Police Log: School Vandalism, Car Break-ins and Tampering with Tailgates

Vandalism at Bigelow Middle School

Police responded to Bigelow Middle School on Friday (Sept. 21) after someone reported vandalism at the school.

According to reports, sometime between 10 p.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Friday, someone wrote on the front glass door of the school with a marker.

Possible break-in

Police responded to Bellingham Street Friday night after a teen reported someone attempting to break into his house.

According to reports, the 13-year-old male was outside taking photos of the moon when he noticed a man staring at him. The man was described as a white male, approximately 6-feet tall with brown "fuzzy" hair wearing a dark jacket.

As the young man made his way back into his residence, he told police the man started to follow him. The teen then went upstairs to an office on the third floor and called Newton Police when he thought he heard the man trying to open the back door.

Police responded to the scene and cleared the area without finding the man. 

Car break-ins

Police responded to the following reports of car break-ins:

• 200 block of Grove Street - Friday. Sometime between 5:20 p.m. Thursday and 8:30 a.m. Friday, someone entered an unlocked car parked in a parking lot behind the vehicle owner's residence.
• Central Street - Friday. Sometime overnight Thursday into Friday, someone entered two cars while they were parked in a driveway.
• Gilbert Street - Friday. Sometime between 6 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. Friday, someone entered an unlocked car parked in a driveway.
• Maple Street - Friday. Sometime between 7 p.m. Thursday and 7:15 a.m. Friday, someone broke into a car while it was parked in a driveway. No items were reported stolen. 
• Washington Street - Friday. Sometime between 8 p.m. Thursday and 2 p.m. Friday, someone broke into a car that appeared to be unlocked. The car was parked in the Warren House parking lot.
• Seminary Avenue - Friday. Sometime between 2 p.m. Thursday and 6 p.m. Friday, someone broke into a car that was parked near the tennis courts. Although the car was locked, the sunroof was left open, reports said. 
• Central Street - Friday. Sometime between 10 p.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Friday, someone broke into two cars parked in a driveway.
• Evelyn Road - Sunday. Sometime between Wednesday and Sunday, someone broke into a Jaguar parked in a driveway and stole an iPhone from the glove box. According to reports, the owner believed his car was locked, although there was no sign of forced entry to the vehicle.

Package swiped

A resident living on Elm Street told police Saturday morning that he believed a package had been stolen from his home.

According to reports, the resident called UPS to track the package and UPS confirmed the package was delivered. The UPS driver also returned to Elm Street to show where he dropped off the package, which was not there when the resident returned. 

Vandalism with a BB

Police responded to Watertown Street Saturday after a resident reported someone had shot a BB through a window at the front of her house. According to the resident, the incident happened sometime in the last two weeks.

Theft at Bloomingdales

A Bloomingdales employee at the Mall at Chestnut Hill told police Saturday afternoon that a man took two Burberry bags from the store and walked out the second floor back doors. 

The suspect was described as a bald, black male, approximately 40-years old and wearing black clothing. 

Woman violates no trespassing order

A Braintree woman was arrested Saturday after police say she violated a no trespassing order for a home on Pleasant Street.

Vashuda Kumar, 39, of 120 Rockdale St., was arrested for trespassing, reports said. 

Teen faces charges after crashing car

Newton Police plan to seek charges against a 17-year-old male after he allegedly crashed a car into a parked car on Parker Street. 

According to reports, police responded to Parker Street for reports of a hit-and-run car accident. After arriving on scene, police spoke with a 17-year-old female who said her friend, the 17-year-old male, was driving her dad's car when he crashed it into a parked car. 

The teen then reportedly kept driving the car after the accident until it eventually broke down 100 yards away due to heavy damage. The teen then fled south on Parker Street. 

Both cars were towed due to heavy damage.

As a result, police will seek charges against the 17-year-old male for leaving the scene of an accident with property damage and driving without a license. 

The male driver also admitted to having a party at his house where there was alcohol. As a result, police plan to seek charges of furnishing liquor to persons under 21-years old.

Stolen bikes

A man came in to Newton Police Headquarters Sunday to report that his bike had been stolen from the 900 block of Walnut Street. 

According to reports, the man left the bike on Walnut Street around 4 p.m. Friday and when he returned at 4 p.m. Saturday, it was gone. 

The bike was described as a yellow "Masi" road bike with drop-down handlebars and a single gear.

In addition, a Newtonville Avenue resident told police Monday that her husband's bike had been stolen from her garage, which was left open overnight. 

According to reports, the bike was described as an "SE Stout" bike that is grey with neon green wheels.

Stolen phone tracked, found

Police responded to the Marshalls on Needham Street Sunday after a woman reported her iPhone had been stolen while she was trying on shoes in TJ Maxx. The victim did not see the suspect steal the phone. 

According to reports, the woman and her family members tracked the phone to an area near Marshalls, where they confronted a female teen on a bicycle about the possible theft. The girl denied that she took the phone and rode off.

As police and the victim continued to track the phone, the signal moved into the wooded area behind Marshalls, off Tower Road. Police then found the phone in the woods wrapped in a plastic shopping bag. 

Tampering with tailgates

A man told police Monday (Sept. 24) that someone had tampered with his delivery trucks sometime over the weekend. 

According to reports, the man parked the two delivery box trucks in a parking lot behind a Winchester Street building. When his delivery drivers came in Monday morning, they found the tailgates on both vehicles did not work.

After investigating the trucks, it was determined someone had cut the wires that controlled the tailgate.

Cracked window

A woman told police Monday that the passenger side window of her car had been cracked sometime overnight Thursday into Friday. The car had been parked in the lot off Richardson Street, reports said. 

Man arrested on warrant

A man was arrested Monday on a default warrant out of Mansfield, reports said. 

Joseph John Schaeffer, 53, was arrested on a warrant for possession of a Class B substance, police said. Information on Schaeffer's address was not immediately available.

For questions on this police blotter, email Editor Melanie Graham at Melanie.Graham@patch.com.