex County for malicious destruction of property and has felony convictions in New York.

“This is a pretty alarming set of facts, given the destruction caused and the shock it must have caused for nearby customers and employees in a major store on a busy weekday.  We’re working with all of our city partners and retail partners to address retail crime, which is particularly important as we enter the holiday shopping season,” Hayden said.

Hayden’s office, the Boston Police department, 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.

DA Hayden will speak at the New England Organized Retail Crime Alliance Symposium on Wednesday, September 17 at the Wayfair Corporate Headquarters to address the initiative.

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. The office handles more than 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 for anyone encountering the criminal justice system. We are committed to educating the public about the services we provide while focusing on crime prevention to keep the residents of Suffolk County safe.

James Borghesani, Chief of Communications