Police Log: Grandchild in Jail Scam, Cutting Short a Teen Adventure, Fraudster Impersonates Amazon

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The news described in Westwood Minute's Police Log article 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.

Monday, December 6, 2021

Grandchild in jail scam

10:18 a.m. A resident of Longwood Drive reported being the target of a “grandchild in jail scam.” A male called the resident and identified himself as her grandson. However, she had seen media reports on “grandchild in jail scams” and she ended the call immediately. She was able to provide the caller ID to police, but that lead yielded no further information.

Cars spin from impact of collision on High Street

1:00 p.m. Two vehicles were involved in an accident when the driver of a 2003 Infinity lost control while making a left turn from Summer Street onto High Street. The Infinity went sideways in the northbound lane of High Street, striking a small truck, a 2016 GNC, in the rear quarter of the driver’s side.

As a result of the collision, the Infinity ended up pointing southward in the road, while the small truck rotated 90 degrees and ended up facing east on the High Street sidewalk.

Police determined that the driver of the Infinity was at fault, and that he lost control of the Infinity due to the speed of his turn. He is a man from Brockton, and he received injuries from the accident. Westwood Fire Paramedics transported him to Beth Israel Deaconess Needham. The driver of the small truck is a man from Marlborough.

Police charged the Brockton man with citations for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, operating a vehicle with a revoked registration, a marked lanes violation and speeding.

Mediating a family dispute

4:01 p.m. Officers mediated a dispute between a parent and an adult child on Canton Street about unauthorized use of the parent’s vehicle.

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Fraudster gains account access by posing as Amazon representative

12:47 p.m. A resident of Westwood Glen Road reported be defrauded of $1,436. He had received a message from “amazon.com” that indicated his Amazon account had been hacked. He called the phone number provided and remote access was gained to his bank account. There were two separate transactions of $718 each. Police advised the man that customer service numbers on a company’s main web site are the contact numbers that should be used for online account questions.

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Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Mailbox vandalism

9:37 a.m. Damage to a mailbox on Metcalf Road was reported to have occurred overnight between December 7 and December 8. The resident told police that he first noticed his mail box post was knocked over on the morning of December 8th. Police reviewed video from a Blink home security camera and observed a vehicle make a U-turn on Metcalf Road next to the man’s driveway before driving away around 2:41 a.m. The video contained a skip so that no strike to the mailbox was seen. Police will attempt to review the video on other equipment to see if more details will be revealed. The transfer of red paint onto the base of the mail box was found, indicating that the vehicle may be red. No car parts were found at the scene.

Brawl at the gym

11:24 p.m. Police responded to a report of an altercation on the second floor basketball court of Lifetime Fitness. Police spoke to a male who had called when he witnessed the fight occurring. He said he was playing basketball when a brawl broke out. When the brawlers learned police were on the way, they quickly left. Upon arrival, police had noted no moving cars or people in the quiet parking lot. Police inquired about obtaining an internal video from Lifetime fitness but it was not available at the time.

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Two-car crash on East Street

8:07 a.m. A two-car collision on East Street was investigated by Westwood Police. A 2017 Toyota was travelling west on East Street toward Washington Street, with the right of way, when a 2017 Acura on East Street attempted to make a left turn into the rear parking lot new building located at the corner of Washington and East streets. The front end of the Toyota rammed into the right quarter of the Acura as the Acura made a turn. There were no injuries that required transportation to the hospital and no citations were issued. However, both vehicles required towing.

Saturday, December 11, 2021

Teens’ adventure cut short by police and Uber

1:28 a.m. Units were dispatched to the Seasons convenience store (of Shell gas station on Providence Highway) where police found an Uber driver and his car and two passengers standing on foot.

The Uber driver told police that he got into an argument with his two passengers whom he believed to be improperly wearing their masks. He reported that one of the passengers then told him he was a young teenager. This caused the Uber driver to immediately pull over to the parking lot of the Seasons convenience store, due to Uber’s policy of not transporting unaccompanied minors.

Both of the passengers were juveniles, a 14 year-old boy and a 15 year-old boy, who were trying to make their way to Stoughton. The driver went on his way and police assisted with arrangements to get the teens to their destination. Police transported the 14 year-old to his guardian in Stoughton. After talking to a relative, Police discovered that the 15 year-old had slipped away from a Massachusetts Department of Children & Families facility. He was returned to the custody of DCF.

Sunday, December 12, 2021

Following too close for comfort

1:45 p.m. Police received a 911 call from a motorist who said she was being followed by a vehicle for some distance from Interstate 95. She pulled into the police station parking lot, followed by the second vehicle. Two officers approached to investigate. They learned that one motorist was from Norwood and the other was from Portsmouth, Rhode Island. There had been an incident on the highway which caused one driver to follow the other. It is unclear from the log entry which driver was being followed and which was following. Police mediated and peace was restored.

Car vandalized

2:57 p.m. A father and son who reside on Summer Street reported vandalism of the son’s vehicle while it was parked at a friend’s house in Westwood. When the son exited his friend’s home, he noticed the damage. There was scratches on the rear of the vehicle, which did not appear to have occurred naturally.

Theft by transfers and withdrawals

8:37 p.m. Police responded to a private residence inside Gables University Station apartments for a complaint of theft from the resident’s bank account. The woman resident showed police documentation that approximately $50,000 had been removed from her bank account over the last three weeks. She had also discovered that her debit card for that bank account was missing.

Some of the money had been directly withdrawn. Other transactions were transfers to Venmo and a cryptocurrency exchange. Police are investigating and advised the resident to contact her bank to report the theft, and place a freeze on any accounts with that bank.

Thanks to Lieutenant Christopher Sheehy and the Westwood Police Department for contributing information for this article.

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You may also be interested in reading these articles:

- Carolers from First Parish of Westwood Serenade Westwood Police (Twitter)

- Police Log: Westwood PD, Target Put Brakes on "Grandchild in Jail" Scam

- Police Log: Man Driving a Car Chases a Woman on Foot, Identity Theft, and Mistaking a Neighbor for a Thief

- Select Board Recognition of Westwood Police Chief Silva (see entry at article's end)