Birds of flight no more; woman brooms burglar
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.
FLYING THE COOP
Have you lost a bird lately? An aggressive rooster was picked up by Millis/Medway Animal Control on Nov. 15, and to help locate his owner, an officer shared a photo of him on Facebook. “This trouble maker is now in Animal Control custody,” the Facebook post said. “He’s been eluding my capture but today I was able to pick him up as he was assaulting another rooster in the area. He’s now off the streets and not involved in any ‘fowl’ play. If you own this guy please call 508-533-3251.” Eleven days later, a parakeet was found on Ivy lane in Andover. Animal control shared a photo of the bird on Facebook, and asked the owner to call 978-623-3527.
BROOMING HIM OUT THE DOOR
At about 2:52 a.m. Nov. 29, Worcester police were dispatched to a reported break-in in progress on Gibbs Street. When officers arrived, they saw a woman yelling out the window saying, “He’s trying to get inside!” Officers located a 32-year-old Fitchburg man at the scene and detained him while they gathered more on what was going on. Officers determined that the man had been trying to enter the home, and when the resident opened the door and saw him trying to get in, police said, “she pushed him back with a broomstick and told him to leave,” and when she locked the door, he allegedly continued to try to come in. Police arrested the would-be burglar on charges of attempting to commit a crime (armed burglary), two counts of carrying a dangerous weapon (he was allegedly carrying two double-edged knives), disorderly conduct, and disturbing the peace.
NOT A SAFE PLACE
At approximately 2:50 p.m. Nov. 5, Somerville police responded to a hotel in Assembly Row after employees found two firearms and two bags of methamphetamine in a safe in one of the guest rooms. The room was registered under the names of a man and woman, who apparently left the hotel and then remembered they forgot some of their belongings. When they returned to retrieve their stuff, officers placed them under arrest. Police wrote that officers recovered the two firearms — both of which had been reported stolen — and “a large quantity” of methamphetamine.
DON’T FALL FOR THIS
At 11:39 a.m. Dec. 5, a resident of Foxglove Lane in Stow told police she had received an iPad in the mail she had ordered from Verizon, and then she got a phone call from someone who claimed to be from the company and told her that the iPad she just received was defective and needed to be sent back, and a new iPad would be sent in the mail to replace it. The person posing as a Verizon rep even sent the resident a US Postal Service mailing label to ship the iPad. Thankfully, the resident decided to go to a Verizon store in person to get it sorted out, and that’s when she learned that no one from Verizon had contacted her, and whoever did call was trying to steal her iPad. Police documented the incident in the log.
FAKE PLATE
One day in late November, State Police assigned to the Framingham barracks pulled over a vehicle on Interstate 95 in Waltham and discovered that the driver not only had a temporary plate that was fake, but also a certificate of registration that was bogus. The driver was issued a summons and the vehicle was towed from the scene, and a second person also was issued a summons for supplying the fraudulent Registry of Motor Vehicles documents. The State Police Association of Massachusetts, the union that represents troopers and sergeants, shared a photo of the fake plate and registration on Instagram and made it a teaching moment for the public. “Fraudulent RMV documents can be obtained through social media websites and sent via e-mail or PDF files and printed from home,” the post said. “Do not allow yourself to be victimized by these online dealers selling such documents. Registrations and licenses may only be legally obtained through the Registry of Motor Vehicles.”