Tuesday, April 25
1:17 p.m. An officer was dispatched to Nicholson Street to take a report of past vandalism to a motor vehicle. The resident told the officer that between 2 p.m. the day before and today at 10:30 a.m., someone had used a key to scratch her vehicle. The officer confirmed that there were three distinct scratches that appeared to have been made by a metal object on the driver’s side portion of the woman’s vehicle. The woman informed the officer that this was the third time in the past year that her car had been damaged in this way. She believed that it could be an old roommate that she had gotten arrested, but there was no evidence to connect that person to the damage. The officer could not see any cameras that would have been pointing in a direction to capture the incident. The officer advised the woman to place a camera up on her property to help prevent or catch whoever was causing the damage. She was advised that a police report would be on file for her records if she wanted to request one.
4:45 p.m. An officer met in the lobby of the station with a man who wanted to report a case of unemployment fraud. The man stated that earlier in the day he had been notified by his HR department that an unemployment claim had been filed in his name. The man was advised to file with the FTC via identityfraud.gov and follow its guide for notifying various credit bureaus.
7:38 p.m. An officer investigated the report of a vehicle crash on Lincoln Park.
9:04 p.m. The first of three vehicles with its headlights off was stopped in the area of Ocean Avenue and Pleasant Street. The other two were at 9:09 p.m. and 10:06 p.m. In all cases, the drivers were given verbal warnings.
Wednesday, April 26
10:16 a.m. A resident reported receiving annoying phone calls.
11:03 a.m. An officer spoke in the police station lobby with a man who had recently found out someone had applied for unemployment in his name. The man had already contacted the three credit agencies. He was told to let police know if he had any other issues.
12:29 p.m. An officer was dispatched to Hawthorn Road for a motor vehicle complaint. The dispatcher advised him that a staff member of the Village School had called to report that a car driven by a man kept driving down the wrong way on the school access road and dumping his trash into the school’s dumpster. As the officer arrived at Hawthorn Road, he saw a vehicle matching the one he had been given in the driveway. He then knocked on the door and made contact with the owner, who confessed to having dumped his trash into the school’s dumpster and having driven down the access road the wrong way, though he did not realize it was the wrong way. The officer advised him to refrain from dumping his personal trash in the school’s dumpster as the school did not want him doing so, and that he should be using the access road entry on Jersey Street to go onto school property and not the exit on Village Street. He was further advised that he should purchase a facility sticker for the town dump if he wished to have his trash dumped off his property that would not normally be taken during weekly collections.
1:57 p.m. A caller on Pleasant Street reported having received a police scam call.
2:33 p.m. An officer spoke by phone with a woman who was reporting a case of identity fraud: Someone had opened an account at Bank of America using her information, which she learned after receiving an email from the bank about the new account earlier in the day. The woman said that she had a Bank of America account at one point but not anymore. The woman had confirmed that the email was authentic, and the bank said that it would handle the incident. Acting on the advice of the bank, she had already begun to take steps to protect her credit and financial assets. She was made aware that a police report would be on file for her records if she needed it.
2:44 p.m. An officer investigated a report of kids throwing stuff on Village Street.
4:10 p.m. An officer investigated a disturbance reported on Humphrey Street.
5:46 p.m. Wood in the road was reported on Elm Street and Evans Road.
Thursday, April 27
11:23 a.m. An officer investigated a report of a scam call.
2:41 p.m. An officer assisted at the scene of a vehicle crash on Pleasant Street.
4:52 p.m. A vehicle crash was reported on Humphrey and Pleasant streets.
8:44 p.m. A streetlight was reported out on Ocean Avenue.
11:04 p.m. An officer investigated a report of loud kids on Chestnut Street and Harbor View Lane.
Friday, April 28
5:48 a.m. A small power outage was reported on Palmer Road.
9:06 a.m. An officer spoke with a couple who reported that National Grand Bank had notified them about a forged check that had been written on their shared checking account. They had just filled out an affidavit at the bank and now wanted the police to be aware of the incident. The bank showed them a copy of the forged check in their name for $64,700, which had been processed at Bank of America in Dallas, Texas. National Grand Bank had since closed their account, and they were not out any funds. The man told the officer that he had just applied for a line of credit on his mortgage, which may have triggered the fraudulent activity.
9:31 a.m. An officer spoke at the police station with a man who had had a Bank of America account opened by an unknown person using his information, which he had discovered on April 26. He had contacted the bank, and the fraud department had since closed the account. The man told the officer that the ISP address used to open up the account was located in Jamaica Plain, but he did not have the actual number on hand. The officer planned to share the information with detectives. The officer discussed with the man ways to protect his credit going forward, which he was already doing.
9:33 a.m. An officer met in the lobby of the police station with a woman who explained that she was seeking advice related to an earlier report she had made in the fall. Back in the fall, she had received an inappropriate text message from a model in her art class. Since then, she had received two more unwanted text messages from the same person. Approximately one week after the initial incident, the man texted to say he was sorry for the first text message. The woman did not respond, as she had already told him he was not welcome in class and to stop texting her. The woman stated she did not immediately report the text because there was nothing overly alarming about it. However, earlier in the day, she had received a message from the man asking if he could come back to class as either a model or an artist. She again did not respond, as she wanted to seek advice first. After further discussion, it was determined that the officer would attempt to contact the man and issue him a verbal no-trespass order to stay away from the art studio. The officer spoke over the phone with the man, and he said he understood that he was not welcome back in class or on the property for any reason and that he was not to contact the art instructor for any reason, either. The officer informed the instructor of his conversation with the man and advised the instructor to block his number and document any further interactions. He also reminded the woman of the process for obtaining a harassment prevention order.
4:01 p.m. An officer was dispatched to May Street to speak to a man about a possible scam. The man explained he is the treasurer for a local church and had received an email from someone stating they were reverend of that church, though the email address differed from the one he knew as hers. The email stated that the reverend needed multiple prepaid gift cards to help other people that are in need. The man realized this was a scam and immediately contacted the reverend. The reverend confirmed that this was not her sending these emails asking for money. The man did not send out any money to the person impersonating the reverend, and they had made other members of the congregation aware of the scam. The officer planned to share his report with detectives.
9:35 p.m. Officer restored the peace after a disturbance on Atlantic Avenue.
10:43 p.m. Officers investigated a report of suspicious activity on Mechanic Court.
Saturday, April 29
11:20 a.m. An officer spoke at the station with a woman who had been the victim of identity theft by someone filing for unemployment benefits under her name. On April 18, the woman had received a call from her human resources department to inform her that they received a call from the Department of Unemployment Assistance stating an unemployment claim had been filed under her name, claiming that she had been laid off on Christmas Day. The HR Department told her that they immediately recognized it as fraud and had filed a fraud claim, which the woman followed by filing her own fraud claim. On April 21, she received a U.S. Bank credit card in the mail from the Department of Unemployment Assistance. The card has no balance on it, and she had since attempted to contact the office by phone with no luck. She had contacted all her bank institutions, credit bureaus and Social Security Administration. As of now, it appeared nothing was amiss, but the woman said she would contact police if that changed.
11:33 a.m. A caller on Farrell Court reported their daughter was being unruly.
11:58 a.m. A scam call was reported to police.
12:48 p.m. An officer spoke in the police station lobby with a woman who reported that someone had stolen the windshield wipers off her vehicle while it was parked in her Dartmouth
Road driveway. The woman stated that she had last seen her windshield wipers intact on April 27 at approximately 1:45 p.m. She stated that she had not moved the vehicle from that time until she noticed the wipers were missing earlier in the day. The woman told the officer that she did not have any cameras that would have captured the incident. The officer told the woman he would document what she had told him and to call in if she were to obtain any further information. The officer then searched Dartmouth Road and was unable to locate any cameras facing the woman’s driveway.
1:46 p.m. An officer was dispatched to Atlantic Avenue for a hit-and-run complaint. A woman reported to him that an unknown vehicle had struck her Jeep Grand Cherokee as it pulled out of the parallel parking spot behind her. The woman was shopping, and her sister-in-law was waiting in the parked Jeep but was unable to see the registration fully. She reported that the first two digits were “58,” and it was on a red mid-size SUV with a roof rack. The damage the officer observed on the driver’s side rear quarter panel was white scuffing. The woman was advised to contact her insurance company. The officer was unsuccessful in locating any cameras that may have recorded the incident.
2:25 p.m. A woman called to report that a man in a gray Honda CRV had just approached her 9-year-old daughter while she was outside walking their dog at the intersection of Elmwood Road and Brookhouse Drive. A neighbor on Elmwood Road had witnessed the incident and gave the woman the vehicle’s description though he had been unable to see the license plate. The girl told the officer she was across the street from her home in the grass median when a man coming from Humphrey Street stopped his vehicle to talk to her. She did not know the man and described him as a short black man with an accent, so it was hard for her to understand him. The man driving asked her if she wanted some free dog food, and she said “no.” The man then exited the vehicle and opened the rear driver’s side door to show her that he indeed had a bag of dog food. The girl again said “no.” At that time, the man saw that a couple of neighbors were out in their front yards, and the man asked if either was her father. The girl said “no.” At that point, the man got back into his vehicle and drove off towards Tedesco Street. She said the man never approached her or tried to get closer to her at all. She then walked home and told her mother what had happened. The officer then spoke with the neighbor who had witnessed the incident. He said he did not see the girl acting as if something was wrong, and did not know if she knew the person, so he stood back but watched anyway. He did see the man briefly and confirmed him to be short, as the man’s head was below the CRV roof line. He thought he might be Latino but too far away to confirm.
3:54 p.m. An officer spoke in the police station lobby with a woman whose Social Security
Number had been compromised. The woman stated that she received notification from her employer that she had filed for unemployment, which she stated was false. The woman further stated that a PayPal debit card account had been opened using her Social Security Number, name and address, but an email address that was not hers. The woman stated that no charges had been made as of yet to the PayPal account opened in her name. The officer advised the woman that she should contact the Department of Unemployment Assistance and Social Security to report the incidents and to use the process on IdentyityTheft.gov to report the fraudulent activity as well. She was further advised to contact any and all of her financial institutions so they could stop future possibly fraudulent charges from going through.
4:06 p.m. An officer spoke at the police station to take a report from a woman whose vehicle had just struck a Marblehead police cruiser in front of the station as she was attempting to park in the Star of the Sea Church parking lot. She had exited her vehicle without placing it into park, and it then began to roll forward, over the sidewalk, striking at police cruiser No. 61, which was legally parked on Gerry Street. The damage to the woman’s vehicle, including a bend in the license plate, was “extremely minor,” while there was damage to the passenger side door of the police cruiser.
9:23 p.m. An officer investigated a report of a missing teen on Pleasant Street.
Sunday, April 30
12:54 a.m. A tree branch was reported down on Green Street Court.
3:15 p.m. Officers investigated a disturbance on Broughton Road.
7:20 p.m. Police were notified about a power outage in Swampscott on Atlantic Avenue.
Monday, May 1
5:13 a.m. Officers assisted at the scene as firefighters investigated the report of smoke and the smell of burned oil on Abbot Street.
8:31 p.m. Officers investigated the report of an assault on Bessom Street.
Tuesday, May 2
12:54 p.m. Officers were dispatched to the area of Rockaway Avenue and Warren Road to investigate a report of a suspicious man who appeared to be looking at porches, possibly for packages. The man was described as a Black man who was wearing dark clothing and a mask and carrying a blue bag. Officers were initially unable to locate anyone matching the description in the immediate area. However, while driving on Atlantic Avenue, an officer observed a man matching the description walking on Rockaway Avenue. As officers approached the man, he flagged the officers down. The man stated that he was just walking in the area, looking for Vinnin Square, and he asked for directions. The officers pointed him in the right direction and sent him on his way. The officers then spoke with the caller, who explained that she had first seen the man walk into the woods at the end of Warren Road and emerge about 30 minutes later. Her attention was drawn to him as he began walking down Warren Road towards Rockaway Avenue, and he would pause in front of each house and look at their front porch or door. The woman had not seen the man enter anyone’s property or take anything. An officer took several photos of the man, which were included in their report.
2:43 p.m. An officer spoke with a local woman who reported identity fraud. The woman reported that an unknown person had applied for state unemployment benefits using her personal identifying information, which she had been made aware of by both the Department of Unemployment Assistance on April 29 and by her employer shortly thereafter. The woman was aware that her personal identifiable information had been stolen in a past unknown event. The officer advised the woman to monitor her credit and to contact her bank about any other actions she could take to protect herself.
4:54 p.m. Officers investigated a report that traffic signals were not working on Tedesco and Maple streets.
8:58 p.m. Officers investigated a report of suspicious activity on Pleasant Street.
10:02 p.m. Annoying phone calls were reported to police.
10:08 p.m. A 24-year-old Marlborough man was arrested on out-of-town warrants after police responded to the report of a fight on Broughton Road.
11:46 p.m. An officer investigated the report of vandalism on Atlantic Avenue.
Wednesday, May 3
9:04 a.m. An officer was dispatched to Elm Street for a trespassing complaint. A business owner reported that on May 2 at 6:24 p.m. two juvenile boys had rung his Ring camera bell and spit on his door. The man was not inside, as the business was closed at that time. The man had cleaned the spit off the door prior to the officer’s arrival but did have the incident on video. One of the boys can be seen and heard doing “raspberries” into the Ring camera. After reviewing the footage, the business owner acknowledged that what he cleaned off the door may not have been from a human.
9:16 a.m. An officer met in the police station lobby with a man who had been notified the day before by his company’s payroll department that someone had filed for unemployment fraudulently using his personal information. The man stated that the payroll department had helped him notify the state’s Department of Unemployment Assistance. The officer advised the man to continue to monitor his bank accounts and credit reports for additional fraudulent activity and to contact the major credit bureaus to have them place a fraud alert on his credit. He then gave the man the website for reporting identity fraud to the FTC. The officer told the man he would document that he had been the victim of fraud and could request a copy of his report if he needed one for his records.
10:54 a.m. Officers responded to the scene of a vehicle accident on Lafayette Street.
2:15 p.m. An officer was dispatched to Sheldon Road to investigate a woman’s complaint that her neighbor had thrown food in the road, part of an ongoing dispute between the neighbors. Recently, an officer and Public Health Director Andrew Petty had informed the woman about the consequences of putting items in the roadway. The officer confirmed that there was a piece of unidentifiable food waste going from the roadside adjacent to the Sheldon Road address into the roadway but could not immediately determine how the food waste came to be in the roadway.
2:28 p.m. An officer was dispatched to Thompson Road to take a report of unemployment fraud. A man explained to the officer that he recently found out from an ex-employer that someone had applied for unemployment in his name. The man had contacted the three credit agencies. The man was told to let police know if he had any other issues.
7:31 p.m. An officer went to speak with a local couple who had been the victims of fraud. The woman said that this past Sunday she received a notice through her computer that her Norton antivirus software was out of date and needed to be redownloaded. This had then led to a prompt instructing her to call the company. The purported customer service representative then took over the computer remotely and apparently accessed several accounts not associated with Norton. The man explained that the representative then told them that their Bank of America account had been compromised and that they would need to move their money out of that account to a temporary one. After that was done, they would be able to redeposit the sum after three days. The man said he obtained a cashier’s check from Bank of America in the amount of $35,000 and deposited it into the new account, as he had been instructed. The couple were then asked to take pictures of their driver’s licenses and all related paperwork and send them to the alleged customer care representative. They then mentioned the ordeal to their daughter, who advised them that it was a scam. The officer advised the couple how to initiate the identity fraud process. They planned to reach out to the necessary agencies.
