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5-07-2022 12:34am
Police Log: Police Interrupt Cooking Oil Thieves, Resident Arrested for OUI and More
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
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.
Tuesday, April 26th
One thing leads to another. . . and another
10:57 a.m. A patrol officer observed a 2010 black Volvo SUV traveling at an excessive speed in the area of Hartford Street and Burgess Avenue. The officer’s radar showed that the vehicle was traveling at 45 m.p.h. in a 35 m.p.h. zone. The officer made the traffic stop to cite the driver, a 26-year-old man from Pembroke, for speeding. Upon making the stop, the officer learned that the driver also had a straight warrant for his arrest from Wrentham District Court. Additionally, he had an expired driver’s license. The officer cited the man for speeding and driving without a license and arrested him on the warrant.
Two cases of unemployment payment fraud and identity theft
11:21 a.m. A resident of Hawthorn Street walked into the police station and reported a case of identity theft. The resident received notice from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue that he allegedly failed to report over $13,000 of income from unemployment payments in 2021. The resident had not filed for unemployment. Police advised the resident to contact the state’s Department of Unemployment Assistance to report the fraud.
1:22 p.m. A resident of Conant Road reported that she received a notice from the state Department of Revenue which informed her that she had failed to pay taxes on approximately $52,911 that she allegedly collected for unemployment in 2021. However, she neither applied for nor received unemployment payment. Police advised her to notify her banks and credit reporting companies to keep a watch on her accounts.
Thursday, April 28th
Police interrupt suspected cooking oil thieves
5:39 a.m. A patrol officer observed a 1997 white Ford van that was backed up to the dumpster of Toast Office restaurant on High Street. There were no employees in the location at that hour. The officer found two men with the van who were from Yonkers, New York. They told the officer that they had sought a location to relieve themselves that was out of sight from the road.
The officer observed that except for the front windshield, all the windows on the van were painted black. In the rear of the van were hoses and two 275-gallon liquid tanks. One tank was partially full of liquid. The men claimed that they had purchased the van with the tanks and hoses already inside it.
The officer learned, with the help of an arriving Toast Office employee, that the eatery has a contract with a provider to dispose of used cooking oil. The officer took photos of the van before sending the men on their way.
10:19 a.m. A detective spoke to employees of Chiara Bistro and learned that a quantity of used cooking oil had been stolen from the dumpster at the rear of the property. Police checked with other restaurants along Route 109, but no other eatery reported similar thefts.
Surveillance cameras provided video that showed that the same 1997 white Ford van, which police investigated when it was parked outside Toast Office, had also been outside Chiara Bistro. The two suspects from New York will be charged with larceny. The estimated value of the cooking oil was $1,600 to $1,900.
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Complaint of dog attack
6:47 p.m. A patrol officer took a report of a dog attack from a resident of Pheasant Hill. The resident complained that while his dog was in the front yard of his home, a German Shepherd entered the yard and tackled his dog. The German Shepherd then ran back to the street where a person, apparently a dog walker, followed in car. The complainant reported that his dog did not exhibit any injuries. The following day, police followed up with the German Shepherd’s owner.
A third case of unemployment payment fraud and identity theft
3:44 p.m. A resident of Strasser Avenue was applying for unemployment benefits when he discovered that someone else had applied for the benefits in his name. He contacted three credit reporting companies and police advised him to ask his banks to monitor his accounts.
Friday, April 29th
Missing ring
1:21 p.m. A resident of Dover reported a lost or stolen ring on behalf of her minor daughter. Her daughter had been at Life Time Fitness the day prior. She removed her ring and placed it in the cell phone holder of a treadmill. The ring was worth $1,000. Upon discovering the ring was missing, they contacted Life Time Fitness management, but no such ring was recovered. A check of the treadmills yielded no results.
Westwood resident arrested for driving under the influence
7:39 p.m. Police received a report of a one-vehicle crash on Summer Street. Upon arriving at the scene, police found a 2015 Porsche with major front-end and undercarriage damage. The vehicle had been traveling on High Street and made a turn onto Summer Street. It travelled over a small island in the center of the intersection and continued on Summer Street until it came to a rest against a rock wall.
Police determined that the driver, a man residing on Longmeadow Drive in Westwood, was driving under the influence of liquor. He was arrested and cited for OUI liquor, a marked lanes violation and negligent operation of a motor vehicle.
Suspected shoplifter from Newton
7:46 p.m. In response to a report of an attempted shoplifting, an officer was dispatched to Frugal Fannie’s on Wilson Way. The officer spoke to the store manager who was standing with the suspect, a 55 year-old woman from Newton. The manager informed police that security alarms went off when the woman attempted to exit the store. Unpaid store merchandise was found in her purse. The merchandise included a Tory Birch purse and clothing valued at approximately $443.
The suspect claimed she had forgotten to pay for the items. She was ordered not to trespass on store property and was allowed to leave. She will be summoned for shoplifting and charged with unlawful possession of theft detection device deactivators. In addition to recovering unpaid store merchandise from the woman’s purse, a device used to remove store tags was found.
Thanks to Lieutenant Christopher Sheehy and the Westwood Police Department for contributing information for this article.
