Belmont Police Log, March 14-20: Brawl between construction workers, Microsoft scam, shooter threat at Belmont Middle and High School and more

The following are excerpts from the Belmont Police log as made available by the Belmont Police Department. The log is public and available for review. All persons are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law. 

Friday, March 14

11:11 a.m.: An argument turned physical between two construction workers at a site on Concord Avenue. One of the workers tried to push the other worker down to the floor inside the building under construction but was unsuccessful. Other workers helped separate them. The Skanska superintendent said he would be speaking with both men involved.

Saturday, March 15

10:47 p.m.: An Edward Street resident reported a loud party. A man fell onto the front yard of a home on Edward Street and was unable to stand on his own. He was instructed to call his parents. His father was unavailable, but he was able to contact his mother who agreed to pick him up and drive him home.

Sunday, March 16

5:13 p.m.: A landlord on Belmont Street reported one of his tenants was messing around with the circuit board of the apartment above hers. This has happened multiple times. The tenant claims she never touched the circuit board of the second-floor apartment, and that the landlord is lying. She said the landlord has been making false accusations about her and has been attempting and threatening to evict her from the apartment. He shows up to the apartment without notice and is bad-mouthing her to other tenants and complaining about her dogs. Both parties were advised this is a civil matter and the appropriate steps to take to resolve the ongoing issues.

Monday, March 17

1:02 p.m.: Belmont Police were notified by a Belmont High School guidance administrator and assistant principal that they were on the line with a caller saying he was inside a BHS bathroom with a firearm. The caller identification read, “anonymous” and the number was 629-777-6896. She said the caller was crying and when she asked if him if he was a BHS student, his response was, “yes.” He said his name was Austin Grimes. She asked if he remembered who his guidance counselor is so she could alert them, and he said he did not remember who his guidance counselor is. The caller then said, “I’m sick of being bullied,” and that he was going to “shoot up the school.” After hearing this, a police officer spoke to the caller and asked where they were in the building. The caller said he was in a BHS bathroom and wouldn’t identify which one. He was asked which Belmont High School he was calling from, and he said, “Belmont, Massachusetts.” The officer asked if he knew the address of the high school and after a pause, the caller replied slowly saying, “221 Concord Avenue.” The caller was asked to hold and that the officer would find him. He said, “o.k.” The officer informed Principal Taylor and Assistant Principial Flam that a shelter-in-place would be implemented on both sides of the school. Officers conduced a search of all the bathrooms and locked doors and reported no findings of anyone within a bathroom or locked door that posed a threat to the building. It was determined the shelter-in-place could be lifted shortly before 2 p.m. BHS and BMS students resumed the rest of the school day until dismissal. Belmont Police remained on the scene and facilitated dismissal for both schools.

4:15 p.m.: A doctor from McClean Hospital called the Belmont Police regarding a Section 12 for an outpatient who was advised to go to the hospital. However, he grabbed his keys, left the building and drove off. The doctor was advised if the family wished to file a missing person report, to contact the police. The police from the patient’s hometown of Woburn were informed about the Section 12 and conducted a check of the patient’s residence. A BOLO was put out to surrounding cities and towns.

6:55 p.m.: The transit police reported an intoxicated person at the Waverley Square bus stop. The man was unable to stand on his own and his speech was slurred. Belmont Fire and Rescue also responded. Four Smirnoff 100-proof nips were found on his person. He was not carrying any form of identification and was voluntarily transported to Mount Auburn Hospital where he was later identified.

Tuesday, March 18

8:55 a.m.: A Belmont resident reported that on Monday, his 11-year-old son received a suspicious text message from 857-746-3123 using Siri. The message, which was not grammatically correct, read, “It’s a stalker and I know where you live and what school you’re. Your teacher is Miss Barros and Miss Boudreaux and your own blue team.” The phone number was blocked and there was no further suspicious activity that day. Officers advised him to notify his son’s guidance counselor about the message in case he needs extra support. He was also advised to contact the police if there is any further suspicious activity. Officers called the phone number and left a message requesting a call back.

3:54 p.m.: A Lowell resident came into the station to report harassment. She has received multiple phone calls from an unknown and blocked number she believes to be from a Belmont resident. She played multiple voice mails which contained threats of self-harm by the caller if she did not answer or return the calls. She feels threatened by these messages. She was encouraged to apply for a Harassment Prevention Order through the courts and was also advised of potential for criminal charges to be filed. Officers contacted the Belmont resident’s father who said his daughter is receiving psychiatric treatment. He said he was aware of the situation and was encouraged to speak with his daughter to resolve the situation. He provided his daughter’s contact information and said he plans to reach out to the facility where his daughter is residing. Belmont Police contacted the facility, which was unaware of her phone usage and mentioned a plan will be implemented to monitor and restrict her phone usage.

5:50 p.m.: Belmont Police stopped a vehicle making a U-turn on Leaonard Street in Belmont Center. The operator did not possess a Massachusetts driver’s license and provided a Brazilian license that expired in 2022. The vehicle’s registration was also expired. The operator was issued a citation for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, unregistered motor vehicle and marked lanes violation. A licensed operator was called to the scene by the unlicensed driver to operate the vehicle.

9:43 p.m.: A Toyota Highlander operated by a Boston woman hit a manhole at the intersection of Baker and Hittinger Streets. She said she heard a loud bang and felt something hit her car She believes the manhole cover popped out of the ground and hit the bottom of her vehicle causing damage to the passenger side. The manhole cover and frame was partially sticking out of the ground on Hittinger Street. She was advised to contact her insurance company if she chooses to file a claim.

Wednesday, March 19

5:20 a.m.: A Toyota Camry operated by a Winthrop man was on fire at the intersection of Pleasant Street and Frontage Road. All occupants were out of the vehicle and unharmed. He said he was driving on Alewife Brook Parkway when he drove over a construction bag full of a green foamy substance. It got stuck under the vehicle. He continued to drive until the car caught fire. Arlington Fire extinguished the flames and the vehicle was towed.

8:39 a.m.: A Belmont resident reported violation of a restraining order. Since 2012, a Belmont woman has been harassed by her sister-in-law. In 2023 the sister-in-law was arrested for violating the same restraining order.

9 a.m.: A Belmont resident reported a follow request from another Belmont resident, which has an active harassment prevention order against him. A court hearing between the two parties is March 20 at 2 p.m. The offending party is accused of threatening to stab the other party.  He said he hit the follow button by accident and ended up removing the request.

4:43 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported her husband’s bicycle was stolen from their home on Trapelo Road. The bike is a blue Schwinn Ranger adult mountain bike valued at $299.99.

Thursday, March 20

8:57 a.m.: A Prentiss Lane resident reported writing on the door frame of her home’s garage in pencil with the numbers, “9666025375737.”

12:20 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported having trouble downloading TurboTax on his computer. He had never had trouble downloading anything before. He was deleting messages from his AOL account and got several warnings saying he had come across a serious condition with his computer and should contact Microsoft. He telephoned the number that appeared on his screen and spoke with an alleged Microsoft employee. He was transferred to someone he believed was a subcontractor for Microsoft and allowed him to connect remotely to his computer. He was advised his Norton protection software and Windows firewall were not working and he was informed he had 13,813 events when his machine appeared to be attached in early January. He transferred him to a third person named James in Hawaii (808-259-4155) who said he was working for Norton and would arrange a $500 refund for the Norton Software premium and would fix all his computer problems. A form appeared on the screen asking him to fill out personal information. He refused and informed James he wanted to check out Pentester, the profiling company, before he did anything and would call James back. He went to reboot his computer and could not log on with his password but was given the opportunity to use his pin number. He phoned James and he had him enter a series of keys to restart the computer. He was able to log in and James said he’s sending  $500 Norton credit to his Wells Fargo account, which he never informed him he had. He purchased the Norton software with a credit card initially and decided after James mentioned his Wells Fargo account, to end the call. He was not out any money or personal information but wanted to make the police aware of the attempted scam.

2:29 p.m.: Downed wires and an electric meter pulled off of a home on Pleasant Street. A larger truck pulled the wires down and kept driving down Pleasant Street toward Route 2 The name of the company was Burl Stump Grinding with the phone number 603-235-2601. No license plate information was observed. The phone number is not working. It is unknown if the truck was aware, it pulled down the wires.

6:29 p.m.: Two males on an electric scooter on Cross Street stole a package. The suspects could not be located. The victim said he was informed by his neighbor that two individuals on an electric scooter took his brown Amazon package containing pasta, valued at $14.30. He does not have property cameras. The neighbor who witnessed the event said they walked up to his neighbor’s front porch and took the package, then rode away towards Winn Brook school on Cross Street. Officers were later informed that a dog walker recovered the package in the area of Broad and Cross Streets and returned it to the owner.

Arrest

A Belmont woman was arrested for violating a restraining order on March 19 at 8:39 a.m.

Belmont Police responded to five domestic and two mental health calls between March 14 and March 21.