Police believe the nine door-to-door magazine subscription peddlers taken into custody on May 27 for “extremely aggressive and rude” behavior may be connected with four salesmen arrested last year after an alleged late night assault.

Spurred on by complaints from residents, authorities made the arrests after learning that none of the nine solicitors had a required state hawkers and peddlers license, nor had they registered with the town or the Police Department.

Police said none of the nine individuals had positive identification, complicating the arrests.

One of the men, William Freeman, 29, of Detroit, Mich., already had an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Portsmouth for allegedly giving officers in that community false information and was held on a $250 cash bail, according to authorities.

Another, Keyinna Jones, 20, of Baltimore, Md., has also been charged with false reports to law enforcement officials and is being held pending a positive identification. Police also charged Lydia Thomas, 26, of Norristown, Pa., with operating a motor vehicle without a license. Thomas was released with a court summons.

According to Capt. Shawn Patten, residents complained that the magazine salesmen would not take “no” for an answer. In one incident, Patten said a salesman had attempted to follow a resident into her home during the sales pitch.

While authorities have not yet learned who the nine salesmen arrested on Wednesday were working for, Patten said the individuals may have been part of the same group or company as the four men arrested last summer.

On June 26 of last year, officers took the four door-to-door magazine salesmen into custody after a passerby saw two of the men assaulting a third in the parking lot of a Wendy’s restaurant on North Broadway at 9:52 p.m. According to police, the man was refused dinner and then beaten by his supervisor and a coworker for failing to meet his sales quota.

Though police believed the men were originally from Chicago and worked for Pargon Sales Midwest Clearing going door-to-door selling magazine subscriptions, none of them could produce positive identification and listed a Lowell, Mass., hotel as their residence.

The four had registered with the Salem Police Department per state law before their arrests, though authorities took steps to remove the group from the community and, at the time, urged residents and businesses to report any further contact with the salesmen.

Now police are taking similar measures, urging residents to contact department at 893-1911 if they are approached by a magazine salesman. At the moment, police are trying to verify the identification of each of the nine arrested, Patten said.