A Dorchester man was sentenced 1.5 years for breaking into a West Roxbury resident's car and trying to steal a GPS device. 

On Feb. 21, a Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted Dennis Winslow, 48, of larceny and breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor, according to a press release from Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley. Winslow was indicted for larceny of less than $250, and breaking and entering into a vehicle at night with intent to commit a felony. 

Judge Patrick Brady sentenced Winslow to the maximum on each charge – a year on the larceny charge, followed by six months for the breaking and entering charge, for a total of a year and a half in a house of correction.

Evidence and testimony was shown to prove Winslow gained entry to a motor vehicle on Garnet Road shortly after midnight on Jan. 10, 2012, stealing a lot of loose change and a Garmin GPS device.

Winslow was caught after a resident near the scene called Boston Police after Winslow, dressed in dark clothes and a dark cap, checking door handles on several cars on Garnet Road. That resident updated police that Winslow had actually entered one of the cars and was shining some sort of light inside.

Police caught Winslow in the fenced-in yard of a nearby home with $116 in change, and a GPS device hanging out of his pockets. Winslow said a friend had given him the GPS device and dropped him off in the area. The officers turned on the device and checked the “home” location - a Garnet Road address.