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4-13-2026 12:23am
Police Log: $40K Scam, Shoplifting, and Crash on High Street
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 incorporate facts that it obtains from other sources into these stories.
Monday, April 6
Two-Car Crash on High Street
7:42 a.m. Police arrived at the scene of a two-vehicle crash at High Street and Pond Street involving two Toyota RAV4 SUVs. According to the police report, the first vehicle, driven by a Westwood resident, stopped at a stop sign and then entered traffic. Upon doing so, she was struck by the second car, traveling east on High Street. No injuries were reported and both vehicles were able to drive away from the scene.
Saturday, April 4
Investigating a Hit and Run
3:48 a.m. Upon the request of Massachusetts State Police for assistance, Westwood Police contacted a resident of Longmeadow Drive for questioning related to a hit and run in Sharon on Interstate 95. The resident told police that someone else had been driving his car that night.
Friday, April 3
Suspicious Activity on East Street
6:14 p.m. Police responded to East Street where a caller reported that an individual was seen pulling on doors of homes there. Upon police approaching, the individual drove away. Police have identified the registered owner of the suspect’s car as a man from Roslindale.
Shoplifting Subject Neglects to Scan Merchandise
8:17 p.m. Police were dispatched to the Target Store on University Avenue for the report of shoplifting. Staff had observed the suspect in the self-checkout lane, neglecting to scan multiple items. The suspect was known to the staff as someone who had missed scanning items in the past. In this case, she neglected to scan items worth a total of $95, including a Taylor Swift vinyl record. Store staff confronted her, and she was cooperative. The Boston resident will be summoned to court to face a charge of shoplifting.
Thursday, April 2
Mailed Check Fraud
12:58 p.m. A resident of Mill Street reported check fraud upon discovering that a personal check for $1,690 which he had mailed to pay a credit card bill was not received. The check payee had been altered to state “Miguel Ramirez” as the payee. Detectives are investigating.
Stolen Medicine
1:24 p.m. A resident of Highland Glen Road reported the belief that someone had been stealing medication from her apartment. She noticed that eight pills were missing from her bottle of 60 Clonazepam pills.
Drinking and Causing a Disturbance
6:58 p.m. Police responded to the parking lot of Not Your Average Joe's restaurant on University Avenue, where a disturbance had been reported. They found a man from Newburyport who had the strong odor of alcohol on his breath and who told police he was a recovering alcoholic but was experiencing a relapse. He reportedly had caused a disturbance by refusing to pay for his food.
He told police he intended to pay for a hotel, but given his inability to pay for his dinner, police determined he was unlikely to be able to pay for his lodging. Police placed him under protective custody and transported him to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Needham for evaluation.
Wednesday, April 1
Resident Loses $40,000 in Scam
12:56 p.m. A resident of Spring Lane reported losing $40,000 in a scam. He told police that after making an Amazon purchase on March 30, he received a pop-up message on his computer screen that stated his account had been frozen and provided a phone number to call. He called and spoke to a person whom he believed to be an Amazon representative. The person asked him about a purchase of an Apple computer in Albany, New York, which the resident said he did not buy. The person transferred the resident to speak with another person who purported to be “Andrew Ferguson” of the Federal Trade Commission.
The supposed FTC employee told the resident that his personal information was compromised and asked him to wire his money to a new account to protect his money. The resident did so, transferring $40,000 from a local bank to Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco.
After telling a work colleague about the incident, the work colleague researched the FTC phone number and determined that the number was not an official FTC number. At that point, the resident realized he had been scammed.
Backyard Tent
6:03 p.m. A resident of High Street reported finding a tent behind the home, in or near the resident’s backyard. It was empty when inspected.
One Thing Leads to Another
6:32 p.m. An officer observed a 2013 Town and Country vehicle in the area of East and Elm streets, which had an expired registration sticker. The owner of the vehicle also had a warrant from Brockton District Court for driving an unregistered motor vehicle, driving an uninsured motor vehicle, a suspended registration and an expired inspection sticker. Upon making the traffic stop and identifying the driver as the vehicle’s owner, the officer arrested the driver, a resident of Roxbury. He was later released on personal recognizance.
Suspicious Activity
11:02 p.m. Police received a report of three suspicious vehicles driving around the neighborhood. One was an Audi, another was a Ford Escape, and a third was a vehicle with no lights operating in the back. Police responded but did not locate any such vehicles.
Tuesday, March 31
Wandering Resident
8:22 p.m. An officer was dispatched to a group home on High Street on the report of a male leaving the home on foot. The officer located the individual who told the officer that he wanted to go for walk around the block. The officer assisted the individual back home. The director of the home informed the officer that the resident should not leave the home without an employee.
Late Night Knocking
11:29 p.m. A resident of Arcadia Road reported someone knocking on the storm door at the late night hour. Police responded and found nothing amiss.
Thanks to Lieutenant Michael DiLalla and Westwood Police Department for sharing information for this Westwood Minute article.
