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6-13-2023 12:50am
Police Log: Recovering a Stolen Vehicle with GPS; Arresting Driver of Suspicious Vehicle
Darlene Cancell
Editor
The news described in Westwood Minute's weekly Police Log article series is primarily based on selected information from the Westwood Police Department's daily log and information provided by Lieutenant Christopher Sheehy and police staff. Occasionally, a few facts from other sources may be woven into these stories.
Sunday, June 11th
Recovering a Stolen Vehicle
1:17 p.m. Westwood Police received a report from Ciccone & Sons Construction Company in Boston that someone had stolen the company’s dump truck with an attached trailer. The trailer was carrying a mini excavator. The company was able to use GPS to determine that the stolen truck was in the parking lot of Wegmans in Westwood.
Subsequently, a Westwood Police officer located the truck, trailer and excavator there, and recovered the stolen items. Boston Police also responded with a detective and technician to process the stolen vehicle for evidence.
Unannounced and Unwelcome Visitor
2:18 p.m. A resident of Walker Road requested police assistance. A relative had made an unannounced visit and refused to leave. An officer arrived to help and send the relative on his way.
Juvenile Reports Bike Stolen
4:23 p.m. Police responded to the Target store to meet a Westwood resident who reported having his grey Trek bicycle stolen. The juvenile told the officer that he had left the bike unlocked in the bike rack in front of Target at 4:00 p.m. When he exited at 4:13 p.m., the bike was no longer there. The officer will follow-up with the store to review store video.
Saturday, June 10th
Marketplace Mistake
8:30 a.m. A Walpole resident reported being the victim of theft from a Facebook Marketplace transaction. He had arranged to meet a buyer in Westwood to sell him a pair of jeans for $80.
At the meeting, the buyer indicated that he uses the online finance application, Cash App. The seller gave the buyer the jeans and installed the Cash App application. Upon completion of the installation, the seller saw what looked like the buyer’s payment had been cancelled, but the buyer had left. The seller complained to police.
Police located the buyer, a man from Dracut, Massachusetts. He asserted there was a misunderstanding. The buyer told police that the $80 was waiting in Cash App and is available to the seller to claim.
The officer put the two parties in touch to work out the transaction.
Friday, June 9th
Breaking and Entering at Pet Store
7:31 a.m. An officer took a report of a breaking and entering from the owner of Busy Paws Pet Supply. The store owner received notice from the store’s alarm system that there had been a break-in. On her phone, she was able to see a tall, 6 foot man in ball cap and long shorts in the store around 6:48 a.m. He was in the store less than five minutes, and left through the back door. The store appears to have been undisturbed. No money is missing. The landlord will be changing locks and alarm codes to the store.
Unemployment Benefits Fraud I
11:27 a.m. A resident of Canton Terrace reported a case of unemployment benefits fraud. No further details are available yet.
Shoplifting for Skin Care
2:23 p.m. Police responded to the Ulta Beauty store on a report of shoplifting. Two store managers informed police that a man and two females entered the store. While one female was conversing with a sales associate, the other two were putting merchandise taken from the skin care aisle into bags. They exited the store, setting off the store’s sensors. The inventory they took is estimated to be worth about $1,000.
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Arrest for Motor Vehicle Violations
9:22 p.m. An officer on Washington Street ran a query on the license plate of a passing vehicle. It was registered to an owner without an active license who additionally had a warrant for his arrest for motor vehicle violations. Upon making a traffic stop on East Street, the officer learned that the driver’s license had expired in June 2019. The officer arrested the 51 year-old man from Brockton and cited him for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
Thursday, June 8th
Fraudulently Opened Bank Account
3:05 p.m. A resident of Reed Avenue reported a fraudulently opened bank account in his name. The resident received a statement from Bank of America showing a zero balance for an account that he did not open. In contacting the bank, the resident learned that the bank had already flagged the account as fraudulent. The bank advised the resident to report the incident to Chex Systems. The resident has also placed a watch on his credit cards and a watch on his bank account.
Wednesday, June 7th
Stopping a Suspicious Vehicle Results in Arrest
6:00 p.m. An off-duty police officer reported seeing a suspicious vehicle near the corner of Washington and Dean streets. An on-duty officer responded to the area and found a Ford Explorer with a temporary New Jersey license plate, which had not been officially issued. Therefore, the Explorer was unregistered and uninsured.
As the vehicle turned from Dean Street onto Washington Street, police observed it make a number of traffic violations and almost cause an accident when it changed lanes without signaling. The on-duty officer made a traffic stop. As the Explorer stopped, its right front tire struck the curb.
When the officer informed the occupants of the vehicle that tire damage should be assessed, a passenger from the Explorer exited the vehicle, not to check the tire, but to cross the street to the Dunkin’ store. There, the passenger entered a different vehicle and left the scene.
The driver remained. He had no driver’s license, but offered a United Kingdom passport. The 21 year-old man spoke with an Irish accent and informed the officer that the SUV did not belong to him but to someone named, “John Smith.” He also stated that he did not know the last name of his passenger. He further alleged that he was currently living in Econolodge in Sharon but did not know his own room number or the phone number of the hotel.
The officer discovered that the man had a warrant for his arrest from Sharon District Court for motor vehicle offenses. The officer made the arrest based on the warrant. The driver informed the officer that he had been arrested in Weymouth two days prior, but had not received any paperwork for appearing at court. The officer explained that his appearance would have been required in court the following day, or Tuesday, June 6th. The current arrest was being made due to the man’s failure to show up in court on Tuesday.
The man was cited for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, driving an uninsured and unregistered vehicle, attaching plates, and failing to signal while making a turn. Bail was set at $2,045.
Another officer spoke to a homeowner on Dean Street who had earlier conversed with the arrestee. The homeowner informed the officer that he was approached by men in a truck from “Hopkins Masonry,” who tried to sell him a new driveway. An hour later, the homeowner was approached by a person with a flyer for “Colonial Paving and Masonry.” The officer advised the homeowner to contact police in the future if a solicitor comes to the homeowner's door without a permit from police.
Monday, June 5th
More Unemployment Benefits Fraud
10:32 a.m. A resident of Lancaster Drive reported a case of unemployment benefits fraud. No further details are available yet.
Thanks to Lieutenant Christopher Sheehy and Westwood Police for contributing information for this article.
Updated 7/23/2023.
