Cyclist, Driver Road Rage, Spit, Water Fly: Newton Police Logs

NEWTON, MA — Newton police respond to a number of calls each day. Here's a sample of the types of calls they responded to this weekend. It's important to note that just because someone calls in a report doesn't mean that's the way it actually went down.

Thursday, June 7

Arrested, Trespassing: Police arrested Glenn H. Moran, 64, of Boston for trespassing.

Friday, June 8

Missing: A Redwood Road resident called to report of someone stole three solar lawn garden lights.

Car break ins: two people called about car break ins, one on Botsford Road and on Dorcar Road.
Cited but not arrested: After police were called to a crash that involved a parked car on Eliot Avenue, where the driver was sent to the hospital. Police cited the 21-year-old Newton driver for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Arrested, Drunk Driving: Police got to the intersection of Walnut and Dedham streets and saw a black SUV backing off the center island in the intersection there. Police said they saw damage to the front of the SUV and smoke coming from the front of the car before it started driving down Dedham Street again. Police ended up arresting the driver, Gerard Burke, 61, of Gladwyne, PA for driving under the influence of liquor, marked lanes violation and driving in violation of a licence restriction.

Saturday, June 9

Hi-jinks: A Frances Street resident called police to report that a stone head-shaped planter was missing from his front steps and that around midnight he'd been woken up by several kids making noise outside. When he looked outside he saw three small solar powered lawn lights that weren't his on his lawn. He then went outside and discovered that a stone head shaped planter that was on his front steps was missing

Sunday, June 10

Lock your car and put away valuables: Police said a Newell Road resident called to report she parked her car on the street and it was broken into.

Wallet stolen or found?: Someone called police to tell them he thought his wallet may have been stolen. He said it went missing on the 1100 block of Beacon Street, and when he went back he found his Zip Car card, which was in the wallet but no wallet. Police got video footage from a nearby business that showed a woman in her mid 40s about 5'8 with a thin build and curly dark hair. She was wearing a purple dress and black shoes. In the video she stops on Beacon Street near Beaconwood Road, looks around for about 20 seconds and then takes the wallet from the middle of the road after traffic stopped.

Not only smelly, but dangerous: A woman called police to report that while she was parked at Walgreens, someone tossed a lit cigarette into her car, causing a burn in a sweatshirt she had in there. Police pulled surveillance video that showed a man wearing a black shirt and light colored shorts walk into the frame from the Mobil Gas Station, slow down near her car then turns around and runs back toward the gas station. When the woman got back to her car she said she noticed the cigarette, threw it out of her car and made sure her sweatshirt wasn't burning any more before heading over to the Mobile station where she said she'd seen someone walk across the street and back.

Monday, June 11

Shoplift: Police arrested Robert Patrick Hathaway, 33, of Brookline and charged him with shoplifting at the Walgreens on Langley Road. Police noted this was his third offense.

And then: Someone at Wegman’s on Boylston Street called about a shoplifting that just occurred..Police said they would be seeking a complaint against a 27-year-old woman from Quincy through the Newton District Court for Shoplifting By Concealing Merchandise

You are both in trouble:: A car and a cyclist reportedly got into a road rage incident on Walnut Street. A woman told police she was driving westbound on Watertown Street when she noticed three people in front of her on bicycles. The woman told police, the bikers were in her lane of travel so she beeped her horn at them because she could not get by. That's when one of cyclists allegedly came over to her car and spit in her direction. Someone then kicked the car on the rear passengers side door and so she threw water from a water bottle.

The driver later told police she followed the bikers while calling police, because the bikers were trying to leave. She eventually grabbed one of the cyclists bicycle bags so he wouldn't leave. Someone told police that as the woman grabbed the bag, it ripped off.

According to one of the cyclists, he was biking with friends on Watertown Street in a normal fashion, and no cars had problems passing them. However when they got to Walnut Street he heard someone holding down their car horn for a long time. When he looked back, and saw the driver just honking her horn. So, he rode back to her. She allegedly asked him if he wanted to fight. He told police he didn't want that, but he did want to share the road. He said that's when the woman threw water on him for no reason twice. So he spit at her car and kicked it.

Because of discrepancies in both parties stories and sequence of events, Police sought complaints against both a 24-year-old Revere woman and a 43-year-old Newton man for destruction of property less than $1,200.

Sign up for the free newsletter and get more breaking Newton news and news alerts like this direct to your inbox. Did we mention it was free?

Got something to add?
Sign up to post to Patch and tell your neighbors what's going on in town. Post anything from calendar events to a column about a need in your neighborhood to a public meeting folks should know about. Our philosophy is the more neighborhood watchers the better.

File Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch