The following incidents were selected from the Lexington Police Department log during the week leading up to January 20. The Lexington Observer does not independently verify this information.
Arrest Courtesy Booking
Tuesday, January 7 at 1:30 a.m., a Boston Police Department broadcast stated an individual in Lexington was wanted for sexual assault that had occurred in Boston a few hours earlier. Boston PD stated this Lexington resident left the area in a Mercedes. Boston PD had probable cause to arrest this resident for a sex crime. Lexington PD located the suspect at his home where he was asked his name, and he repeated it for the officers as they double locked his handcuffs and explained why he was being arrested. Before putting him in the cruiser, he was searched. He had glasses and an iPhone in his pocket and was not wearing shoes. An officer read him his Miranda rights as he sat in the back of the cruiser and said he understood these rights. The suspect was taken to the station where LPD performed a courtesy booking for Boston police. Shortly after booking was completed, BPD picked up the suspect for transport to Boston.
Simple Assault
Thursday, January 16 at 2:20 p.m., a Lexington resident came in to report he had been assaulted on January 11 at a Youth Recreation basketball league game at William Diamond Middle School. The assault occurred in the school gym.
Community Engagement
Wednesday, January 15 at 5:30 p.m., Detective Sullivan and Detective Evelyn conducted a Home Alone presentation at the Lexington High School for elementary and middle school students and their parents.
Directed Park, Lock, and Walk – Schools
During this past week, officers made 7 visits to elementary schools, 1 visit to middle school, and 1 visit to the high school. *During a visit to Diamond Middle School, an officer spoke with staff members and observed a parent-teacher conference. All was in order.
Suspicious Activity
Tuesday, January 14 at 7:55 p.m., a 911 call came in from a woman stating Proud Boys were stalking her, and they were surrounding the building at 110 Hartwell Ave. The reporting party’s location pinged at the Mobil Gas Station on Lowell St. The Responding officer attempted to locate this individual. At the same time, another officer checked a different location but was also unable to locate anyone in the area of Lowell St. and Summer St. The reporting party stated she lived in East Hampton, New Hampshire, so dispatch called Easthampton PD in an attempt to alert them to this situation and ask for further information. LPD called her twice but could not reach the subject, and the call was not returned.
Saturday, January 18 at 10:10 a.m., the manager of the Element Hotel reported possible fraud by credit card. The officer spoke with the manager who reported that an individual staying at the hotel had been withdrawing a large sum of money from the ATM at the hotel during the last few days. Records showed he had withdrawn $2,000 through several transactions since January 15. When he checked in, the credit card he used was declined. He returned with another card which was approved. Given the circumstances, the staff believed he might have been using someone else’s credit card. The responding officer contacted the individual, and he confirmed that the card he was using was under his name. He explained he was staying for a few weeks until he went to court on 1/29 and could retrieve his belongings from his residence. The hotel staff was informed of the situation and advised them to reach out to LPD if there were any further issues.
Disturbance and Noise Complaint
Thursday, January 16 at 5:30 p.m., an employee of the Edinburgh Center reported a female trying to get back into an Uber to go to a group home from where she had been removed earlier in the day. They asked for assistance, and the responding officer spoke with this individual and advised her not to return. All was calm and all appeared satisfied.
Thursday, January 16 at 9:20 p.m., an officer reported hearing loud music from outside a residence on Bedford St. The responding officer spoke with the resident and advised him of the town bylaws. He stated he would lower the volume of the music for the night.
Friday, January 17 at 3:40 p.m., a 911 call came in regarding an altercation between 2 juveniles. A 10-year-old and a 13-year-old male were fighting in a parking lot at 271 Lincoln St. The responding officer reported this altercation was between two juveniles riding a Van Pool bus from the Walker School. Both juveniles were evaluated by LFD and refused care. They were released to their parents, and the boys’ phones were confiscated pending review by a DA.
Animal Control and Complaints
Tuesday, January 14 at 4:00 p.m., the Animal Control Officer performed a barn inspection on Bacon St.
Saturday, January 18 at 10:00 a.m., a caller reported a deceased white, gray, and brown colored cat without a collar or identification on Marrett Rd. The cat was moved to the side of the road and DPW was advised.
Sunday, January 19 at 2:10 p.m., a caller reported a gray dog running loose near the road at Coolidge Ave. The responding officer checked the surrounding areas, but the dog appeared to be gone on arrival.
Larceny
Monday, January 13 at 2:55 p.m., a Watertown resident reported his credit cards and $300.00 were taken from his unlocked vehicle between 9:30 a.m. and 11:55 a.m. He confirmed that this occurred in Lexington, and he believed it happened when he parked his vehicle near the soccer fields on Worthen Rd. or when parked at Stop and Shop on Bedford St.
Thursday, January 16 at 8:45 a.m., an officer reported a trailer on Pleasant St. had been broken into around 6:00 p.m. the night before. The break was discovered at 7:30 a.m. The lock securing the trailer had been broken, and several power tools had been taken. A detective responded to process the scene and to canvass the area for video. On 1/17, he reported discovering additional breaks or attempts at three other units in the building.
Fraud
Monday, January 13 at 1:50 p.m., a Reed St. resident reported his information had been compromised. Someone opened a Chase checking account using this information. He contacted Chase Bank and closed the account. There is no monetary loss at this time, and he was advised to monitor his credit reports to make sure no other accounts were opened.
Wednesday, January 15 at 3:00 p.m., a Lillian Rd. resident reported she had received scam calls from someone claiming to work for Medicare. The individual offered her services and asked for her checking account information to set up a plan. She did not provide any banking information, and there was no monetary loss. She was advised to notify her bank of the incident.
Friday, January 17 at 12:30 p.m., the manager of the Lexington MA Federal Credit Union reported that a member deposited 2 checks totaling $25,060 that were fraudulent. The suspect withdrew and/or wrote checks against the deposited amount which led to a financial loss to the credit union. All documents, copies, and other pertinent information were given to a detective for further investigation.
Excerpted from AARP January 2025: “25 Great Ways to Avoid Scams”
1. Accept your vulnerability
“The first step toward protecting yourself is admitting that you’re vulnerable, regardless of your age, gender, race, income, education or intelligence. The No. 1 thing — and there’s nothing that comes close to this — is to understand that you’re not too smart to fall prey to a scam,” says Joseph Steinberg, a cybersecurity lecturer at Columbia University and author of Cybersecurity for Dummies. “There are many people who believe, ‘I could never be scammed. I’m too sophisticated. I was a judge or a lawyer or whatever.’ That’s wrong. I’ve seen Nobel Prize winners make mistakes related to cyber scams. Literally nobody is too smart.”
*The Lexington Police Department updates its call log on Monday mornings. Lexington Observer coverage is a sampling of incidents and is not an exhaustive list. Logs are available for public viewing.