Wellesley Police log for the week of :

Arrests

On April 5, 2021 at 10:44 a.m. Officer Mankavech was conducting traffic enforcement when he observed a Honda sedan and conducted a query of the vehicle’s registration.   Officer Mankavech then observed the vehicle begin to make several lane changes and travel into the breakdown lane.  Officer Mankavech stopped the vehicle and spoke with the operator, and requested his license and registration.  He did not have a driver’s license and indicated the vehicle had been rented by a friend.   He was taken into custody, transported to the station, booked in the usual manner, afforded all rights and transported to Dedham District Court.

Incidents

On April 5, 2021 at 9:00 p.m. Officer Dixon spoke with a male reporting party who stated he was the victim of a fraudulent check scheme.   He stated that he had been hired by a company to handle financial transactions between them and other businesses.  He had looked up the companies prior to conducting business and believed them to be legitimate.  The 1^st check he received from the company that hired him in the amount of $170,639 cleared his business account before he distributed payments to other companies.  He was in the process of distributing payments for a 2^nd check in the amount of $765,254.95 when he learned the 1^st check was fraudulent and was not written by the company listed on the check.  He has reported the incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, has put a freeze on his bank account to prevent any further fraudulent activity.   

On April 6, 2021 at 1:40 p.m. Officer Poirier received an email from a teacher at the Sprague Elementary School regarding a student’s bicycle that had been stolen.  The bicycle was described as a specialized Hotrock 24 mountain bike.  The bicycle lock was not functioning and it was placed unlocked on the bicycle rack.  At 5:13 p.m. Officer Scopa was dispatched to Oak Street for a report of a bicycle that had been outside all day.  It was determined this was the bicycle that was taken from the bike rack earlier in the day.

On April 9, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. an officer spoke to an employee at Dana Hall School regarding two Wellesley High School students that had trespassed on the property and entered the stables.  The Dana Hall Employee had identified the two students via social media posts.  Officer Cunningham spoke with the students and their parents and explained they were trespassing and Dana Hall just wished to have the incident documented.

On April 9, 2021 at 4:54 p.m. Officer DiCenso spoke with a male reporting party who stated his neighbor upstairs was throwing things on the floor.  Officer DiCenso spoke with the neighbor who indicated she was unaware she was doing anything that was loud and could potentially disturb a neighbor.

On April 10, 2021 at 1:18 a.m. Officer Gerard was dispatched to a single car motor vehicle crash on Hunnewell Street where utility pole was struck.   The driver stated he hit the curb after passing Hastings Street and lost control of the vehicle.  The vehicle then crossed into the opposite travel lane and then struck the utility pole.  The operator of the vehicle will be summonsed to Dedham District Court for Speeding, Marked Lanes Violation and Operating to Endanger.

On April 10, 2021 at 7:48 a.m. Officer Gaffney was dispatched to a residence on Weston Road for a report of fire.  Upon arrival he observed smoke coming from the second story of the residence.  The Wellesley Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire. 

On April 10, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. Officer Pino spoke with a male reporting party about their social security number possibly being compromised.  The reporting party stated that a family member had used a website to obtain an IRS number for a non-profit organization and the website was a fraudulent.  The family member had provided personal information including their social security number.  The reporting party was advised to file the forms on the mass.gov website to report a social security scam and to contact the major credit reporting agencies.

On April 10, 2021 at 7:33 p.m. Officer Misho spoke with a female reporting party regarding identity theft.  The reporting party stated that she received a letter in the mail stating she owed $1,300 to a cable company.  She had contacted the cable company and was advised they did not provide services in the town of Wellesley.  She checked her credit report and did not see any financial loss and she suspects the letter was a fraudulent letter.  The incident is under investigation.

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Wellesley Police log for the week of March 23-April 3:

Arrests

On March 19, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. Officer Cunningham was notified that a woman who had an outstanding warrant issued by the Dedham District Court for 6 counts of Credit Card fraud over $1,200, 3 counts of Conspiracy and 6 counts of Identity Fraud was due to board a plane at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to leave the country.   She was taken into custody and was transferred to the New York City Police Department.  On March 23, 2021 Officer Cunningham was advised that the woman had signed a waiver of extradition and she could be picked up and brought back to Massachusetts to appear in court.  On March 30, 2021 Officer Cunningham responded to New York City and took custody of her.  She was transported back to the Wellesley Police Department where she was booked, afforded all rights and held on $15,000 bail.  She was transported to Dedham District Court on March 31, 2021.

On March 31, 2021 at 7:58 p.m. Officer Harris was notified that the Massachusetts State Police had a party in custody that had an active arrest warrant issued by Dedham District Court for a case originating in Wellesley for Breaking and Entering, Malicious Destruction of Property and Larceny Over $1,200.  Officer Harris responded to the Massachusetts State Police Barracks in South Boston where custody of the man was transferred to the Wellesley Police Department.  He was transported to the station, booked in the usual manner, afforded all rights and later released on personal recognizance.

Incidents

On March 29, 2021 at 12:05 p.m. Officer Shore was dispatched to a business on William Street for an uncooperative female party in the lobby and would not remove her bicycle from the lobby of the building as requested by security.  Officer Shore spoke with the female party who suffers from mental health issues and was eventually able to convince her to move the bicycle outside of the building. 

On March 29, 2021 at 3:50 p.m. Officer Shore was dispatched to a business regarding an unwanted female party that had caused a disturbance, was yelling at people and speaking to employees in an alarming manner.  Officer Shore was familiar with the individual as he has had many interactions with her.  She had made vague threats about harming the reporting party and children in the area.  Officer Shore notified the Wellesley Police Department’s social worker that the female party’s behavior had escalated to making threats.  The female party was located on Linden Street and was transported to an area hospital for evaluation.

On March 29, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. officers were dispatched to a residence for a report of an intoxicated male party.  The male party had consumed alcohol and taken prescription medication that was not his.  The male party suffers from depression and has substance abuse issues. He was transported to the hospital for evaluation and officers spoke with family members about options for treatment.

On March 29, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. officers were dispatched to a residence for an unresponsive male party.  Upon arrival they observed an unconscious male party and began CPR.  It was believed the male party had overdosed on an opiate and was provided with numerous doses of nasal Naloxone.  First responders on scene were unable to resuscitate the male party.

On March 30, 2021 at 6:53 p.m. Officer Dixon spoke with a male party about a missing wallet.  The male party stated he believed he may have dropped his wallet when he was putting air in his tires at a gas station on March 24^th or inadvertently left it in the gas station store.  Officer Dixon contacted the gas station and was advised the reporting party had contacted them the day he lost the wallet and they had looked to see if it was on the property and reviewed their security camera footage and did not find any footage of a wallet being dropped, lost or stolen.

On April 1, 2021 at 12:24 p.m. Officer J. Popovski spoke to a female reporting party regarding fraud.  She stated she had received a phone call the previous day stating someone had hacked into her Amazon account.  She was advised there was a charge of $700 for the purchase of phone.  The unknown male party advised her if she wanted to correct the problem she would need to download the Anydesk application on her iPhone which would allow independent remote access to her phone.   The male party advised her she needed to purchase a Target gift card for $500 and then once she did that advised her she needed to purchase more Target gift cards.  The reporting party had notified her credit card company.   A family member had deleted the Anydesk application from her telephone and had taken her phone to be serviced.  She had not provided any personal information.  She was also advised to change her Amazon password.  There are no suspects.

On April 1, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. Officers Harris and DiCenso responded to a residence for a child that was acting out.  Officer DiCenso was able to calm the child down with her service dog Winnie.  After interacting with Winnie for a short period of time child became cooperative.  The officers provided the parents with the contact information for the department social worker so they could contact her for assistance or advice on services that could be provided for their child.

On April 2, 2021 at 12:50 p.m. Officer Pino was on patrol on Worcester Street when he noticed a Toyota minivan traveling in front of him and conducted a query of the vehicle’s registration which showed the vehicle owner was potentially wanted by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for an immigration violation.  Officer Pino stopped the vehicle and spoke with the operator.  After contacted the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement were advised that the individual was not a convicted felon and they did not want to take him into custody. 

On April 3, 2021 at 2:35 a.m. Officer Rosenberg was on patrol on Grove Street when he observed two young female parties riding bicycles.  He attempted to speak to them and they jumped off of their bicycles and ran away.  Officers were unable to locate the two female parties. The bicycles they were riding were brought to the police station for safe keeping.

On April 1, 2021 the Wellesley Police Department was contacted by a commercial property owner regarding trash being dumped in one of their commercial dumpsters.  Their security cameras captured images of the vehicle involved.  Sgt. Gerrans was able to identify the vehicle owner and spoke to him.  The male party admitted to dumping trash there but would not reimburse the property owner for the cost of removing the trash.   The male party will be summonsed to Dedham District Court for Disposal of Solid Waste in a Commercial Container of Another Without Consent.

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Wellesley Police log for the week of March 22-27:

Arrests

On March 23, 2021 at 8:23 p.m. Officer Harris was dispatched to Roche Bros Supermarket for a report of a male party who had thrown food on an employee.  While responding to the store the Emergency Communications Center notified responding officers that the male party had left the store on foot and was heading towards Starbucks.  Upon arrival Officer Harris observed a male party matching the description provided on the corner of Linden Square.  Officer Harris spoke with the male party who was in an agitated state.  He stated he was in Roche Bros eating some food and charging his cell phone when he was approached by a store employee who told him he had to eat outside.  He stated when the store employee leaned closet to him he, so he hit him.  The male party was acting erratically and speaking very quickly while speaking to Officer Harris.  He went on to say that the employee left and then returned, at which point he threw his food at him because he thought he was going to be attacked by him.  Officer Harris asked the male party for his name and date of birth.  A query of his information showed there was an active warrant for his arrest issued by the Newburyport District Court for Assault and Battery on an individual 60+/disabled with injury.   The man indicated that he is homeless.  He was taken into custody for the warrant.  Officer Harris then spoke with the store employee who stated multiple customers had approached him about the suspect acting strangely in the store and that he was possibly shoplifting.  The employee found man sitting in a corner of the store with no mask on eating some food.  He approached the man and tried to explain to him that he could not be in the store eating food without a mask on due to COVID and he began to yell at him.  Officer Harris asked the store employee what the man said and he indicated he called him a racist name and then punched him in the head.    He then stated that the man threw his food at him and it struck him in the face.  He stated he grabbed a container of fluid and threw it at the man trying to get him to leave the store and the man extended a steel baton and threatened to hit him with hit and then left the store.  The suspect was transported to the Wellesley Police Department where he was booked in the usual manner, afforded all rights and held on $750 bail.  He was charged with Assault and Battery, Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, Assault and Battery to Intimidate for Race and Disorderly Conduct. (See more in post about Wellesley’s new Freedom Team)

On March 27, 2021 at 11:39 a.m. Officer Mankavech was conducting traffic enforcement on Washington Street when he observed a Mercedes SUV with windows that appeared to have excessive window tint.  He stopped the vehicle and conducted a query of the registration which indicated there was an active default warrant issued by the Dorchester District Court for Assault and Battery for the registered owner of the vehicle.  Officer Mankavech spoke with the operator and confirmed he was the registered owner and took him into custody.  He was transported to the station, booked in the usual manner, afforded all rights and later released on $150 bail. 

Incidents

On March 22, 2021 at 10:30 p.m. Officer D. Popovski was dispatched to a residence regarding a male party who was intoxicated and acting rudely to other family members.  Officer Popovski spoke to the male party who apologized and stated he would go to sleep and leave the other family members alone.  The other family members agreed to let the male party stay if he went to sleep for the night and stopped bothering them.

On March 22, 2021 at 10:25 a.m. Officer Mankavech was working a construction detail on Parker Road and temporarily closed the roadway to allow the construction crew to move materials for the work site.   There were construction vehicles blocking the roadway and Officer Mankavech was directing traffic around the road closure.  A Honda sedan approached the worksite and attempted to drive around Officer Mankavech and was headed directly towards one of the construction vehicles.  Officer Mankavech directed the elderly male operator to stop the vehicle, but he ignored Officer Mankavech.   The male driver continued to move towards the construction vehicle while Officer Mankavech began knocking on the driver side window in an attempt to gain the attention of the driver.  The driver opened his door and continued to drive forward.  Officer Mankavech had to jump into the vehicle and place it in park to avoid a collision with the construction vehicle.  When Officer Mankavech exited the vehicle and attempted to talk to the male driver he put the car in reverse and began backing into a nearby driveway.  Officer Mankavech told the driver to stop as there was a car

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Wellesley Police log for the week of March 15-21:

On March 15, 2021 at 11:41 a.m. an officer was on patrol when he was alerted by the mobile license plate reader in his police vehicle that the registration of a black Ford pickup truck was suspended.  He confirmed this information with the registry of motor vehicles and stopped the truck.  He spoke with the male operator and requested his license and registration.   The operator will be summonsed to Dedham District Court for Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Suspended License and Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Suspended Registration.

On March 15, 2021 at 2:34 p.m. Officer Collins was dispatched to a business on Linden Street for a report of a female party causing a disturbance inside a store.   The female party became agitated with the reporting party after she was given her change back and she felt it was the incorrect change.  She then began yelling at all of the employees in the store before she left.  Officer Collins asked the reporting party if she wished to issue her a notice of no trespass which she declined.

On March 16, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. Officer Collins spoke with a male reporting party who had received a strange phone call from an unknown male party.  He stated the male party was incoherently rambling.  He provided Officer Collins with the phone number on his caller ID.  Officer Collins was able to determine that the phone number belonged to a male party in Florida.  The reporting party requested that a report be filed in case similar calls are received in the future.

On March 17, 2021 at 4:10 p.m. Officer D. Popovski spoke with a female reporting party who stated that her purse had been stolen from her unlocked vehicle on March 15^th.  She stated that she became aware that her purse was stolen when she received a call from her credit card company asking about 2 charges made at Target and Shaw’s Supermarket in Framingham.   The credit card company cancelled the credit card.  She also contacted her bank and changed her bank account numbers to prevent any fraud.  On March 17, 2021 the female party received a phone call from an unknown male party who stated he was from the Office of Social Security Services and there was fraudulent activity with her identity.  The male party attempted to obtain personal information from the reporting party.  She was advised this was a scam and not to provide any personal information if anyone should call back again.

On March 17, 2021 at 7:49 a.m. Officer D. Popovski was dispatched to Worcester Street near Cedar Street for a report of vehicle operating at a high rate of speed with difficulty maintaining its lane of travel.  Officer Popovski located this vehicle in the breakdown lane on Worcester Street near Dearborn.  He spoke with the operator who stated he had an argument with the other male party in the vehicle and wasn’t sure how fast he had been driving.  Officer Popovski spoke with the other male party and he confirmed they had an argument.  Peace was restored between the male parties and they left the area.

On March 18, 2021 at 7:50 a.m. Officer Mankavech spoke with a female reporting party regarding a juvenile that had run away from home overnight.  The juvenile was entered into the NCIC system as a missing person and information was sent to area police departments.  A warrant for the juvenile was issued by the Dedham Juvenile Court. The juvenile was located at a friend’s house in Boston on March 19^th and transported to Dedham Juvenile Court and temporary custody awarded to the Department of Children and Families.

On March 18, 2021 at 5:24 p.m. Officer Harris spoke with a male reporting party about phone scam.  The male party received a text message that appeared to be from ITunes which stated that there was a possible fraudulent charge on his account and instructed him to call a number if he hadn’t approved the charge.  The male party called the number and was advised that to secure his account he needed to go to CVS and purchase 3 $500 Target gift cards and send a picture of the receipt and the back of the cards to the male party on the phone.  After doing so he was transferred to another male party who stated that the phone was infected and to resolve this he would need to download an application called Quick Support and he would need to return to CVS and purchase more Target gift cards.  The male party suspected this was a scam and hung up the phone.  He contacted his credit card company to see if the charges for the gift cards could be refunded.  They stated because he had made the purchases they could not refund the money.  He cancelled his credit card.  Officer Harris advised him to contact Target and see if they could cancel the cards and issue him new ones.  He contacted Target and the cards had already been used to make purchases.  The incident is under investigation.

On March 19, 2021 at 2:20 p.m. Officer Shore spoke with a male reporting party regarding a suspicious package he received.  The package contained various items with profane language on them and appeared to have been sent from a company used by people to send pranks.  The reporting party was unsure who would have sent the package as he had not had any disagreements with anyone in the recent past.  He was advised if any additional items are sent to him to notify the police department.

On March 19, 2021 at 7:44 p.m. Officer Harris spoke with a male reporting party who had recently applied for a job and received an email with instructions to create a login and password for the new job.  He believed he provided some personal information when creating the account and was concerned the email was a scam.  He was advised to contact one of the three major credit monitoring agencies.

On March 19, 2021 at 8:15 p.m. Officer Dixon was dispatched to a town building for a female party that had entered through an unlocked door and was using the photocopier to make copies and yelling at employees in the building.  Officer Dixon advised the female party that she could not use the photocopier to make personal photocopies and that she would have to leave the building. 

On March 20, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. an officer was on patrol when he observed a Honda sedan with a temporary Texas registration on the vehicle.  He was aware that it is not uncommon for people to use fraudulent temporary registrations on vehicles.  He queried the registration and learned that it was last registered to a Mazda in 2019.  He stopped the vehicle and spoke with the male operator and asked for the license and registration.  A query of the driver’s information revealed that his license was suspended.  He will be summonsed to Dedham District Court for Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Suspended License, Operating an Unregistered Motor Vehicle, Operating an Uninsured Motor Vehicle, Attaching a Registration Plate to a Vehicle and Possession of a Forged Motor Vehicle Document.

On March 20, 2021 at 2:29 p.m. Officer Scopa spoke to a male party who stated he was having an issue with a neighbor and the neighbor was leaving unwanted notes on his door.  Officer Scopa spoke with the neighbor and advised her that her neighbor did not wish to have further contact with her. 

On March 21, 2021 at 5:10 p.m. Officer Scopa spoke to a reporting party about some packages that had been stolen.  She stated the packages were delivered at 10:50 a.m. and when she went to retrieve them at 5:00 p.m. they were gone.  She had contacted Amazon about the stolen packages and they indicated they would replace the items.  There are no suspects.