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11-19-2025 12:05am
Police Log: Thief Attempts to Charge $55K on Victim's Credit Cards, 2 Arrests for DUI, Venmo Account Hacked
Darlene Cancell
Editor
The news described in this installment of 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 Michael DiLalla and police staff to Westwood Minute through written records and conversations. Occasionally, Westwood Minute may weave facts that it obtains from other sources into these stories.
Sunday, November 9th
Intoxicated Driver Crashes into Sign on University Avenue
1:02 a.m. Police responded to the scene of a one-vehicle accident on University Avenue, where they found a black 2013 Chevrolet Malibu with front-end damage. Police also observed damage to a Carruth Capital building sign. The driver told police she was okay. Police asked the driver to exit the car due to the potential danger of staying in the damaged vehicle
The driver, a 31 year-old woman from Mansfield, told police she had left Attleboro for Walpole, and had followed her GPS to her current location. She told police she had collided with the sign because of a vehicle traveling in the other direction.
Police noticed evidence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and marijuana in the driver’s area of the vehicle, and burnt marijuana in the front seat. Police also noticed the smell of alcohol on the driver’s breath.
In a field sobriety test, police observed the driver to be unsteady on her feet. She denied drinking or smoking. A breathalyzer test came up with a result of 0.14% blood alcohol content level (BAC), over the legal limit of 0.08%. Police arrested the woman for driving while intoxicated.
Saturday, November 8th
Thief Attempts to Charge over $55,000 on Victim’s Credit Cards
6:57 p.m. Police received a complaint from a client of Life Time on Harvard Street who complained that three credit cards were stolen from his wallet and were used to make costly purchases. The Needham resident had arrived at the gym around 10:00 a.m. and left around 12:40 p.m. In that time, he placed his wallet in a locker, along with other items. Later on, he received alerts of attempts to use his credit card. A charge of $4,000 was made at Louis Vuitton. Two charges were pending from Costco – one that exceeded $4,000 and one that exceeded $16,000. A charge of $25,000 was attempted and rejected at Tiffany. A charge of $5,000 was rejected by “Molly.” The victim did not notice his credit cards were missing from his wallet until receiving the spending alerts.
Friday, November 7th
Venmo Account Hacked
10:49 a.m. A resident of Canton Street complained that someone had hacked her Venmo account and had stolen $1,200 by transferring money from her Venmo account to an unknown PayPal account. She owns a business in Boston and uses Venmo frequently. She believes that someone must have taken a photo of her identification and then changed her Venmo password so that she could not access her own account. She attempted to freeze the Venmo account but was unable to do so because the user name and password had been changed.
Minor Injuries from Head-On Collision on Hartford Street
2:21 p.m. Police responded to the intersection of Hartford Street and Mayfair Drive where they found an accident involving two vehicles with air bag deployment and injuries. Police had to close off the road to traffic. Police say it appears that a brown, 2007 Chevrolet Silverado was heading west on Hartford Street when its driver, a 37-year-old man from Franklin, lost control of the car. The vehicle crossed the center yellow line and into the lane of oncoming traffic.
Police say the driver of the second vehicle, a white, Kira Niro headed east on Hartford, was unable to do anything to avoid a head-on collision with the Silverado.
The driver of the Silverado was transported to the hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the Kia, a resident of Framingham, and a passenger of the Kia, also were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
Police cited the driver of the Silverado with a marked lanes violation.
Arrest for DUI on High Street
6:12 p.m. Police arrested a Roslindale woman for driving under the influence of liquor after her black BMW, travelling east on High Street, veered off the road and struck a fire hydrant in the vicinity of Gay Street. The BMW also struck the rear, left corner of a grey, Acura SUV that was driven by a Dover resident. The collision disabled the Acura and caused the Acura’s airbag to deploy. The driver of the Acura was uninjured.
A witness told police that the BMW violently rear-ended the Acura, and deflected off the collision onto the side of the road.
Paramedics evaluated the driver of the BMW. She was described as having slurred speech and glossy, bloodshot eyes.
Police observed a container in the BMW that police suspected held alcohol. Following sobriety field tests, police determined the 51 year-old Roslindale resident had been driving drunk. Police arrested her and also charged her with a marked lanes violation.
Thursday, November 6th
Scammer(s) Impersonate DEA Agents
10:32 a.m. A resident reported a scam after answering a call from a 202 area code by someone who identified himself as “Daniel Escobar” from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The caller told the resident that DEA was investigating a national money-laundering scheme.
The resident provided his date of birth and the amount of money in his bank account, but did not provide account number.
The caller transferred the resident to an “Amy Turner,” also allegedly from DEA, and then the resident was transferred to “Antoine McCord,” allegedly from DEA. “Antoine” threatened the resident, causing him to hang up. “Antoine” called back four more times in about two minutes. “Antoine” reportedly threatened to send someone to the resident’s home if the resident did not call back.
The resident blocked the caller’s number and has changed his password with his bank.
Wednesday, November 5th
Vandalism at Islington MBTA Commuter Rail Station
7:25 p.m. Police received a report of vandalism to a vehicle that was parked at the Islington MBTA commuter rail station on Carroll Avenue. The Honda Civic’s rear window was smashed and a door handle had been ripped off. No belongings were missing from the car.
Career Shoplifting Suspect Runs Out of Luck
7:34 p.m. Police responded to the Target store on University Avenue where a middle-aged woman was stopped by loss prevention staff for failing to scan merchandise worth $80 at the self-checkout counter. The Marshfield resident was believed to have shoplifted from the Westwood and Hanover Target stores a total of 33 previous times. Police charged her with one count of shoplifting. Additional charges are pending as police await evidence compiled by the store.
Tuesday, November 4th
Fraudulent Credit Card Application
11:18 p.m. A resident of Magnolia Drive reported that a credit card application was fraudulently submitted to U.S. Bank in her name. She became aware of the fraud when the bank sent the credit card, which she had not requested, to her address. No money was reported lost.
Thanks to Lieutenant Michael DiLalla and the Westwood Police Department for contributing information to this Westwood Minute article.
