Excerpts from the Marblehead police log of Wednesday, July 12, through Monday, July 17. 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.
Wednesday, July 12
11:49 a.m. — Police Patrol Officer Timothy Morley was dispatched to the Marblehead Police Department to speak with an individual regarding an ongoing dispute with their business neighbor.
Upon arrival, Officer Morley discovered that the reporting party had already left the premises. He contacted them via telephone to gather information about the situation. The reporting party explained the longstanding problems they have as business neighbors on Atlantic Avenue. The Marblehead Police Department had previously responded to a complaint made by the neighbor on July 11.
The reporting party reported that their business neighbor had threatened them outside their respective businesses. Allegedly, the neighbor had threatened to find them in a dark corner and harm them. However, the reporting party had not witnessed the incident themselves. They explained the situation might have arisen due to concerns about the neighbor’s improper transportation of goods to their business. The reporting party had reported them to the appropriate authorities, who advised them to gather evidence, such as photographs of any violations.
Officer Morley then spoke with the reporting party’s spouse over the phone. They confirmed the incident and stated that they had been recording the neighbor possibly violating regulations. The neighbor allegedly became angry upon noticing the recording and confronted them, making threatening remarks. The reporting party’s spouse expressed fear and believed that the neighbor intended to harm them.
Officer Morley subsequently contacted the neighbor and asked them to come to the police department for an interview. The neighbor agreed and arrived shortly thereafter. Before the interview, Officer Morley read the neighbor their Miranda rights, and they confirmed understanding and signed a waiver.
During the interview, the neighbor claimed they were harassed by the reporting party and their landlord. They believed they were being targeted and denied making any threats or implying any violent actions. They stated that they had approached the reporting party to inquire about the recordings but did not engage further with them.
As of the report’s writing, no independent witnesses or audio/visual evidence had been provided to definitively determine what occurred during the incident. The investigation remains ongoing, pending any new evidence that can be provided and verified
Thursday, July 13, 2023
8:28 a.m. — Police Patrol Officer Charles Sweeney received a report about a hit-and-run incident that occurred on Atlantic Avenue near Hawks Street.
Upon arriving at the scene, Officer Sweeney was flagged down by an individual who reported the incident. The reporting party stated that while pulling out from Hawks Street onto Atlantic Avenue, another vehicle side-swiped their driver-side mirror and then left the scene.
Officer Sweeney asked the reporting party if they could provide a description of the vehicle involved. They described it as a white pick-up truck with a metal flatbed. Officer Sweeney assured them that he would create an accident report and patrol the area to look for a vehicle matching the description provided.
Sunday, July 16
4:40 p.m. — Police Officer Michael Farewell responded to a complaint at an address on Washington Street regarding a neighbor vandalizing the hallway.
Upon arrival, Officer Farewell met with the reporting party, a resident of the complex, who informed the officer that her neighbor had vandalized both the front and rear hallways of the building.
Officer Farewell observed oats and white powder scattered along the staircase and hallway in the front of the complex. Additionally, he noticed three plastic containers in the left corner, one of them broken, next to the staircase. In the center of the front hallway, there was a handwritten note regarding airflow and closed doors.
The reporting party guided Officer Farewell to the top of the staircase, where her unit and her neighbor’s unit were located on opposite sides. Both hallways had oats and white powder leading up to their rear doors. While discussing the situation in the rear hallway, the neighbor exited her unit to express her grievances about the reporting party’s dogs and the strong scent of candles.
Officer Farewell inquired about the oats and white powder, to which the neighbor admitted placing them there. She explained that the white powder was baking soda, used to counteract the candle smell. However, Officer Farewell informed her that she had no right to litter the common areas with such substances as it was shared space, not privately rented to her.
Suggesting alternative solutions for the odor issue, Officer Farewell advised the neighbor to purchase an air purifier and open her windows. He requested her to clean up the mess she made, to which she agreed to do after dinner. The neighbor denied causing damage to any of the plastic containers but admitted to moving some boxes in the front hallway.
Officer Farewell documented the littered areas through photographs and cleared the scene.
Monday, July 17
1 p.m. — Police Patrol Officer Douglas Mills responded to the police station’s lobby to take a report of identity fraud.
Upon arrival at the station, Officer Mills met with the reporting party. The individual informed the officer that she had recently received notifications from two different banks regarding credit card applications that she had not made. Fortunately, the applications were unsuccessful due to her credit being frozen following past fraudulent activity.
The individual stated that she contacted Experian, who advised her to file a police report in order to extend her credit freeze and address the identity fraud issue.
Officer Mills documented the incident and took the necessary information for the identity fraud report.
5 p.m — Police Patrol Officer Andrew DiMare responded to the police station’s lobby to take a report of identity fraud.
Upon arriving at the lobby, Officer DiMare met with the reporting party. The individual informed the officer that they had received notification from their employer stating that unemployment benefits had been filed on their behalf, dated July 7, 2023. However, the reporting party is currently employed had not applied for unemployment benefits.
Officer DiMare advised the reporting party to monitor their credit score and bank statements closely and to notify the three credit bureaus about being a victim of identity fraud.
Officer DiMare documented the incident and provided appropriate guidance to the victim regarding identity theft protection measures.
5:33 p.m. — Police Officer Andrew DiMare responded to the police station’s lobby to take a report of a past hit and run.
Upon arrival, Officer DiMare met with a young man and his mother. The young man reported that on Friday, July 14, he had parked his vehicle in the JCC upper parking lot by Temple Sinai and later discovered that his vehicle had been struck. A witness had left a note on his vehicle with the striking vehicle’s license plate number.
Officer DiMare inspected the reported vehicle and observed silver scrape damage along the entire driver side and a dent on the back bumper.
He then spoke with the witness, who explained that she saw the incident when arriving for work around 9 a.m. She observed a vehicle strike the parked car but did not see the striking vehicle’s operator leave a note. She then left a note on the parked car with her phone number.
Officer DiMare contacted the striking vehicle’s owner, who stated she was at the JCC around 9 a.m. on July 14th but did not recall hitting any car. A unit from another police station checked her vehicle for any damage.
Later, a different officer reported observing the suspected striking vehicle, an older car with various damages, including small scratches consistent with the reported incident.
Based on his findings, Officer DiMare concluded the driver may not have been aware of the collision and chose not to file charges. He then updated the young man’s mother and advised her to contact her insurance company.
