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1-12-2025 9:36pm
Police Log: Alleged Kidnapping Turns into a Catfishing Story, Husband Charged with Larceny of Wife's Phone, and Other Stories
Darlene Cancell
Editor
The news described in Westwood Minute's weekly Police Log article series is primarily based on selected incidents from the Westwood Police Department's daily log, and information provided by Lieutenant Christopher Sheehy and police staff through written records and conversations. Occasionally, Westwood Minute may weave a few facts that it obtains from other sources into these stories.
Sunday, January 5th
Assisting a Driver in Need of Help
2:14 p.m. An officer on patrol came upon a vehicle with a flat tire on High Street, near the Mobile gas station. The officer assisted the driver with inflating the tire.
Saturday, January 4th
Argument Escalates over Restaurant Service
2:51 p.m. Police received a report of a disturbance at Del Frisco’s restaurant on University Avenue, where two groups of patrons seated in two adjacent booths were yelling at each other. When police arrived, one family comprised of two women and a child were still present while the other group had left. The women refused to provide identification to police.
Police learned that when food for the family arrived at their table, the family complained of slow and substandard service. They noted that the group seated at the next table were served first.
The group at the next table told the family to stop complaining and an argument ensued. As the occupants of the second table rose to leave, one of the men told the family that they should shut their mouths, enjoy the food, and he would pay for their tab. It is unclear whether he did in fact pay.
After declining to provide their identities to police at the restaurant, the family walked into Westwood Police Station some time later to officially to record a complaint. In the later complaint, the family added that the occupants of the other table had directed racial slurs at them.
Friday, January 3rd
Illegal Dumping in Resident's Trash Bin
11:19 a.m. A resident of Woodland Road complained that someone has been dumping construction waste in the resident’s trash bins.
Identity Theft for Unemployment Benefits
4:27 p.m. A resident of Youngs Road reported a case of identity theft to fraudulently obtain benefits from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance. An unknown person had opened a claim using the resident’s personal information.
Suspicious Behavior Gets Man a Trespass Notice
6:44 p.m. An officer was dispatched for a shoplifting in progress at Wegman’s supermarket on University Avenue. Store video showed the subject placing over $1,000 worth of merchandise into a shopping cart during a store visit that lasted about 30 minutes. The man then went to the café area of the store. He was seen peeking around the exit doors. He then exited without the cart. The man was confronted and issued a notice of trespass.
Reported Kidnapping Turns Into a Catfishing Story
9:00 p.m. A man from Beverley called police from the Amtrak Station on University Avenue to report what he believed to be a kidnapping. He had arranged to meet a woman at the train station at 3 p.m., but the woman – allegedly named “Sarah Baith" from Ewing Township in New Jersey - never arrived. The man told police that he received a text from the woman’s phone number, stating that she had been kidnapped by three men who were demanding a $5,000 ransom.
Police could not find any person with the name, “Sarah Baith,” and Sarah’s alleged phone number appeared to belong to a man from Georgia. What was believed to be her address was actually the address for a Panera Bread Store in New Jersey. A ticket from New Jersey to Westwood had been purchased by a “Sarah Baith,” but the ticket was never collected on the train. The phone number associated with the ticket was the phone number of the complainant. After questioning, police learned that the complainant had purchased the ticket for Sarah to meet him. The complainant provided police with a copy of Sarah’s driver’s license which police determined to be a poor Photoshop copy of a New Jersey driver’s license.
Police learned that the complainant had sent $20,000 to Sarah over the last few months.
Police informed the complainant of their determination that he had been “catfished.” Police advised him to gather evidence and present it to the Beverly Police Department.
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Thursday, January 2nd
Pedestrian in Gay Street Crosswalk Sideswiped by Vehicle
4:35 p.m. An officer responded to a residence on Gay Street on the report of a pedestrian injured in a motor vehicle accident. Upon arriving, the officer spoke to the pedestrian, a woman who said she was sideswiped by a car when she was walking her dog in the Gay Street crosswalk which stretches from Croft Regis Road toward Pine Hill School. The pedestrian told the officer that she and her dog were uninjured, despite the officer noting a small mark on the woman’s arm.
The driver was no longer at the scene, but he had given the pedestrian his contact information. The officer called the driver, a resident of Rhode Island. The driver told the officer that vehicles in front of him had obscured his view of the pedestrian in the road, and he was unable to stop in time to avoid sideswiping her.
Not a Break-In
4:40 p.m. Police received a call about a possible break-in on Abbey Road, where a resident told police that she found the garage door to her residence open. Subsequently, it was learned that the garage door had been opened remotely by another family member. Police checked the home, and found no intruders about.
Locked Out By Ex-Girlfriend
5:31 p.m. A family from Randolph complained to police that an ex-girlfriend of one of the family members had changed the lock to a shared storage unit on East Street. Apparently, the access codes had been changed in September 2024, and someone had removed the complainant’s name from the list of those permitted to access the storage unit. The complainant had tried to contact his ex-girlfriend, but was not successful. Police contacted the ex-girlfriend with an offer to mediate.
Wednesday, January 1st
First Police Log Entry of the New Year is Response to Burglar Alarm
12:03 a.m. A burglar alarm at a private residence on Woodridge Road was the first call that Westwood Police responded to in 2025. Police checked the home and found it “locked tight.” No one was home.
Sound of Fireworks in Early Morning
12:07 a.m. Police received a report of fireworks being shot off in the area of University Station and Station Drive. A cruiser responded to the area but found no one around.
Monday, December 30th
Husband Abandons Wife, is Charged with Larceny for Taking Her Phone
10:42 a.m. An officer responded to the parking lot of Dunkin’ on Washington Street on the report of a disturbance between a male and female. There, the officer observed a visibly upset woman from Springfield. She told the officer she had a verbal argument with her husband, who drove away in his 2008 Nissan sedan, with her cell phone in the car, leaving her stranded. She told the officer she was unable to call anyone for help to return to Springfield.
The officer transported the woman to the Amtrak station on University Avenue, where an Amtrak officer said he would drive the woman to South Station in Boston and put her on a train to Springfield that afternoon.
The woman’s husband will be sent a summons to court to answer a charge of larceny for taking his wife’s iPhone.
Male Causing Disturbance
12:13 p.m. An officer responded to Lambert’s Plaza on Providence Highway, after police received a report of a male causing a disturbance in front of Dunkin’ and bothering customers. The officer found a Westwood resident who was outside of Dunkin’ and advised him not to bother patrons. The man said he would behave himself.
Enough for Today
2:37 p.m. An officer was dispatched to the Dunkin’ in Lambert’s Plaza on the report of a male who was possibly passed out on the floor. The officer found the same man whom Westwood Police had spoken to at that location just a little over two hours earlier. The man was sitting in a chair with his head in his hands. After speaking with the officer, the man left the store to walk home.
Thanks to Lieutenant Christopher Sheehy and the Westwood Police Department for contributing information for this article.
