Raymond Buso, a Salem defense attorney, stole three business signs in June in the Museum Place Mall. He states he stole the business signs because he was mad at the owner of the business. He states later that he didn’t know it would upset the owner as much as it did.
During his hearing in Salem, Buso stated, “I was wrong.” The judge from Worcester County continued six vandalism and larceny charges against him with no finding for six months. He was also ordered to not contact the victim in any way, to not go to the Museum Place Mall, the Essex pedestrian mall, or the city parking garage.
Charges Filed
Buso had two witness intimidation charges filed against him, but they were later dismissed. If he complies with all of his conditions, the vandalism and larceny charges will be dismissed in six months.
Buso states the reasons he took the signs were due to a confrontation between Cynthia Weaver, who owns Rita’s Italian Ice, and his son, who is a street magician, complaints from Maria’s Sweet Somethings, another business in the area, about Weaver, and that he had an incident where he bumped his hand into the sign when he was moving boxes.
When he was in the area in June, he noticed the sign and immediately became angry, and he removed it. He also stole two more signs that had been taped to prevent a theft. This is where the felony vandalism charges come in.
Captured on Tape
He was captured on video surveillance tapes. The police also found one of the stolen signs in a trash can, and found Buso’s fingerprints on the sign.
Buso stated, “I had no idea that my taking these three signs would have anywhere near the emotional impact on her. Had I known, I would never have done this.”
The prosecutor for the case, Patrick Bomberg, urged the judge to find Buso guilty and asked that he give him two years of probation, as well as other conditions, such as mental health counseling.
Buso stated he felt he had been punished enough already, was humiliated because he was handcuffed in front of his son, embarrassed by newspaper articles about his case, financially penalized because the state’s public defender agency barred him from taking any court-appointed cases, and that he was not able to attend his son’s shows because they were held on the Essex Street mall due to the court restraining order.
Buso also stated that the prosecutor handled his case so aggressively because he was a lawyer. A police spokesman and the prosecutor both deny this charge.
The owner of Rita’s Italian Ice, Weaver, did not believe his apology was sincere, and she was still very confused as to why he was mad at her. She has no idea why her store was targeted by him and has no idea why he has targeted her.