A hot air balloon unexpectedly lands in a neighborhood
Every day, police officers respond to reports of all sorts of events and nonevents, most of which never make the news. Here is a sampling of lesserknown — but no less noteworthy — incidents from police log books (a.k.a. blotters) in our communities.
BALLOON OUT OF THE BLUE
Police and firefighters in Boxborough responded to an unusual call early on the morning of Aug. 12 after a hot air balloon floated down and made a surprise landing in a residential neighborhood. “Welp, here’s something you don’t see every day!” police wrote on Facebook. “We are pleased to report that no one was injured as a result of this landing. Props to the pilot for a textbook safe landing between the trees. Only in Boxborough!”
‘STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN’
At about 9:49 a.m. July 13, Bedford police received a call from the front desk at the Bedford Plaza Hotel. A staff member there told police that someone had been sleeping in the hotel’s kitchen. According to the log entry, an officer was dispatched and “spoke to the male involved, he was advised to stay out of the kitchen.”
CRY FOR HELP?
On Aug. 9, Bridgewater police got a call from someone who saw a vehicle that had a bag hanging outside the driver’s side door that had the phrase “please help me” written on it, which naturally raised their concern enough to notify the police. Police responded and located the vehicle at a local residence and determined that it was not an emergency: The message on the bag was not a cry for help, but actually just an advertisement.
ROAD RAGE
On July 9, Sudbury police transferred a 911 call to Stow police from a person who was struck by a Gatorade bottle that came out of a moving vehicle on Sudbury Road. Sudbury police advised that the vehicle continued into their town and they would be checking the area. The vehicle was described as a white sedan, but no license plate was given and the caller declined to speak with police further to document the incident.
On July 25, Hopkinton police received a 911 call about a past road rage incident in which occupants of a vehicle threw a milkshake at the caller. Police spoke to the victim and took a report.
On Aug. 6, Wilmington police got a call from a woman who said she was riding her bike in the area of Shawsheen Avenue and Wilton Drive when someone in a gold sedan threw a water bottle at her, and a silver Prius beeped at her. Police checked the area but couldn’t locate either vehicle.
DOG DAYS OF SUMMER
At 4:54 p.m. Aug. 3, Wilmington police got a call from someone on Beverly Avenue reporting that their dog was stuck under a shed and they needed help to get him out. Firefighters and police were sent to the scene, and they were able to extract the pup successfully.
Two days later, on Aug. 5, Wilmington police and firefighters responded to a report of another dog stuck — this time, it was a canine who decided to explore underneath a back deck on North Street. The first call came in at 2:06 p.m., and, according to the log entry, police reported that the “dog was able to get out on her own.” A short time later, at 2:22 p.m., the caller on North Street called again, requesting an officer help him get the dog back out from under deck one more time. Police responded and noted in the log that the dog had been “freed again.”