The following incidents were selected from the Lexington Police Department log during the week leading up to March 31, 2025. The Lexington Observer does not independently verify this information.
Arrests and Assault and Battery
Monday, March 24, at 5:00 p.m., a Lexington Ridge Drive resident was taken into custody and booked as a courtesy for a Quincy Police Department warrant. Quincy PD was notified and sent officers to transfer this individual back to their station.
Tuesday, March 25, at 7:10 p.m., a Massachusetts Avenue resident notified police he had been walking on the Minuteman Bikeway at Fottler Avenue when a man assaulted him. Another victim later identified this man as a Carlisle resident. He was placed under arrest and transported to the station.
Friday, March 28, at 8:10 a.m., a caller reported she had been assaulted during a road rage incident. A man in a red hatchback stopped short in front of her on Bedford Street. Both individuals exited their vehicles, and the man, described as a male 5’10” with a shaved head in his 40s, pushed her and poked her in the chest. Then, he left Hartwell Avenue heading toward Bedford.
Friday, March 28, at 2:20 p.m., an individual reported an assault that occurred on March 26 at the Dunkin’ Donuts on Waltham Street. A man grabbed him from behind, bear-hugged him, and pinned him to the ground, causing a cut on his left elbow.
Directed Park, Lock, and Walk – Schools
Officers are “directed” to a location in their sector. They “park” the cruiser, “lock” it, then “walk” around to closely observe the school.
During this week, officers made two visits to elementary schools, one visit to a middle school, and one visit to the high school. During a visit to an elementary school, an officer checked in with the front desk and walked around the school. During his walkthrough, he checked in on a few classes and spoke to some teachers in the hallway.
Suspicious Activity
Tuesday, March 25, at 8:30 a.m., an Oak Park Circle resident reported a man taking pictures of a house in the cul-de-sac. He stated none of the neighbors recognized him. A Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) query of the plate revealed he was a Mattapan resident. A Google search showed he was a realtor for Crystal Realty Associates of Mattapan. When officers contacted him, he stated he was taking pictures from a public street for work and did not feel he had to disclose the homeowner’s private business or information to neighbors. All was in order. (“The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, or CJIS, is a high-tech hub in the hills of West Virginia that provides a range of state-of-the-art tools and services to law enforcement, national security and intelligence community partners, and the general public.”)
Thursday, March 27, at 12:40 p.m., a Main Campus Drive resident reported a man banging on her door and yelling at her through the window. She described him and stated he was walking with a medium-sized black dog. The responding officers checked the units and Main Campus Dr., Metropolitan Parkway, and Waltham St. They did not locate anyone matching the given description.
Friday, March 28, at 8:30 p.m., a Blossomcrest Road resident reported an unfamiliar vehicle parked in his driveway. The responding officer reported that the registered owner had a suspended registration. This individual called a tow company to remove the disabled vehicle that had pulled into the driveway. Police took the license plate to the station and advised him to come to the station once he had proof of an active registration. The homeowner was advised of the situation.
Sunday, March 30, at 9:45 a.m., a former employee of Via Lago reported finding a cell phone positioned underneath the computer system that was videoing while she was working on shift as a server on March 27. She found the placement of the phone in recording mode concerning.
Sunday, March 30, at 2:30 p.m., a Fulton Road resident reported seeing an individual on his property who stated he was a National Grid worker looking for the gas meter. This resident stated he had no contact with National Grid concerning a gas meter inspection and found this suspicious. He took a photo of the individual wearing a blue hat and a yellow vest, and driving a white pickup truck.
Town bylaw – leaf blowers – During this week, 27 gas leaf blower infractions were reported.
Animal Control and Complaints
Tuesday, March 25, at 10:45 a.m., Waltham PD reported receiving a call for a loose dog in the area of Hayden Avenue. Lexington PD (LPD) checked the area, but did not locate the dog.
Friday, March 28, at 5:05 p.m., a caller reported a small dog running in the street on Burroughs Road. Before LPD arrival, the reporting party called to cancel the complaint as they had found the owners.
Larceny and Burglary
Saturday, March 29, at 11:10 a.m., a report came in of larceny of equipment from a construction site that had occurred sometime overnight. Someone broke into a site and used equipment on scene to steal a Caterpillar brake hammer valued at $4,000 and a new plate compactor valued at $6,000. The responding officer canvassed the neighborhood and spoke with several residents, but could not locate anyone who heard or saw anything related to the theft.
Sunday, March 30, at 9:55 a.m., a Main Campus Dr. resident reported a stolen 2017 motor vehicle. It was taken between 6:30 p.m. on March 29 and 10:00 a.m. on March 30, with the key left inside the vehicle.
Friday, March 28, at 2:30 p.m., a Lowell Street resident reported someone had broken into his house earlier in the day. Responding officers found forced entry to the rear door that led to the garage and requested detectives. This resident had taken a picture of the New Jersey plate. Weston PD notified LPD they had a vehicle in front of their town hall they had run through CJIS before. It matched the New Jersey registration. An officer and Mal’s brought the vehicle back to the station for processing.
Fraud
Monday, March 24, at 5:30 p.m., a Wildwood Road resident reported she received an email with a bill from Geek Squad for $299.99. She had never used the Geek Squad, so she called the 800 phone number provided to dispute the charges. She spoke with a male employee who told her she had to go to her bank and withdraw $20,000 or he would report her to the IRS and the FBI. This resident kept the man on her cell phone while she called Santander Bank from her house phone. She explained the situation to the bank, and they froze her accounts and arranged for her to open a new one. She was advised to block the email account that sent the original email and block any phone numbers she did not recognize. There is no monetary loss at this time.
Tuesday, March 25, at 6:30 p.m., a Taft Avenue resident reported she received a bill from Verizon for $948.82 for two iPhones. Two phone lines on the bill were not associated with this resident’s account. She did not have Verizon for cell phones, but she had home services through them. This resident provided her T-Mobile account information to prove she did not have Verizon Wireless. There is no monetary loss, and she wanted this incident documented with LPD. She was advised to contact the credit bureaus to monitor her credit. She was also advised to notify her bank of this incident.
Friday, March 28, at 11:15 a.m., an Andover resident reported that a house she was hired to clean was vacant. She paid a contractor a finder’s fee of $1,000 wired to Brazil through Sendwave and was given three houses to clean: one in Braintree, one in Marlborough, and one in Lexington. She stated the houses were vacant, and she believed she had been scammed. She contacted Santander Bank to report the fraudulent transaction.
Saturday, March 29, at 12:45 p.m., a Cottage Street resident came to the PD to report fraud. When the officer returned to the station to speak with her, she had left. The officer spoke with her at her residence, and she reported an Apple Pay scam resulting in her withdrawal of $12,000 from her bank account and deposit into a Bitcoin machine.
Excerpted from AARP January 2025: “25 Great Ways to Avoid Scams”
- Accept your vulnerability
- Practice radical skepticism
- Pause and Think
- Be suspicious of secrecy
- Set up bank alerts
- Be informed
- Don’t pay for anything in gift cards, cryptocurrency, or gold
- Find a sounding board
- Sign up for identity monitoring
- Avoid unsolicited calls, texts, and emails
- Freeze your Credit
- Maximize online privacy settings
- Think twice before clicking links in emails and text messages
14. Go straight to the source
Verify phone calls and emails by going straight to the source—by responding to incoming communications with outgoing ones. Consider email, for example. “If you are unsure about the message, email the sender directly using a new message and use the email address that is saved in your contacts,” DeLiema says. “Don’t just reply. Better yet, call the sender on the phone.” The same is true for phone calls. For example, if you receive a call from someone who claims to work at your bank, hang up the phone. Then, call the customer service number that’s printed on the back of your credit or debit card to confirm, says Darius Kingsley, managing director and head of consumer banking practices at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
15. Update your software
Software updates are one of the easiest things you can do to secure the devices that are connected to your router. “Scammers often exploit vulnerabilities in outdated software to hack into devices,” Zirkle notes. “Regularly updating software on your phone, computer and other devices helps close security gaps and protect against malware.”
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.