Amherst Police on Friday arrested a Springfield man on charges of breaking and entering and larceny of property over $250 in connection to a break-in last Wednesday at the Boulders apartment complex on East Hadley Road.

Police arrested 21-year-old Herbert Nicholas Levy on Southampton Road in Westfield at approximately 3 p.m. on Thursday. Levy was held in lieu of $1,000 bail and was arraigned Friday at Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown, Mass.

Police said Levy had most of the property they believe was stolen from the Boulders apartment at the time of his arrest. Among the items taken from the apartment, according to the police, were a television, a laptop and Nintendo Wii and Xbox video game consoles.

Police said they were unsure if Levy was involved in a string of other recent burglaries around Amherst and that their investigation into that matter, as well as whether there may be accomplices, continues.

Amherst Police Lt. Ronald Young said that though some home invasions involve forced entry, students can take a good deal of precaution against burglary by locking entry points to their homes.

‘Although this break involved a forced entry,’ he said, ‘A surprising number of breaks involving student housing is through unlocked windows and doors. A decent lock and awareness will prevent a lot of problems.’

Young added that the APD often recovers items whose owners are unidentifiable.

‘It is also not uncommon for us to recover stolen property and not know who the owners are ‘- the property is not marked and most people do not know their serial numbers, there are a lot of iPods in Amherst,’ he quipped.

One University of Massachusetts student who was the victim of a similar break-in during spring break said he feels it could happen to anyone.

‘They came in right through the front door,’ said senior Jack Keverian.

‘The majority of the things taken were my roommate’s ‘- they got his Burberry suit, his [PlayStation 3]. From me the biggest thing they got was my TV,’ said Keverian, a resident of the Salem Place apartment complex.

When asked whether he thought Amherst area homes and apartments are generally safe from intrusion, Keverian said ‘No,’ and that he felt similar problems could happen elsewhere.

Sam Butterfield can be reached at sjbutterfield@gmail.com.