Belmont Police Log, Nov. 6 to Nov. 11: Collision with injuries, possible Apartments.com and Ebay scams, credit card fraud, check and license plates stolen 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.
Monday, Nov. 6
5:40 p.m.: Payson Road resident reported fraud. She has been searching for an apartment for rent. She found an apartment in Cambridge on Apartments.com. She filled out an interest form online and was contacted by someone named Jonathan Price who said he was the leasing agent. She provided all her information and sent the application. She was told her application was approved by the landlord, Alice Hunt. On Nov. 3, she wired $3,600 to the landlord from her Bank of America account. When she requested a tour of the apartment, she was told the tenant was out of town until Nov. 20th. He provided her with a rent receipt form and emailed her that they were awaiting payment confirmation. Jonathan provided her with a tenancy acceptance letter and photo of his driver’s. license. She has been unable to get in touch with Jonathan since sending the additional funds bringing the total to$5,340. On Nov. 6th, she was instructed to wire $1,800 to Linda Baker-Brown. She became suspicious and has yet to receive payment confirmation from Jonathan since the last wire transfer. She informed officers Bank of America was in the process of trying to freeze the wire transfer. Officers attempted to call Jonathan Price but he didn’t answer. They left a message but he hasn’t called back.
6:37 p.m.: A Concord Avenue resident reported he placed a check for $782 in an envelope in the front of his house at 5 p.m. between his storm door for someone to pick up. At 5:30 p.m., he noticed the check was gone and assumed it was picked up by the person it was for. At 6 p.m., his friend arrived to pick up the check but it wasn’t there. He has cancelled the check with the bank.
10:48 p.m.: A Georgia resident said his AirPod max’s were stolen through Ebay. He was selling them on Ebay for $300. He originally paid $600 when purchasing the from the Apple store. On Oct. 1, 2023, the AirPods were purchased by someone claiming to be a Belmont resident. He shipped them from Georgia on Oct. 10th to the Lexington Street residence and received delivery confirmation. He noticed the buyer contacted Ebay for a return label on Oct. 20th because he didn’t like the AirPods. The package was returned but it did not contain the AirPods, just batteries. He believes the buyer purposely didn’t return the AirPods and did a return so he could get his money back and keep the AirPods. Officers looked up the Belmont address and could not find a name matching the name of the buyer.
Tuesday, Nov. 7
9:07 a.m.: A Bow Road resident reported possible package theft. On Nov. 5th at 4:17 p.m., a package of vitamins he ordered arrived at his home. He saw a photograph of the delivered package. When he arrived home at 5:30 p.m., he opened the package and there was nothing inside, not even a copy of the invoice. He contacted Amazon who said they would send a replacement bottle for no charge. Because the package was unopened, he is unsure the vitamins were stolen.
3:01 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported larceny of a license plate from one of his landscaping trucks and trailers. He and his crew were working on Clifton Street. When the job was done, they returned to the truck and noticed the license plates were missing from the truck and trailer. The truck is a 2002 Ford and trailer is 2000 utility trailer. The stolen license plates were entered into the CJIS system.
Wednesday, Nov. 8
2:35 p.m.: A Summer Street resident reported fraud. She has been dealing with fraudulent use of her credit card since August. She was informed by Citi Bank Visa of the unapproved use in September. Someone used her card to make purchases totaling more than $9,000. The card has never left her possession and she was told she could not get her credit card back unless she reported it to the police. The chips on the cards cannot be duplicated or tampered with but she said she has never lost physical possession of her card. She was advised an individual made purchases at several stores in the Assembly Square Mall in Somerville and stores in Boston but she was not able to get video surveillance footage.
Thursday, Nov. 9
2:43 p.m.: A Beech Street resident reported an attempted break-in. He observed a male walking behind his neighbor’s house aimlessly. He then came around to the side adjacent to his home and asked him for a lighter. He was white with gray hair, a black jacket, black backpack and black paints. He did not appear to be in the right state of mind. After reviewing the video, officers recognized the man but were unable to locate him.
5:17 p.m.: Collision with injuries on Common Street in area of Hastings Road between a 2022 Chevy operated by a Chelmsford woman and a 2010 Toyota operated by a Waltham woman. The operator of the Chevy was shaken up, but not in pain. She said she was travelling on Common Street when she witnessed a vehicle enter the travel lane, leaving her no time to react causing her to strike the vehicle. The operator of the Toyota was transported to Mount Auburn Hospital by Belmont Fire. The operator of the Chevy was complaining of neck pain and was also transferred to Mount Auburn Hospital. The Chevy had severe damage and airbag deployment. Both vehicles were towed from the scene. The operator of the Toyota was issued a citation for failure to yield.
5:47 p.m.: A Fletcher Road resident reported suspicious activity. She locked her 2017 Audi and when she went outside this morning she discovered all the windows were slightly open including the sun roof. Nothing was missing or moved.
2:15 p.m.: A Wilson Avenue resident reported possible identity fraud. He noticed suspicious orders placed on his account with Safeway. On Nov. 9, he received an email confirmation for an order he didn’t place, for $47.99. It was delivered to an address in Maryland. There was a similar transaction at 2 p.m. on Nov. 9th for $59.05 plus $25 in reward credit he accrued in the app that was used. The delivery driver’s name and phone number was included in the order. On Oct. 8th, his app was used to make a grocery order to the same address in Maryland for $37.59 plus $36.58 in reward credit was used. His info in the app has been changed with his email and contact phone number to names he did not recognize. He was advised to contact his credit card companies associated with the app.
Nov. 10
5:13 p.m.: CVS on Trapelo Road reported a past theft. The manager said at 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 10th a co-worker informed her about a suspicious male in one of the aisles. The unknown male was carrying a basket filled with skin care products. She asked him to leave but he ran away with the basket in his hand. He was white, wearing a black hoodie over his head, black pants, black shoes and a gray sweatshirt. The individual could be seen on surveillance video, crouched down and grabbing products off the shelf in haste. There was $1,073 of skin care products stolen.
9:01 p.m.: A Harvard Road resident reported fraud. He received multiple alerts from Experion and TransUnion about suspicious activity using his information. A loan for $70,070 was taken out in his name from Bank of America. A fake driver’s license with his address, birthday and a different photo were taken. The applicant of the loan knew his mortgage payment but the majority of the other information on the application was incorrect. On Oct. 30, the subject purchased a 2023 Toyota from a Nissan dealership in Mississippi. He cancelled the transaction with the dealership before the truck was picked up. He was advised to monitor his credit.
Nov. 11
5:46 p.m.: A Francis Street resident reported a suspicious person who looked inside two mailboxes and basement windows of a house across the street from reporting party. He was described as Indian, six feet tall, wearing a high visibility jacket, winter hat and backpack. When officers canvased the area, they were unable to find the individual. The reporting party was outside awaiting a food delivery when he noticed the suspect looking in the homeowner’s mailbox. He called 911 because he knew the residents weren’t home. He was advised to call if he sees the individual again.
Between Nov. 6 and Nov. 12, Belmont Police responded to two domestics and four mental health calls.
Warning for public
Tis the season for package larcenies, especially after Thanksgiving. If you see someone suspicious in the area, please call the police but always try to have the package delivered to your place of work or get texts and updates and pick up the package as soon as they can or leave special instructions of where to leave the package.
Also, remember to mail checks inside the post office and if you cannot get to the post office, put it in a mailbox in a busy location during the day. Never leave a check in the mailbox overnight. Be mindful of Amazon scam emails about packages not being delivered.