41° and Fog
Image
Image by Westwood Minute/Darlene Wong Cancell.
1-19-2025 10:15pm
Police Log: Hopkinton Students Suspected of Vandalism at Westwood High School, Gun Brandished in Parking Lot Dispute, 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 12th
Trespassing a Family Member from Shared Residence
6:28 p.m. Police were dispatched to a home in Westwood on the report of property destruction. Upon arriving, an officer spoke to the resident who complained that a family member had created a mess inside the home. The complainant requested that the family member – another resident of the home - be trespassed from the home, but police were unable to trespass a resident from their own home. The two family members agreed to separate for the evening. Police provided the complainant, the homeowner, with options for court processes to effect an eviction.
Saturday, January 11th
Misplaced Decimal Makes Big Difference
2:11 p.m. A resident of Fox Hill Street reported inadvertently granting an unknown person remote access to the resident’s work computer in order to provide computer repair. Following the incident, the resident found a charge on a bank account for $1,050, although the charge for the computer repair was to be $10.50. The resident’s bank reversed the charges.
Driver Displays Gun During Parking Space Dispute
5:38 p.m. An officer was dispatched to the parking lot of Wegmans supermarket on University Avenue on the report that a male had brandished a handgun over a parking lot argument. Police met with the caller, a man from Westborough, who told police that he had argued with another man after the second man attempted to park in a parking space that the complainant had been waiting for. During the argument, the other driver allegedly showed the complainant a gun while remaining in his vehicle. No threatening words were made, but the gun was displayed. The driver’s car has been identified as a grey, Audi SUV. This case is being investigated.
Report of Racial Slurs
6:36 p.m. Police received a call from the University Station shopping plaza, reporting that a male party was yelling racial slurs. When police arrived, the subject had departed. He was later identified as a resident of Quincy.
Failed Attempt at Buy-One-Get-Everything-Free
8:40 p.m. Police responded to a call of a shoplifting at the Target store on University Avenue. Store staff reported that the 38 year-old woman from Newton, accompanied by a three year old child, was observed filling her shopping cart with $189 worth of goods. However, she was observed paying for only one drink before attempting to leave with all of the merchandise. Asset protection staff stopped her, and she was issued a trespass notice. She will receive a summons to court for shoplifting.
Friday, January 10th
Resident Becomes Suspicious of Fraudulent $30,000 Checks
11:15 a.m. A resident of Westwood Glen reported check fraud after receiving three suspicious checks for $30,000 each. The resident told police that an online acquaintance, whom he believed to be female, had written the checks for him to deposit in his account.
Upon receiving the checks, the resident was suspicious. An examination by police revealed that the checks were fraudulent.
It is believed that the online contact intended for the man to deposit the fraudulent checks, and that she would subsequently ask him to withdraw the sums for her and send them to her. However, because the deposits were fraudulent and the check funds non-existent, such a withdrawal from the man’s account would have come from the man’s own personal funds. Police advised the resident to cease all contact with the online contact.
Stolen/Missing License Plate
11:24 a.m. A Westwood resident reported losing the front license plate from her Chevrolet Tahoe. She estimated that the plate went missing around December 23rd.
Distressed Driver Travels Wrong Direction on Highway
12:37 p.m. A motorist contacted Westwood Police Department from the area of a Seasons convenience store and gas station on Providence Highway to ask for directions. An officer responded and found the caller, a woman from Cambridge, in the parking lot in her yellow Mitsubishi. She appeared visibly upset and shaken. The officer attempted to provide the woman with directions.
The woman rolled up her window and drove her vehicle out of the parking lot, onto Route 1 southbound, but headed the wrong way - in a northerly direction, against traffic. The officer notified dispatch and state police. Police conducted a search of the immediate area.
State police stopped her on Interstate 95 in Needham. She is believed to have reached that point by travelling in the opposite direction of the flow of traffic. Police transported the woman to the hospital.
Stay in the loop with Westwood Minute in your inbox. Subscribe!
Wednesday, January 8th
Influencer Wary of Enthusiastic Follower
9:58 a.m. A female resident of Westwood, who is a social influencer who attends an out of state university, reported concerns to police regarding the suspicious behavior of a follower. The complainant told police that the follower had made multiple attempts to contact the influencer, and the influencer believes that based upon the follower’s social media posts, the follower is making efforts to attend the same places and events which the influencer attends. Recently, the complainant learned that the follower has enrolled in the same college. Although no laws appear to have been broken, the complainant was apprehensive and wanted the information recorded by police.
Warning Issued to Owner of Mess-Making Dog
1:06 p.m. Westwood’s animal control officer received a complaint of a black dog, unleashed and frequently roaming and the Hillview Road neighborhood, answering the call of nature in inappropriate places, with the mess being left without being cleaned up by its owner. The ACO identified the dog and its owner and advised the owner that failing to clean up after the dog is unacceptable. The ACO also noted that the dog’s license and rabies vaccination were both out of date. The owner was advised to rectify the matter by March 31st.
One Thing Leads to Another
8:32 p.m. Police were summoned when a suspected shoplifter was detained at the Target store on University Avenue by the store’s loss prevention personnel. The female was observed concealing about $200 worth of clothing in a purse and attempting to walk out of the store without paying. The suspect was identified as also being suspected of a past shoplifting.
Police made the arrest, and while doing so, the suspect asked for police help in turning off her vehicle which was parked in a handicap space in front of the store. Police determined that the disability placard inside the vehicle belonged to a senior with a different name than the shoplifting suspect, who was a 35 year-old from Roxbury. The suspect told police that the disability placard belonged to her employer.
In addition to shoplifting by concealing merchandise, police issued the suspect a citation for misuse of a disability placard.
Tuesday, January 7th
Identity Theft with Banks for Credit
2:25 p.m. A resident of Westchester Drive reported receiving notices from five different credit card companies regarding applications for credit which the resident did not submit. The resident contacted Citizens Bank, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Citi Card, and US Bank to inform them of the fraud. Police have advised the resident to put a watch on the resident’s financial accounts and to obtain a taxpayer PIN number from the IRS for secure filing of income taxes.
Identity Theft for Credit and Unemployment Benefits
5:02 p.m. A resident of Glen Road reported receiving notices that attempts were made to open new accounts which the resident had not applied for. Fraudulent applications had been submitted to Capital One, Wells Fargo, and GO2bank in the early fall to December of 2024.
More recently, in January, someone filed for unemployment benefits using her personal information.
Police have advised the resident to change passwords to her financial accounts, notify credit reporting agencies of the fraud, and to report the unemployment benefits fraud to Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance.
Identity Theft for Financial Accounts and Lexis-Nexis
6:11 p.m. A resident of Croft Regis Road received notices that someone had attempted to open accounts in the resident’s name at Green Dot Bank, Capital One, and Lexis-Nexis.
No financial loss has been reported. The resident was advised to contact all three institutions to notify them of the fraud and to put a freeze on the resident’s financial accounts.
Monday, January 6th
Members of Rival Sports Team Suspected of Vandalizing Westwood High School Music Room
6:52 p.m. The assistant principal of Westwood High School notified the school’s resource office of an incident of vandalism in the school’s music room that took place on January 3rd. A teacher discovered the room “trashed.” A soundboard valued at $3,000 was damaged.
In reviewing security footage, the assistant principal observed three males walking in a hallway around 6:52 p.m. and again at 7:10 p.m. on January 3rd. They were the only persons observed using that hallway from the end of working hours that Friday until the start of school on Monday, January 6th.
On Friday evening at 6:30 p.m., there had been a varsity boys basketball match between Westwood High School and Hopkinton High School. As such, the Westwood High School Resource Officer contacted Hopkinton Police Department, and provided images taken of the youths seen in the hallway. Hopkinton Police confirmed the identity of the youth as three members of the Hopkinton junior varsity basketball team, aged 15 to 16 years old.
The families of the young suspects have been contacted. Westwood Police reports the understanding that that the families are willing to pay for the damaged audio equipment. Should they fail to pay, criminal charges may be forthcoming.
All three juveniles were issued trespass notices from Westwood High School.
Thanks to Lieutenant Christopher Sheehy and the Westwood Police Department for contributing information for this article.
