A Woman Is Followed, 4 Cars Broken into, And Hiding In The Bushes: Brookline Police logs

BROOKLINE, MA — This week a woman called police about being followed home from work, four cars appeared to be broken into and a man jumped into the bushes to get away from the police. All of the following is from Brookline Police log or online blog. They are excerpts taken from the public police log and represent a portion of what kinds of calls the police respond to. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Subscribe to the Brookline Patch for local news alerts and newsletters.

Monday May 22, 2017

Mysterious : A Newton Street resident called police to report they believed a subcontractor working for the Town had left their keys in the ignition of a forklift parked on the property. But it looked like someone drove the forklift from the front of the yard into the recycling area of the transfer station, which contained televisions and lawn mowers waiting to be recycled. It appeared that several traffic control cones were knocked over, but that there was no other damage to property. The forklift was parked very closely to the original spot it had been left at on Friday. There was no apparent damage done to the forklift. At this point he has no further information as to whether one of the subcontractors moved the forklift or it was moved by someone trespassing on the property.

Shoplifting: A supervisor at a business on Commonwealth Avenue reported watching a man take items off of the shelf and put them in his back pack, then run from the store. They then saw the man get into a car on Commonwealth Avenue and drive off. Store surveillance showed a man approximately 30, wearing blue jeans, a gray hooded sweatshirt, a baseball hat, and a back pack. The video has been placed into evidence. Officers searched the area but were unable to locate the suspect.

Stolen bike: Someone on Harvard Avenue reported a stolen bicycle. The bike is described as a red GMC Denali bike with black handlebars.

Breaking and entering: A Greenough Street resident called to report a woman was attempting to break into her home through a back sliding screen door and when confronted ran away in an unknown direction. Officers observed the back sliding screen to have several fresh cuts around the handle of the door. Units canvassed the area which yielded negative results.

Package theft: Officers responded to an address on Columbia Street for a report of a package theft.

Tuesday, May 23

Car break ins: Four people reported their cars were broken into overnight of car break ins, including on Rawson Road and University road. (see previous Patch article).

Shattered: A Puddingstone Road resident called to report he'd parked his car in his driveway and overnight the window shattered.

Be careful: A woman called police to report that on Saturday while walking home from work someone seemed to be following her and when she sped up they did, too. After making it to her residence, she observed the subject take a picture of her building and walk away. The subject was described as middle aged with short hair, a scruffy beard, and lean wearing grey sweats. The responding officers were not able to locate any security cameras, but the reporting party stated she would reach out to management to determine if there was any security footage in the area.

Like Sean Spicer: A police officer recognized a passenger traveling in a car at the intersection of Park and Washington streets, from previous criminal investigations and had a straight warrant issued for larceny from a building. Dispatch was notified and the vehicle was located at Jette Court. The passenger exited the vehicle as the officer entered the lot. When the individual was addressed and saw the police officer he turned and ran. Dispatch was notified and additional units, including the Boston Police, were requested. The subject was found by officers hiding behind a bush and placed under arrest.

Wednesday, May 24

Credit card fraud: A woman called to report she'd noticed multiple charges she did not make on her credit card. She notified the bank and put her account on hold. The rest of her personal information was not compromised.

Uber expired licenses: A police officer pulled over a car on Freeman Street go through a red light at the intersection of Pleasant Street. The Uber driver explained he had been distracted by a new pick up request he received on his phone. But when police looked at his license, it turned out it was expired. He was informed he could not drive without a valid license and was issued a citation for failure to stop at a red light and another for driving with an expired license.

Thursday, May 25

Counterfeit: A manager at a Harvard Street business said a customer attempted to make a purchase with a counterfeit $10 bill. The cashier at the time found the bill to be counterfeit and explained this to the customer who claimed she received the cash from another store and was unaware it was a counterfeit bill. Police took surveillance footage of the transaction into evidence.

Stolen car: A business on Boylston Street reported a white van rented from them on May 11 was meant to be returned on May 20, but wasn't. The customer had listed a final destination that does not exist in Brookline and when the business attempted to contact the customer they were unsuccessful.