Saturday, Nov. 29
Vehicle stops, citations: 1
Vehicle stops, verbal warnings: 3
8:21 a.m. An officer investigated a general complaint on Peach Highlands and filed a report.
1:54 p.m. Annoying phone calls were reported on Stonybrook Road.
1:55 p.m. A disabled vehicle was reported on West Shore Drive.
2:59 p.m. Officers investigated a general complaint on Evans Road and filed a report.
7:08 p.m. An officer investigated a general complaint on Garnet Road.
Sunday, Nov. 30
Vehicle stops, citations: 0
Vehicle stops, verbal warnings: 0
2:10 a.m. Officers investigated a report that one or more cars’ horns had been beeping for an hour on Broughton Road. They could not be located.
9:40 a.m. An officer was sent to the property of the now-closed Coffin School on Turner Road to investigate a report that had come through the School Committee that a bus being stored in what has become a storage yard for decommissioned town vehicles had been vandalized. The officer confirmed that a 2007 Blue Bird school bus with no registration plate had a smashed passenger window, along with damage to the turn signals, headlights and driver’s side mirror. It was unclear when the vandalism had occurred, and the security cameras had been removed. The officer apprised School Committee member Al Williams of his findings. Williams told the officer he would ask School Superintendent John Robidoux as to what the district’s plans were for the bus. A day later, Williams called the officer to report the district had donated the bus to the Fire Department to use in emergency response drills.
6:25 p.m. An officer investigated an abandoned 911 call from Broughton Road.
Monday, Dec. 1
Vehicle stops, citations: 0
Vehicle stops, verbal warnings: 3
11:28 a.m. An officer investigated a general complaint on Susan Road.
12:06 p.m. An officer investigated an abandoned 911 call from Atlantic Avenue.
2:29 p.m. An officer was dispatched to Elm Street to investigate a report that a Hertz van may have struck a stone wall along Dunn’s Lane. The homeowner reported that her neighbor had seen the van drive up Dunn’s Lane but had not seen it strike the wall. The officer’s report noted that the homeowner has a claim of ownership to the park on Dunn’s Lane, but the public has a right of access to it. Constructed of loose stones, the wall had fallen down to the road. Due to the frequency of such issues, the officer advised the homeowner to install a trail camera or to put a barrier in the roadway to prevent vehicular traffic.
2:32 p.m. An officer rendered assistance on Broughton Road.
4:40 p.m. An officer went to Beacon Street to speak with a man whose credit card had been used to purchase a limited-edition set of Pokemon cards for $600. The cards had then been delivered to a nail salon. The man had already notified the bank that issued the credit card of the fraudulent purchase and had also contacted his other banks. The officer advised the man to freeze his credit with the three major credit bureaus and to continue to monitor his financial accounts.
6:10 p.m. An officer spoke at the police station with a man who had received an email from Chase Bank, which is the bank he uses, about an inquiry he had allegedly made to take out more credit. The man had not requested any new credit, so he went to his Chase app on his phone to look at his account and discovered that the name on his account had been changed. The man contacted Chase Bank to speak with them, and the representative confirmed that somebody believed to be an authorized user on his account had requested the name change. The representative said they could send the man documentation of the name change authorization, but it would take 10 to 14 days. The man had also used SSA.GOV/fraud to report that his Social Security number may have been compromised.
6:24 p.m. An officer spoke at the station with a woman who had been the victim of a loan scam. On Nov. 27, she had received a phone call offering her a loan. She provided the username and password to access her online bank account. She then started to receive multiple deposits into her account, which the scammer explained that she would need to send back using Apple gift cards. At that point, the woman recognized it as a scam and informed the bank about it.
Tuesday, Dec. 2
Vehicle stops, citations: 0
Vehicle stops, verbal warnings: 0
7:43 a.m. Officers, firefighters and an ambulance crew responded to the scene of a vehicle crash on Lafayette Street and West Shore Drive. The log indicates that at least one person was transported to the hospital with unspecified injuries.
7:56 a.m. Officers investigated a hold-up alarm on Pleasant Street, which proved to be a false alarm.
8:38 a.m. An officer took a report over the telephone from a woman who said she had received a phone call about 45 minutes earlier from a man with a Southern accent who claimed to be a Middlesex County sheriff who said the woman was the subject of an arrest warrant for missing jury duty. The man asked her to meet him at a nonexistent address in town on “West Main Street” to pay her $1,000 bond. The woman told the man that she was not going to do anything until she spoke with a Marblehead officer, so the man passed the call to another man who claimed to be “Officer Sean Craig” from the Marblehead Police, which is not the name of anyone working for the department. “Officer Craig” told the woman that she could not hang up with him and that she needed to meet him right away to pay her bond. At that point, the woman hung up and called Marblehead Police. The officer advised her that this was a scam phone call and to block the number from which the call came. The woman said that she would, adding that she had not given the scammers any personal information.
9:35 a.m. An officer spoke with a woman about an annoying phone call she had received around 8 a.m. The woman explained that when she answered the phone, no one was on the other end of the line, which concerned her. She reported the incident to her phone carrier and had the number blocked. The woman said such calls have been a common occurrence for her, and she wanted police to be aware.
11:44 a.m. An officer spoke with a man who had a series of fraudulent charges totaling over $6,500 made on his credit card. The man had already canceled the account, but the company asked him to file a police report. The officer advised him that it might be a good idea to check his credit report. In addition, he advised the man to report the incident on identitytheft.gov.
Wednesday, Dec. 3
Vehicle stops, citations: 2
Vehicle stops, verbal warnings: 0
6:59 a.m. An officer pulled over a vehicle after watching it run a red light on Pleasant and Devereux streets. The driver acknowledged she had run the red light and explained that she was on her way to pick up her partner from work on Franklin Street. The officer initially let her go with a warning, but it was later determined that she was not permitted to drive the vehicle. The officer caught up with her on Franklin Street and explained the situation, which left the woman “visibly shaken,” according to the officer’s report. The vehicle was eventually turned over to its owner.
10:53 a.m. An officer spoke with a woman who had been the victim of a months-long real estate scam. The woman explained that she had been looking for affordable housing in the local area and came upon a website through which she had learned of a purported “rent to buy” opportunity. She filled out an application and was put on a waiting list. Soon, however, she received an email from a man who said he had chosen her as the lucky recipient of a home he owned in Malden. The two set up a tentative move-in date of Aug. 1. Between February and August, the woman had paid the man $17,000 through Venmo. Once August arrived, the man reached out to the woman to ask for more money, which he said would go towards a garage he was going to build for her. While she complied and sent him additional money, she had begun to become suspicious. After the man told her that construction on the garage had begun, the woman drove to the property and discovered that was not true. She asked the man for her money back, and he sent her a $13,000 check, which she deposited into her bank account, only to have it bounce. She then sent the check back to the man and requested a proper one. A new check then arrived, and it proved to be valid. However, when she received a third check for $15,500, from the account of the “National Wild Turkey Federation Inc.,” that check, too, turned out to be fake. Since then, the man had continued to email her at least four times a day requesting more money for the garage. She provided the police with the two numbers the man had used to communicate with her. The officer said the information would be shared with detectives.
11:26 a.m. An officer spoke at the station with a man who reported having fallen victim to an online cryptocurrency scam. He had invested in cryptocurrency through a website but had since had multiple issues trying to withdraw funds for his account, in which $709,000 of his money was being held. That led him to conclude it had been a scam from the beginning. The man handed the officer a typed statement outlining his involvement with the company. The officer told the man that he would document what he had been told and that he could request a copy of the report for his records. The officer advised the man to monitor his credit and bank accounts and to be sure to report any fraudulent activity. He suggested that the man might want to report the fraud to the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau. He also suggested the man might want to contact an attorney.
4:23 p.m. An officer investigated a general complaint on Pleasant Street and filed a report.
5:08 p.m. Peace was restored after a general complaint on Washington Street.
5:51 p.m. Services were rendered after a general complaint on Arlyn Road.
6:24 p.m. An officer investigated an abandoned 911 call from Pleasant Street.
Thursday, Dec. 4
Vehicle stops, citations: 0
Vehicle stops, verbal warnings: 1
10:16 a.m. An officer was dispatched to Ocean Avenue to investigate a report of a neighbor dispute. A man reported that his neighbor had cut down branches of a tree on his property without his permission. The man claimed the branches did not overhang his neighbor’s property. The officer took a look at the property line and the “very large” tree. The officer could not discern how far the cut limbs had been protruding from the tree. The officer informed the man that this was a civil issue and that he should contact an attorney if he felt it was necessary.
10:19 a.m. An officer assisted a resident on Jersey Street and filed a report.
11:22 a.m. An officer investigated a general complaint on Mohawk Road and filed a report.
11:42 a.m. A vehicle crash was reported on Watson and Pleasant streets.
12:02 p.m. An officer responded to the scene of a vehicle crash on Washington Street.
12:13 p.m. An abandoned 911 call was received from Jersey and Sewall streets.
2:03 p.m. An officer investigated an abandoned 911 call from Johns Road.
5:10 p.m. An officer investigated a general complaint on Garden Road and Atlantic Avenue.
Friday, Dec. 5
Vehicle stops, citations: 0
Vehicle stops, verbal warnings: 0
9:15 a.m. An officer was dispatched to Rowland Street to investigate a past breaking-and-entering attempt. A woman reported that, sometime around 9 p.m. the night before, a man had tried to open and break into her garage side door. She stated that she was sitting on her couch when she noticed her motion lights turn on by the side of her apartment. Through a crack in her window, she said she could see a male around 5-foot-6 with long, dark, curly hair walk up her driveway and towards her garage. She then noticed her other motion lights turn on by the back of her apartment facing her garage. She said that the man had his hand on the doorknob of the garage side door but walked away after the motion lights turned on above him. The woman said that the man left and did not return, and that she did not call right away because she thought it could have been her upstairs neighbor and that she was scared to open her door. The officer asked the woman if there were cameras from any of the apartments that could be facing either the garage or the driveway, but she said there were not. She then told the officer that she wanted to report this incident in case it was to happen again to someone else nearby.
10:48 a.m. An officer investigated the report of a vehicle crash on West Shore Drive.
1:35 p.m. An officer investigated the report of a minor vehicle crash on Atlantic Avenue.
2:02 p.m. An officer responded to the scene of a vehicle crash on Barnard Street and Atlantic Avenue.
5:12 p.m. An officer responded to the scene of a vehicle crash on West Shore Drive and Pitman Road.
7:50 p.m. An officer responded to Devereaux Beach after a 911 caller reported that their car was stuck in the sand. The officer did not immediately see any vehicles in the parking lot, so he put his cruiser in park and walked down towards the water. As he approached the ocean, he observed a blue Honda CRV with its hazard lights on stuck with its tires roughly 3-4 inches under the sand, with the ocean’s waves hitting the side of the vehicle. Moments later, he was approached by the driver, who only spoke Spanish. Using Google Translate, the officer learned that the man had been trying to take a picture by the ocean, which prompted him to drive his car from the upper parking lot down through the public beach. The man added that he knew what he did was wrong and promised never to do it again. The officer then stood by until a tow truck arrived to help pull the vehicle from the water. Moments later, the driver’s brother arrived to give him a ride back to his residence.
