The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department.
Arrests
Sept. 7, 9:35 p.m.: A woman shopping in CVS in Watertown Square was in in the cosmetics aisle when a man approached and got very close to her. She became uncomfortable and began moving around the store, but he followed her without speaking. She left the store and he followed her to her vehicle. When she got inside he paced around the vehicle. The woman called police. When they arrived, they found the man and questioned him. He had no legitimate reason to be following her. During the investigation, police also discovered the man had some pills for which he didn’t have a prescription for, and that he had taken items from the store worth $16.49. The 56-year-old Lexington man was arrested on one count of accosting and annoying a person of the opposite sex, shoplifting and two counts of possession of a Class E drug.
Sept. 8, 12:40 a.m.: An officer checking on property in Saltonstall Park encountered a woman and during a conversation discovered that she had an outstanding warrant. The 41-year-old homeless woman was arrested on the warrant from Lowell District Court for breaking and entering a vehicle for a felony and walking on a railroad track.
Incidents
Sept. 4, 1:20 a.m.: Police and fire personnel responded to Patten Street for a fire. When they arrived they found a small fire in the kitchen, which was doused by the Fire Department. The blaze started when a resident had cooked a meal in oil in a pan and forgot it on the stove. There were no injuries and no suspicion of criminal activity. The damage was contained to the kitchen and the home remained inhabitable.
Sept. 4, 8:15 p.m.: A Morse Street resident locked up a bike on the back porch on Sept. 1 and on the 4th discovered it was missing. The bright green 2015 Santa Cruz mountain bike is worth $4,000.
Sept. 5, 8:20 p.m.: A Woodview Way resident received a letter containing vulgarities. The person had only recently move to the location and there was no return address on the letter. The resident did not know who could have sent the letter.
Sept. 6, 10:10 a.m.: An employee at AAA Auto Clinic on Main Street called police after having a problem with a customer. The man who had been waiting to get gas got upset when it took too long to get to him. The customer left without getting gas and said to the employee, “Respect me, respect me! You wait – I’m coming to get you!” The customer was gone when police arrived.
Sept. 6, 12:30 p.m.: Police responded to Watertown Street for a report of road rage. One man got into an argument with another about how each was driving. Words were exchanged, and one of the man held up his hand and the other man believed he saw some brass knuckles. The man drove off. Police were able to locate the man who had driven off. He confirmed he and the other man had argued, but denied having brass knuckles.
Sept. 7, 7:40 a.m.: A Pequossette Street resident reported vandalism to a motor vehicle. Sometime overnight, all four tires on the vehicle were flattened and appeared to be cut with some sort of cutting instrument. There were also scratches all around the vehicle. The owner did not know anyone who would have done that to the vehicle.
Sept. 7, 8 p.m.: A man came into Friendly’s to purchase a bottle of water from the takeout counter. The water cost $1.98 and the man gave the clerk a $50. When the clerk was counting the change the man began speaking with her, asking questions, as if to distract her. Then he asked the clerk if she had change for another $50 and handed over the second bill. As the clerk was counting the change, the man continued to pepper the clerk with questions. At the end of the transaction, the man ended up with both $50 bills and $48 and change from the purchase of the water. Employees did not realize what happened until later, after the man had left the area. Police called the tactic the “flim-flam.”
Sept. 7, 9 p.m.: A Warren Street resident came home and found three Amazon packages on her doorstep that had been opened and rummaged through. They contained camping and climbing gear, but all the contents were still in the boxes.
Sept. 8, 3:45 p.m.: A bicycle was taken from the area of Mount Auburn Street at Baptist Walk. During the investigation, police found a security video showing two males, probably age 12-16, around the bike and one took off on the bike. Police were not able to identify the boys, but on Sept. 12 an 11-year-old boy came into the nearby Meat Spot store, admitted to stealing the bike and apologized for doing so. The boy left the bike and someone from the Meat Spot told police they had the bike, which was returned to the owner.
Sept. 9, 7:15 a.m.: A vehicle parked on Arsenal Street had two wheels and rims taken off the driver’s side of the car sometime overnight. The vehicle was left up on milk crates. The wheels and rims were valued at $500.