Wellesley Police log: Milkshake missile; cryptocurrency scammers find big targets; SnapChat party at Morses Pond; music lessons bother businesses; car forgotten

Wellesley MA police logs for the weeks of Aug. 9-22:

On August 12, 2021 at 11:35 a.m. officers served a section 35 warrant for a resident that had been issued on August 10th . A family member of the resident had petitioned the court for the warrant because they were concerned about their alcohol and drug use. The male party was located at their residence and was transported to Dedham District Court.

On August 9, 2021 at 6:07 p.m. Officer Misho spoke with a female party who stated she was the victim of a scam. She stated on August 7th she was communicating with another social media member on FaceBook Messenger who claimed to be selling 2 tickets to the Zac Brown Band concert. The reporting party stated she agreed to pay the unknown female party $300.00 for the tickets. She stated after sending the unknown party $300.00 by Zelle she was advised the funds were not received. She provided the transaction confirmation to the party after which the individual stopped responding to messages. She reported the fraudulent transaction to the FaceBook group administrator and to her bank. The bank requested a police report be filed to investigate the matter. The female party provided Officer Misho with the Zelle user name for the transaction. He is investigating the matter.

On August 9, 2021 at 6:35 p.m. Officer Fritts spoke with a male party who was the victim of fraud. The male party stated at 1:40 p.m. that afternoon he received a phone call from an unknown individual who identified himself as working for the social security administration. The caller advised the reporting party that there was a warrant issued for his arrest and that someone had opened several credit cards using his name with charges totaling $184,000. The caller further stated that he was listed as a property owner of a home and vehicle in Texas and there were drugs found at the home and he was going to be charged with drug trafficking. The caller advised the reporting party that he could either report the issued to the U.S. Treasury Department and they would freeze all of his assets until the situation could be resolved or he could send money to the social security administration today. The caller instructed the reporting party to bring $15,000 to a bitcoin ATM in Framingham. The male party followed these instructions and was then told he needed to send more money at which point he became suspicious. Officer Fritts is investigating the incident.

On August 10, 2021 at 10:55 a.m. Officer Mankavech spoke with a male reporting party who works for the Town of Wellesley Facilities and Maintenance Department. The male party stated that the Sprague School Field storage facility had been vandalized with spray paint. There are no suspects at this time. The Facilities Maintenance Department will look into the possibility of installing security cameras in the
area to deter graffiti in the future.

On August 10, 2021 at 10:45 a.m. Officer Kane spoke with a male reporting party regarding two laptops that were stolen from an office building on Worcester Street. One of the tenants of the office building reported to security that a laptop had been stolen. The security guard began reviewing security footage and believed he identified the suspect of the thefts. Officer Kane is investigating.

On August 10, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. Officer Pino spoke with a female reporting party who stated that while her vehicle was parked at Patriot Petroleum for service the catalytic converter was stolen from the vehicle. Officer Pino spoke with an employee from Patriot Petroleum who stated the vehicle had been there for approximately two months. There are no suspects. (More on catalytic converter thefts.)

On August 10, 2021 at 8:27 p.m. Officer Harris spoke with a male and female reporting party that stated while sitting outside at the Cottage Restaurant an unknown individual threw a milkshake in their direction which struck the ground and splattered on them. They stated they observed a black Cadillac SUV on Linden Street with people inside who sounded like they were swearing and then the milkshake was thrown outside the vehicle. Officers looked for a vehicle matching the description in the area and were unable to locate one.

On August 10, 2021 at 9:07 p.m. officers were dispatched to the area of Morses Pond for a complaint of loud music coming from the beach. Officers found a large number of juveniles on the beach when they arrived. Many of the juveniles ran into the wooded area. Officers spoke

several of the juveniles that were later identified and came from Natick, Framingham and Newton. The juveniles indicated they came to Morses Pond for a party they had heard about on the social media platform SnapChat. Officers had the juveniles clean up the trash and debris that was left behind in the area. It appeared some alcohol had been consumed. The parents of the juveniles’ present were contacted regarding the incident.

On August 11, 2021 at 10:57 a.m. Officer Gaffney spoke with a male party who stated his black Specialized bike valued at $700 was stolen from Morses Pond the previous evening. The reporting party believed one of the youths from Natick might have taken the bicycle when leaving Morses Pond the previous evening. He stated he would check some of the paths to see if he could locate the bicycle. Officer Gaffney checked the area of Morses Pond and did not observe a bicycle fitting the description. There are no suspects.

On August 13, 2021 at 4:27 p.m. Officer Scopa spoke with a reporting party regarding identify theft. The male reporting party recently became aware that a cable account had been opened using his personal information in Florida and had been sent to collections. The amount owed was $185 and the account was opened in May. Officer Scopa is investigating.

On August 13, 2021 at 4:51 p.m. Officer Scopa spoke with a male reporting party who stated he had run some errands earlier in the day and he believed his passport was stolen from the vehicle at that time. He stated the passport also had a family member’s debit card inside. There had not been any fraudulent charges made to the debit account. He was advised to cancel the debit card and provided with information on how to obtain a replacement passport.

On August 13, 2021 at 5:15 p.m. Officer DiCenso was dispatched to the area of Auburn Road for a report of a small child that was unattended for approximately 20 minutes. Upon arrival the child’s parent had arrived and stated the child had gotten out of the back yard and they were unaware until a sibling told them. Officer DiCenso advised them that a report would need to be filed with the Department of Children and Families.

On August 15, 2021 at 1:45 p.m. officers were dispatched to Worcester Street for a report of an erratic operator. A few minutes later the Emergency Communications Center advised the officers that a vehicle had struck the rear of another vehicle on Worcester Street. Officers responded and found a male party operating a black GMC utility vehicle which had struck the rear of a tow truck. The male party denied striking the town truck. Officers spoke with the operator of the tow truck who stated the GMC utility vehicle had struck the rear of a white vehicle twice and then continued westbound on Worcester Street. He pulled in front of the GMC at which point it struck the rear of the tow truck, backed up and struck the rear of the tow truck a second time. A query of the male operator’s information showed that his license was suspended. He was transported to the hospital for evaluation. He will be summonsed to Dedham District Court for Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle and Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Suspended License.

On August 14, 2021 at 12:26 p.m. Officer Collins was dispatched to the area of Worcester Street at Mansfield Road for a report of a vehicle that struck a utility pole. The operator of the vehicle stated that there was an issue with the steering in the vehicle which resulted in the crash. A query of his information showed that his license was suspended in 2019. He will be summonsed to Dedham District Court for Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Suspended License.

On August 15, 2021 at 10:52 a.m. Officer Cunningham was clearing a motor vehicle stop when the automatic license plate reader in the police vehicle alerted him to a suspended registration on a Buick van that was passing his location. He stopped the van and spoke with the operator and requested his
license and registration. The operator stated he did not have a driver’s license. A query of his information confirmed he did not have a driver’s license. He will be summonsed to Dedham District Court for Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle. The owner of the vehicle will be summonsed to Dedham District Court for Permitting the Operation of a Motor Vehicle After the Suspension of the Registration.

On August 15, 2021 at 11:10 a.m. Officer J. Popovski spoke with a female party who stated a window in her vehicle was broken overnight. There was nothing taken from the vehicle and Officer Popovski did not locate anything inside that would have been used to break the window. There are no suspects.

On August 15, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. Officer DiCenso spoke with a female reporting party who stated she was the victim of fraud. The reporting party relayed that she had begun conversing with an unknown individual through the LinkedIn social media application in late June. They initially conversed about work, hobbies and other interests. Eventually the individual suggested that the reporting party begin investing online with Gemini. Over a period of time she invested approximately $700,000 dollars and at the suggestion of the unknown party traded these funds in for cryptocurrency. The individual suggested that she then trade the cryptocurrency for another type of cryptocurrency and had her eventually transfer the currency into an account BTCTuro online portfolio. After doing so the unknown party stopped communicating with her and she was unable to access the portfolio. Officer DiCenso is investigating.

On August 16, 2021 at 1:40 p.m. officers were dispatched to the Wellesley Hills Train Station for a report of a disturbance. Upon arrival they met with a male and female reporting party who stated they were asked to get off of the commuter rail train in Wellesley because of the use of foul language while on the train. They reside in Framingham and were provided with a ride home.

On August 17, 2021 at 9:50 a.m. an officer spoke with a male party regarding a noise complaint. The male party teaches music lessons in the Lower Falls area and multiple businesses in the area have complained about the loud music. He was advised the area he is utilizing is Department of Conservation and Recreation land and he would need to request permission from them to utilize the space. He was also advised that by playing music with amplifiers he is in violation of two CMR’s and he could face potential fines if he continues to play music outside of the business.

On August 17, 2021 at 9:50 p.m. Officer Harris was conducting a building security check of the Bates Elementary School when he observed several youths run from the school property into a wooded area. He located a backpack that contained an ID and encountered one male party. There were empty beer cans and Truly containers. While speaking with the male party a second male party returned for a bicycle he left behind and a 3rd male party stated he was looking for his backpack that a friend had left at the school. The parents of the 3 youths were contacted to pick them up. They were advised that they could have been criminally charged with minor in possession of alcohol and trespassing.

On August 19, 2021 at 12:54 p.m. Officer Mankavech spoke with a male party who stated his personal information was being used to open fraudulent bank accounts and loan applications in California. The reporting party provided Officer Mankavech with the email addresses and phone number used to apply for the credit cards, bank accounts and loan. The incident is under investigation.

On August 20, 2021 at 10:52 a.m. Officer Kane spoke with a male reporting party who is the caretaker for the Woodlawn cemetery. He stated that over the past few months an unknown individual had been leaving grass clippings and trash next to the dumpster. He stated the animals get into the trash bags and create a large mess that they have had to repeatedly clean up. He stated they recently installed a security camera and captured a younger white male on two occasions removing trash from their vehicle and placing it next to the dumpster. He was able to provide a vehicle registration which came back to a Needham resident. Officer Kane contacted the registered owner of the vehicle who stated it might have been his son and he would speak to him about it. Officer Kane advised him that his son could be charged with illegal dumping if he continues to dispose of the household trash at the cemetery.

On August 21, 2021 at 6:40 a.m. officers were dispatched to a residence for a stolen motor vehicle. Upon arrival officers located the vehicle parked on the roadway around the corner. The reporting party had forgotten the vehicle was parked on the street the previous day.

On August 22, 2021 at 3:49 p.m. Officer Collins spoke with a female reporting party about fraudulent activity on her credit card. She stated she received messages about attempted purchases and money transfers from her credit card. She stated she contacted the number and believed she was speaking with a representative from Bank of America. The individual on the phone instructed her to create a Zelle account and to transfer the funds to her own account to stop the transactions she had received messages about. She stated she was instructed to transfer the funds to her telephone number and believed they were sent to another account. She contacted Bank of America and they opened an investigation, froze her account and stated they would attempt to get the $3,400 she sent via Zelle back but it would take up to 90 days for them to investigate the matter.