Scammer Demands Payment in Gift Cards, Phones Swiped from AT&T: Newton Police

Wednesday, April 6

• Police responded to Kirkstall Road for a report of a phone scam. A woman said that around 10:45 a.m. she received a phone call from a Canadian number (438-993-4134) saying that her grandson had been arrested and needed $2,000 for bail. The caller claimed to be a police sergeant but did not specify from what department. The caller then told the woman payment could be made in iTunes gift cards and asked her to give the card numbers over the phone. She went to the CVS in Newtonville and purchased the gift cards. After giving the numbers to the caller, she talked to her children and realized that she had been scammed.

Editor's Note: Patch covered this scam when it first occurred. To read more about what kinds of phone scams to look out for, click here.

Thursday, April 7

• Police were called to the Jiffy Lube at 191 Needham St. after a man arrived at work to find the bottom left panel of the garage door in the rear of the building to be missing. He then proceeded to check the doors to the store and noticed the front door to be unlocked. After entering the shop he discovered that the safe behind the front cashier counter had been emptied and there appeared to be no signs of forced entry. There were several muddy footprints on the floor that had dried up. The employees questioned stated that they had mopped the floor last night so they must be from the perpetrator. The footprints led directly from the rear door to the area by the safe.
• Two cell phones were stolen from the AT&T store at 88 Needham St. An employee told officers that at 1:20 p.m., a man entered the store, walked to the Samsung phones display and grabbed an S7 and S7 Edge. After ripping them off the security cords he ran out of the store towards Columbia Avenue. The entire event was witnessed by an employee, who then called the police. From video footage, the suspect is described as a black male in his mid-20s to 30s, thin, and wearing a black hoodie and black athletic pants with a white stripe down the legs and white sneakers.