Serial offender pleads guilty to 2023 Beacon Hill break-ins and is arraigned on new charges for 2021 Chinatown break-ins
BOSTON, February 10, 2026, – A Boston man serving time for break-ins in Beacon Hill and the Back Bay was arraigned last week in BMC Central on new charges related to prior break-ins in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
JAMES SCHAFF, 59, was charged Friday in two separate incidents that occurred in 2021 - one for breaking and entering in the nighttime and another for breaking and entering in the nighttime and larceny from a building. Judge James Stanton held Schaff on $2,500 bail for each docket and ordered him to stay away from the incident locations.
Schaff will return to court March 6 for a pre-trial hearing.
On February 10, 2021, officers responded to the Asian Garden Restaurant at 28 Harrison Avenue in Chinatown for a breaking and entering incident. A cinder block was thrown through a window near the front entrance and the cash drawer, containing $8 in bills and approximately $100-$200 in rolled coins, was missing from the register. Officers collected blood samples from the broken glass and on the sidewalk.
On July 21, 2021, officers were alerted to a burglary at Irashai Sushi at 8 Kneeland Street in Chinatown. Officers found the glass front door of the restaurant shattered and a brick on the front steps. Officers observed a closed cash register on the ground and two open drawers that appeared to be rummaged through. The business owner reported approximately $1,100 was taken from the drawers below the register. Officers collected DNA from the sweatshirt the intruder, later identified as Schaff, wrapped his hand in upon entering the restaurant, which was seen on surveillance cameras.
On November 19, 2025, investigators were able to identify Schaff through the DNA samples collected from the two incidents.
Schaff is currently serving a six-month House of Correction sentence after pleading guilty to similar offenses in October 2025. Schaff has an extensive history of offenses in multiple states.
Schaff also pleaded guilty on Friday to two counts of breaking and entering in the nighttime for two incidents from 2023 in Beacon Hill. Schaff was sentenced to one year in the House of Correction with six months committed and the balance suspended for one year on both dockets. That sentence will be served consecutively to the October sentence.
“James Schaff’s prior convictions make clear that he posed a threat to our merchants. Now we have additional offenses illustrating how much of a threat he really was. The new charges are for offenses that occurred several years ago, but we’re committed to holding offenders accountable no matter when they occur,” 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.
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. Our office handles more than 20,000 cases a year. Nearly 160 assistant district attorneys practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Boston and Chelsea Juvenile Courts and the Supreme Judicial Court. Our 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 our mission and services while focusing on crime prevention to keep the residents, workers and visitors of Suffolk County safe.
James Borghesani, Chief of Communications