The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department.
Arrests
None
Incidents
Watertown Police received 32 reports of unemployment fraud from Nov. 2 to 8.
Nov. 2, 4:05 p.m.: A School Street resident reported that two vehicles parked on the street had been vandalized. A 2016 Volvo SUV and a 2009 Volvo sedan had scratches that appears to be caused by keys. The damage occurred sometime between Oct. 26 and Nov. 2. The estimated damage is about $700 per vehicle.
Nov. 4, 11:37 a.m.: A woman dropped off a vehicle to have a tire changed at a garage on Arsenal Street. The customer’s mother told her that she had left $300 in the glove compartment. The woman went back to get the cash, but was unable to locate it. Police were contacted and investigated, but were not able to determine if someone who worked on the vehicle had taken the money, or if it had been misplaced.
Nov. 4 6:36 p.m.: While cleaning her house, a woman noticed some items were missing from an upstairs bedroom. She had been out from 11 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. walking her dog. The woman believes someone may have entered the home at one of those times, possibly through an unlocked door. Detectives are investigating.
Nov. 4, 10:15 p.m.: The manager at CVS in Watertown Square said a man wearing a puffy black down jacket, dark colored sweatpants and flip flops walked into the store and left with five containers of gelato without paying. An employee confronted the man, but he said he had paid for the items at the pharmacy. The man got into a black Toyota and left. The items were worth $25.
Nov. 5, 9 a.m.: A woman told Police she received a call from someone who said they were a representative of Amazon. The caller told the victim that her Amazon account had been hacked and was being frozen and the caller was investigating the incident. The caller told the woman she needed to purchase $2,500 in Target gift cards and give the card numbers to the investigator. If she didn’t purchase the gift cards the woman was told, she would be arrested. The woman purchased four $500 gift cards at Target and went to Stop & Shop to purchase another $500 gift card. She proceeded to give the person the numbers. She was then told by the caller to give the investigator access to her bank accounts. She did so, and the woman believes $1,000 was taken from one of he bank accounts. Police are investigating.
Nov. 5, 11:27 a.m.: Police went to Quimby Street for a the report of a home that was egged on Halloween. The resident didn’t notice anything on the evening of the 31st, but the next morning she saw egg residue on her front door and front porch. Police are investigating.
Nov. 5, 7 p.m.: Police were dispatched to a Thurston Road residence for a small fire. The fire occurred on a rear porch on second level of the home. The Fire Department was able to safely extinguish the fire. Minor damage was done to the siding and porch railing. It was later determined that the fire was caused by careless disposal of a cigarette. The blaze caused approximately $2,000 in damages.
Is there something in the drinking water or are people getting dumber aud dumber with this purchasing of gift cards for people they don’t who call them on the telephone? Not of this earth!
Chris, I agree. Between purchasing gift cards, leaving your home and car doors unlocked, and responding to unidentified door to door solicitors, there’s a major case of “Covid brain” going on around town.
Perhaps the WPD needs to do some community education around this? Crime prevention sometimes requires educating people. I too am stunned by the number of folks who have been scammed in this manner. But clearly it is a problem. Seems like a public education campaign is in order.
Is anyone proofreading these before submitting for all to see. At least 3 of these have grammar a 3rd grader would use. Also when Amazon calls looking for Target gift cards, red lights and sirens should be going off everywhere, these people are to stupid but this world needs morons to balance out.