It's been a hot time in the Old Town

[chrishansenhome]

Well, it seems that the Easter weekend was a busy one for the Marblehead Constabulary. Here are some excerpts from the Police Log.

Friday, April 3

At 8:29 a.m., a person reported that a tax return had been fraudulently filed in his name. I wonder if he'd have reported it if he were due a refund.
At 8:41 a.m., a resident found a camera on the beach and turned it over to police.
At 11:23 a.m., a caller reported someone ran into a tree, cut limbs and stacked the limbs neatly in the yard. The caller said they were away from town and there wasn’t anyone in the area to file a report. I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK...
At 5:52 p.m., a possibly drunk male was reported to be staggering up Lincoln Avenue. Officers located the individual, who was carrying a skateboard, on Waterside Road. The individual’s father arrived to assume responsibility for the individual. Nothing like assuming responsibility for a drunken skateboarder.
At 9:05 p.m., a caller reported there was someone doing drugs in a parked car at Cafe Italia. Officers found a ”kid hunkered down in the passenger seat.” Officers cleared the area. No other information was available.
At 9:13 p.m. a caller reported a man was yelling and banging on a neighbor’s door. A second caller reported a similar situation. Officers spoke with the woman on whose door he was reportedly banging, and she said they’d had a verbal argument. Officers also located the man at his residence and he confirmed it had been an argument. He was home for the evening.
At 10:04 p.m., a woman reported that she heard a noise in her apartment and then a man said, “Sorry, I thought someone else lived here.” He then left. Yesterday, upon the stair/I saw a man who wasn't there./He wasn't there again today/Oh, how I wish he'd go away.

Saturday, April 4

At 10:42 a.m., a walk-in reported two signs were stolen from behind the Gerry School on Elm Street.
At 11:17 a.m., a resident reported their house had been egged. Officers visited the home of the suspect, whose mother said she would speak to him. Officers advised the parent that criminal charges would follow if the activity continued. Is he being 'egged' on?
At 2:03 p.m., a call came in about an unconscious male on a squash court at the YMCA. CPR was initiated and the man regained consciousness before being transported.

Sunday, April 5

At 12:06 p.m., a call came in from an elevator at Old North Church. A woman said a kid had pushed the button and all was fine.
At 12:11 p.m., a custodian reported that the signs had been returned to the Gerry School.
At 1:48 p.m., a caller reported that a woman had become argumentative when a clerk refused her EBT card to purchase frozen foods.
At 6:10 p.m., a caller reported an erratically operated vehicle in the area of Old North Church. Officers located the vehicle in question and the driver’s sobriety checked out. The driver was ”advised of his driving skills.” Time to take the keys away from great-grandpa.

Monday, April 6

At 9:59 a.m., a man doing work at a home on Arnold Terrace noticed a broken basement window. He wasn’t sure whether anything had been taken.
At 12:28 p.m., a teacher at the high school reported an adult male was walking around the school and refusing to identify himself. Oh, Principal Conklin!.
At 7:20 p.m., a woman reported she’d been driving on West Shore Drive the night before when her vehicle was struck by what she believed to be a rock. Upon examining the damage, she reported that she believed it was actually a BB that struck her vehicle.

Comments

[bigmacbear]

Friday, April 3

At 8:29 a.m., a person reported that a tax return had been fraudulently filed in his name. I wonder if he'd have reported it if he were due a refund.

Actually this is a Big Deal. Crooks are mass filing fraudulent tax returns and having the refunds placed on prepaid debit cards, which makes it really tough for the folks whose identities were stolen in this manner to actually file their legitimate taxes. This Krebs On Security article has some tips.

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

I see. I haver been away from the United States for more than 21 years now and am not up on the latest scams. When I left the US for good in 1994, email was in its infancy, web sites were almost unknown, and no one used bank transfers for personal remittances. Tax returns were filed on paper. So I'm behind the times.