The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department.
Arrests
Oct. 30, 8:40 a.m.: A man attempted to return an item to Home Depot but did not have a receipt. When he was told the store could not accept the item, he got upset and began swearing at the employees. The merchandise was a rolling tool bag. Police were called and an officer looked at the bag and saw the tools had already been used. The man was asked to leave, and police tried to calm him down. They told him he would be arrested if he did not leave, and was asked if it was worth it for a $100 tool bag. The man continued to yell. Police arrested Marco Silva, 50 of Revere, was arrested on a charge of trespassing.
Oct. 31, 8:24 a.m.: The Probation Department at Quincy District Court contacted Watertown Police to report a man in violation of his terms of probation. Police located Kenneth Graff, 41, of Watertown, and arrested him on the probation warrant.
Incidents
Oct. 26, 11:45 a.m.: UPS on Arlington Street called Watertown Police after the company had been alerted about a package that was involved in a scam. An elderly man in California sent $7,500 in cash after receiving a call from someone saying his grandson was in jail and needed the money. The call was a scam. Police responded, looked at the package and took custody of the money. They are working with police in California to return the money to the man.
Oct. 26, 12 p.m.: A Watertown Resident was using his Smart TV to access Amazon. While doing so he got a message on his screen telling him to contact Amazon. When he called the number he was told his account had been locked due to fraudulent activity. He gave the person claiming to be from Amazon access to his bank account through the internet. The person took $3,500 from his account.
Oct. 28, 12:19 p.m.: A motor vehicle was broken into on Williams Street. The owner of the van said the break-in occurred sometime between 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 and 8:30 a.m. on the 28th. He said a pair of Apple Pro earbuds and $50 in coins were stolen.
Oct. 28, 2:16 p.m.: A resident of an apartment building on Winter Street said that a package had gone missing. The woman had ordered $200 in makeup from Sephora. The package was delivered at 3 p.m., and when the woman checked for it at 6:30 p.m. it was missing.
Oct. 29, 12:27 p.m.: A Watertown resident was notified by Amazon that an Apple iPhone had been purchased from her account. She did not order the phone. She found a customer service number for Amazon online, but later she learned it was not a real customer service number. She spoke to someone claiming to be from Amazon and the resident gave the person access to her computer. Later she realized her bank account was compromised and $1,000 was missing.
Oct. 29, 8:53 p.m.: An SUV was damaged while parked in the Purple Garage at Arsenal Yards. The owner of the Jeep Cherokee found scratches on the side from the rear passenger door to the front bumper. He believes it occurred between 7:20 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Oct. 31, 8:09 p.m.: A vehicle was stolen from Stoneleigh Circle. The woman reporting the missing 2021 Mercedes SUV said her roommate was out of town and the vehicle belonged to her roommate. It had been parked in the driveway. The SUV was found on Nov. 1 in Framingham in the parking lot of an apartment complex. It was towed back to Watertown.
Police should set up stings for car thefts, cars breakins, and porch theft.
Set up surveillance, let the criminals come to you, and nab them in the act.
This is not difficult and it’s perfectly legal.
Look:
https://www.khou.com/article/news/crime/harris-county-sting-operations-to-catch-porch-pirates/285-a9248077-be7a-43d5-a2b8-0e43e08cc8e7
Also:
https://www.dallasjustice.com/texas-bait-car-arrests-criminal-defenses-in-police-bait-car-sting/
Watertown Police should be using these kinds of techniques. Unless of course we want Watertown citizens to continue to be victimized.
Which is it?
Of course, some people don’t want such stings. People who think the thieves are simply victims of capitalism don’t want these thieves to be caught.
Set your own trap….then take care of business!!!!! People are too soft that’s why it keeps happening. WAKE UP!!!!!!
My daughter’s in-laws got a call from someone they thought was their grandson saying he was arrested for DUI after being in an accident and hitting a pregnant women. He begged them not to tell his parents. They called his dad at work and he rushed home all the while trying to find his sons location. My daughter called me frantic, I called my husband to go stay with her as I was over an HR away. She has an aunt who is a police officer who couldn’t find where my grandson was being held. She told my daughter to call his phone, she did and he was in school and his car was at home. It was the worst hour of our lives all because of a scam. Even though it was not something we thought our grandson capable of your emotions take over. Later we found out the scammer asked for money.