Marvin the muskrat freed from fence
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 lesser-known — but no less noteworthy — incidents from police log books (a.k.a. blotters) in our communities.
RODENT RESCUE
On March 21, Norfolk animal control officer Hilary Cohen got a call from a resident who found a creature stuck in a chain-link fence which started hissing when approached. It turned out to be a muskrat, and Cohen realized that freeing it would be a twoperson job, so she contacted Erin Mallette, the animal control officer for Millis and Medway. Cohen shared photos of the rescue on Facebook. “‘Marvin’ the mischievous muskrat decided to explore unknown territory today and got himself into quite the mixed-up mess,” the post said. “He may have been utilizing Google Maps, took a left-hand turn, but he wouldn’t tell us; all he did was try to hiss and bite.” Cohen and Mallette used graspers, bolt cutters, and a net to free Marvin and release him back into the woods. “Animals in general live by the philosophy that if their heads fit through a hole or space, the rest will follow, and this is where things go wrong for many,” Cohen wrote. “We wish you the best, Marvin, you’re welcome.”
YOU DESERVE A BREAK TODAY
Sometimes things get a little crazy under the golden arches. At 1:16 p.m. March 20, police received a call reporting that there was a fight in front of a McDonald’s in Bridgewater and juveniles were “spraying people” with a product that smelled like a sewer. Police responded and peace was restored, and parents came and took custody of the youths involved in the fracas.
Ten days later, there was another difficult episode at a different McDonald’s location. At about 6:45 p.m. on March 30 a police officer was working a paid detail at McDonald’s on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester when a 29year-old woman who lives nearby allegedly walked up to a customer at the restaurant and asked him for money, police said. The customer told police that he didn’t know the woman, had never seen her before, and denied her request. When he said no, the woman began to swear at him and exited the restaurant. But it didn’t end there. As the customer was making his way out, he saw the woman inside his car, rummaging through his glove box, and he ran out to confront her. The detail officer followed him outside to see what the commotion was about. The man reported that he had a wallet in his vehicle that contained $300 and the money was now missing. The officer then spoke to the woman, who denied taking the man’s money, and when the officer pointed out that she was holding a fistful of cash, she dropped the bills and ran away. According to police, after the customer got his money back, he didn’t want to press charges. But it wasn’t over yet. While he was walking to his car, the woman “ran up to his car and started kicking it, leaving a visible dent,” police wrote. The woman was arrested on charges of larceny of a motor vehicle, vandalism, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and disturbing the peace.
SELF STORAGE
A strange situation unfolded at a storage facility in Somerville last month. At approximately 7:21 p.m. March 2, Somerville police responded to the business on Medford Street and spoke with the victim, who said he was visiting his storage unit the night before when he encountered a person he knew inside it. “He then reported the male party held him hostage inside the storage unit until he was eventually able to escape,” police wrote on Facebook. “The male suspect stole the victim’s jacket and wallet.”
BALCONY AFLAME
On the morning of March 20, firefighters were called to deal with a blaze that started on a porch at an apartment building at 1380 Main St. in Brockton. Crews arrived to find bright orange flames on a second-floor balcony. The Brockton Fire Department posted a video of the fire on X, and determined that careless disposal of smoking material was likely to blame. Two sprinkler heads were activated in the apartment to prevent the further spread of the flames, and the Brockton Housing Authority responded to the scene to make repairs.