Excerpts from the Marblehead police log of Tuesday, June 6 through Wednesday, June 14, 2023. Consistent with state law, Marblehead Police have adopted a policy of not providing to media outlets reports related to incidents related to domestic violence, juveniles and matters that remain under investigation.
Tuesday, June 6
6:05 a.m. A private investigator was reported on Stacey Street.
9:21 a.m. Officers assisted with an investigation of an inside odor of smoke on Neptune Road.
10:17 a.m. An officer spoke in the police station lobby with a man who reported that, as he was pulling out of the Village Plaza parking lot, a woman and her dogs had walked in front of him, which had led to an exchange of words. The man said he just wanted the incident documented.
10:21 a.m. An officer investigated a report of threats on Broughton Road.
11:21 a.m. An officer was dispatched to the RipTide Lounge on Pleasant Street to speak to one of the owners about the theft of the business’ overhanging sign, which had been stolen sometime between June 3 and June 6. She did not have any idea who would have taken the sign or any security footage to offer. The officer planned to check with nearby businesses to see if they had any security footage.
2:47 p.m. An officer spoke by telephone with a woman who was having a dispute with a plumber who had done work for her over billing. The woman said that the plumber had started to harass her by calling her nonstop — by her count, 12 times in 25 minutes, from both listed and unlisted numbers. The woman said she had directed him to stop or she would call the police, but he then called five more times. The officer spoke with the plumber who agreed to stop contacting his customer, aside from sending her a formal bill in the mail and pursuing payment for his services in court, if necessary.
3:26 p.m. Officers investigated a disturbance on Broughton Road.
4:54 p.m. A woman came to the police station to report an unauthorized charge on her credit card. She had been able to stop the charge and close her account. She had notified all of the banks she does business with and contacted the credit bureaus. She was advised to keep monitoring her accounts.
Wednesday, June 7
4:23 a.m. Officers investigated a disturbance reported on Ocean Avenue.
5:16 a.m. Officers investigated a disturbance reported on Rockaway Avenue.
7:05 a.m. An officer investigated the report of a vehicle crash on Green Street.
7:31 a.m. An officer met an employee of the Recreation and Parks Department at Devereux Beach to take a report of overnight vandalism to the stalls in the women’s bathroom.
12:04 p.m. An officer conducting speed enforcement from the Riverhead Beach parking lot used radar to determine that a vehicle was traveling over the causeway at an excessive speed (45 mph). After pulling the vehicle over, he found that the driver, who was on his way into town to get lunch for his co-workers, did not have a license and did not own the vehicle he was driving. A foreman for the work crew came and took possession of the vehicle, moving it into the beach parking lot.
12:38 p.m. Annoying phone calls were reported on Gerry Street.
1:05 p.m. Annoying phone calls were reported on Front Street.
1:16 p.m. An officer was dispatched to Merritt Street to speak with a man whose roof had been struck by a box truck. The man explained that he had been sitting in his kitchen when he heard a loud bang in the front of his house. He then went outside and saw his roof had been damaged, and a large box truck was driving away. The man snapped a picture of the truck and then called the police. The dispatcher was able to contact the truck’s owner and identify the driver, who said he did not realize the truck had struck the home. Insurance information was exchanged.
2:31 p.m. An officer investigated a report of a car blocking a driveway on Mechanic Street.
3:48 p.m. Officers were dispatched to the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Smith Street after multiple 911 calls regarding an accident. When officers arrived, they found two vehicles with heavy front-end damage. A witness came forward to tell police that the first vehicle had been traveling straight down Smith Street towards Atlantic Avenue and, as it approached the intersection, did not stop or slow down at the stop sign before attempting a left turn onto Atlantic Avenue (inbound). The second vehicle, traveling outbound on Atlantic Avenue, then collided with the front of the first vehicle. Both vehicles had to be towed.
6:23 p.m. Officers spoke in the police station with a man who was having his driveway redone, which had spawned a dispute with his neighbors over the property lines. The man had consulted with his attorney and had had the property surveyed back in 2015. The neighbors believed that the man’s new driveway was 4 inches onto their property. The man in the police station lobby was concerned that the dispute might escalate and requested advice. He explained that he and his wife had typed up a letter to send to the neighbors and wanted to know if he should put it in their mailbox. The officers advised him to sleep on it and consult his attorney before taking that step.
8:16 p.m. An officer was dispatched to the parking lot of The Beacon restaurant for a report of a hit-and-run with property damage. The officer observed long scrape marks down the driver’s side of the caller’s vehicle. The caller said a woman and her young child approached him, saying they had taken a picture of the license plate of the striking vehicle but did not want to be involved beyond allowing him to take a photo of the woman’s phone. The officer ran the license plate and determined the owner of the alleged striking vehicle. The caller had also picked up a piece of plastic off the ground that had an Audi symbol on it, matching the make of the vehicle associated with the license plate that had been photographed. The officer then went to the home of the owner of the striking vehicle and found the vehicle in the driveway with dents and white scrape marks on the front bumper and a gap in the bumper that was a “perfect fit” for the plastic housing that had been found in the parking lot. The owner of the vehicle said he did not think he had struck another vehicle but expressed an interest in doing what needed to be done to “fix this.”
Thursday, June 8
8:34 a.m. A scam call was reported on Abbot Street.
11:34 a.m. An officer investigated the report of a strange man on Ocean Avenue.
11:48 a.m. Police fielded a pair of calls about the leaf blower ban.
11:53 a.m. An officer investigated the report of someone blowing debris on West Shore Drive and Rainbow Road.
2:45 p.m. Officers joined firefighters on Gilbert Heights Road to investigate a possible gas leak. An officer was dispatched back to the area at 3:50 p.m.
3:35 p.m. An officer investigated the report of a bag in the road on Atlantic and Gallison avenues.
4:23 p.m. A cell phone was found on Wyman Road.
6:32 p.m. Officers investigated a report of suspicious activity on Sargent Road.
8:20 p.m. A residence that had lost half its power was reported on Pickwick Road.
10:34 p.m. Officers restored the peace after a caller reported their neighbors were being loud on Jersey Street.
11:05 p.m. A 53-year-old man was arrested and charged with malicious destruction of property and at least one other offense (redacted from the police log) after officers investigated a report of an assault on Pond Street.
11:09 p.m. Officers restored the peace after a disturbance on Jersey Street.
Friday, June 9
8:37 a.m. An officer was dispatched to Ocean Avenue to take a report from a man who rented a garage on the property to one of his tenants. The property owner explained that he had found a new lock on the side door to the garage that he did not install and believed his tenant changed the lock without his permission, which had left the property owner without access to the structure. The property owner had summoned a locksmith who was in the process of changing the lock to the side door of the garage, though he said that the tenant would continue to have access through the mechanical garage door system. The property owner also complained that his tenant had stopped paying rent for both the garage and his apartment. The officer advised the man that these were civil matters and that he should seek the advice of an attorney. Once back at the station, the property owner called back to report that he had discovered damage to the doorframe of the garage presumably made by the tenant, which the officer returned to the property to inspect. The officer then spoke to the tenant, who was “very upset” about what had transpired. The tenant explained that the garage door did not function properly, which is why he needed access through the side door on which the landlord had now installed a new lock. At one point, he indicated he planned to “just break the lock on the door.” The officer advised him not to do that but instead to consult an attorney.
3:27 p.m. An officer investigated a report of larceny, forgery or fraud on Powder House Court.
Saturday, June 10
12:08 a.m. An officer on foot patrol at Seaside Park discovered spray painted black graffiti on the back end of the Recreation and Parks Department’s instruction board for the outdoor play equipment at the rear of the park at the entrance of the Seaside Park trail. The officer then saw that the other side of the instruction board had been defaced as well, but with pink spray paint.
7:45 a.m. An officer responded to the scene of a vehicle crash on Washington Street.
10:16 a.m. Annoying phone calls were reported on Bessom Street.
11:41 a.m. Annoying phone calls were reported on Bassett Street.
2:29 p.m. A vehicle crash was reported on Chestnut Street and Atlantic Avenue.
3:24 p.m. An officer spoke at the station with a man who reported that a few minutes earlier he had been turning his vehicle onto Lattimer Street from Fairview Road when he noticed a young man approximately 16 years old riding his bike in the middle of the street towards his vehicle. The man had stopped his vehicle and waited for the juvenile to go around him. The juvenile had been looking downwards and lifted his head up at the last minute and struck the front right fender flare of the man’s vehicle. The man could not give any description of the juvenile other than that he was wearing a dark-colored sweatshirt. The man was not concerned about the minor scuff on his vehicle, stating that he would buff it off, but wanted to document the incident in case the juvenile came to the station to report it and/or claim that he was injured. The man stated that the juvenile did not fall off his bike and appeared to be uninjured.
10:08 p.m. An officer investigated a report of kids riding their bikes against the flow of traffic on Ocean Avenue.
Sunday, June 11
7:10 a.m. Officers responded to the scene of an accident on Ocean and Atlantic avenues.
10:22 a.m. An officer was dispatched to Lattimer Street to investigate the report of damage to a homeowner’s stone wall. The homeowner explained that two days earlier he had noticed what appeared to be a “clean break” of his stone wall abutting his neighbor’s property. An officer photographed the damage and then spoke with the man’s neighbor. The neighbor denied causing the damage and stated that she had not even noticed that the wall had been damaged. She said that she had mentioned to her neighbor when the wall was installed that she was fearful of popping her tire trying to back into the narrow driveway and asked that his workers take a look at it. The officer explained to her that the damage to the stone appeared to be a clean cut and asked if her workers made the cut. The neighbor denied that she had hired workers to cut her neighbor’s wall. The officer advised her to stay off of her neighbor’s property and to address any concerns with him in the appropriate manner.
2:46 p.m. Officers investigated the report of a past hit-and-run on Franklin Street.
9 p.m. An officer was dispatched to the area of CVS on Atlantic Avenue to investigate a report that someone had spat on a vehicle. Upon arrival, a man explained he had been traveling outbound on Atlantic Avenue in his vehicle behind a Honda CRV when the Honda pulled over and a man in the driver’s seat of the CRV spat at the other man’s vehicle, with the spit landing on the front windshield. The man explained that he had no idea why the driver would spit on his vehicle, as he had just been trying to drive home from dinner. Officers located the other man outside of CVS, and he admitted to spitting on the other man’s vehicle because he was tailgating and driving erratically behind him. The man agreed that he was not in the right to spit on another person’s vehicle. Neither man expressed any interest in pursuing charges.
Monday, June 12
2:03 p.m. An officer was dispatched to the laundromat at Village Plaza to investigate a disturbance between two women. The woman who called the police told the officer that she had been doing her laundry when another woman came up and asked about the machines she was using, which started a heated exchange over the machines, leading the other woman to block a machine as she tried to put more money into it. The other woman then stopped the machine that held the caller’s clothes, effectively costing her $7. The officer then spoke to the other woman inside the laundromat, who acknowledged that there had been a disagreement over the machines, but she said she had done nothing other than lean against one of the machines. She denied attempting to actively prevent the caller from using the machine or stopping the machine. The officer observed all the machines running without issue, and the caller confirmed that it did not seem like she had lost her money after all. The officer asked the two women to ignore each other as they finished their laundry, which they agreed to do.
2:21 p.m. An officer investigated a past hit-and-run reported on Humphrey Street.
2:47 p.m. An officer spoke at the police station with a man about a scam attempt. The man explained that he had recently purchased a new computer and had received a fraudulent message, purportedly from Microsoft, stating that his machine had been hacked by 21 hackers who had put his information on a child pornography website. The message then asked the man to give “Microsoft” his credit card or banking information so they could fix the problem. The man recognized this as a scam and did not provide his information. The man had contacted the actual Microsoft corporation to work to resolve the issues with his new computer and in the meantime had contacted his banks and put holds on all of his accounts as well as his credit cards, though he had discovered no unauthorized use of any of those accounts yet. He was concerned over his name allegedly being on a child pornography website. The officer informed him that though it may be possible his name was put on a website by the people trying to gain access to his account, it was more likely a ploy to make him nervous and get him to fall for the scam.
5:38 p.m. Officers investigated a report of identity theft and filed a report.
6:44 p.m. Officers investigated a report of an assault on Village Street and filed a report.
9:09 p.m. Officers responded to the scene of a vehicle crash on Pleasant Street and arrested a 20-year-old Marblehead resident and charged him with driving under the influence of alcohol, negligent driving, driving with an open container of alcohol and underage possession of alcohol.
9:50 p.m. Officers investigated a disturbance on Roundys Hill Road.
Tuesday, June 13
9:41 a.m. Officers responded to the scene of a vehicle crash on Washington Street and filed a report.
10:35 a.m. An officer spoke by phone with a woman who had noticed damage to her fence after first responders attended to a medical emergency behind her home. The woman was certain that she had seen one of the ambulances back up and surmised that it must have touched the fence, causing the damage. She said that she is in that area of the property regularly and would have noticed if the damage had been there earlier. Staff at the ambulance company were made aware of the accusation and confirmed they had been at the location of the reported incident at 5:15 p.m. the day before, but the crew of the ambulance did not believe they had hit anything, and there was no damage to the ambulance. They added that, at the scene, a Marblehead firefighter had acted as a ground guide when they were backing up to prevent exactly this type of situation.
4:21 p.m. Officers responded to the scene of a vehicle crash on Ocean Avenue.
Wednesday, June 14
5:11 a.m. Suspicious activity reported on West Shore Drive.
8:17 a.m. An officer helped investigate a report of a dump truck that might have been on fire on West Shore Drive.
8:46 a.m. An officer investigated a report of vandalism on Stevens Road.
9:59 a.m. An officer investigated a vehicle crash reported on Ocean Avenue.
1:51 p.m. A past vehicle crash was reported on Atlantic Avenue.
4:13 p.m. Officers investigated a disturbance reported on Washington Street.
4:56 p.m. An officer investigated suspicious activity reported on Beacon Street.
