Every day, police officers respond to reports of all sorts of events and nonevents, most of which never make the news. Here is a sampling of lesser-known — but no less noteworthy — incidents from police log books (a.k.a. blotters) in our suburbs.
SLY AS A FOX
At 10:55 a.m. Feb. 25, Winchester police received a report of a fox in someone’s house. The animal control officer was dispatched and soon discovered that the creature was actually a raccoon. The furry intruder was successfully removed.
TURKEYS GONE WILD, THEN GONE
On Feb. 9, a resident told Mansfield police that wild turkeys were congregating in his driveway. The birds eventually moved on of their own volition. At 5:06 p.m. Feb. 27, Acton police responded to a report that turkeys were not letting motorists pass in the area of Mohawk Drive and Seneca Road. Police reported that the birds were gone when they reached the scene. On March 1, Bedford police received several calls reporting a flock of turkeys chasing cars on Springs Road near Pine Hill Road. Once again, an officer dispatched to the scene reported the troublemakers were gone on arrival. Do we detect a pattern here? As if outfitted with their own fuzz-busters, the birds get aggressive with humans, then fly the coop.
TEENAGE REBELLION, 2016 STYLE
In the wee hours of Feb. 28 — 3:55 a.m., to be exact — a young resident of Burlington dialed 911. The emergency? The caller told police her parents had taken away her cellphone and she wanted an officer to retrieve it for her. Police declined her request, advised her to behave, and suggested she discuss the matter with her parents in the morning. At 7:11 p.m. March 6, Beverly police responded to reports of a loud argument between a parent and daughter at their home. Why all the commotion? The daughter grew upset when she was told to pick up her room.
ATTENTION, SHOPPER: YOU ARE TRAPPED
At 5:44 p.m. Feb. 27, Acton police received a report of a woman locked inside a clothing shop on Great Road. On Saturdays, it seems, the shop closes at 5:30 p.m. The store’s management was notified, and the trapped customer was subsequently set free, and hopefully, next time, will pay heed to the hours of operation.
ODD THEFTS
On March 5, a Newton police officer was dispatched to the intersection of Centre and Walnut streets, where a traffic signal had gone missing, leaving dangling wires in its wake. And it wasn’t an accident, officers learned: Two men of college age had been observed removing the signal, loading it into a silver sedan, and taking off. And while you might think the smell of used hockey equipment might deter would-be thieves, it did no such thing in Dedham recently. There, four cars in the parking lot outside the Boch Ice Center were broken into March 6, and thieves removed three purses, a makeup bag, and two hockey bags full of used equipment. One of the vehicles had been left unlocked, almost a blessing in disguise, as the windows had been smashed on the other three.
LOST AND FOUND
Just after 11 a.m. March 3, Salem police were dispatched to a McDonald’s on Canal Street to investigate the larceny of a cellphone. A woman customer told police that she recalled putting the phone down on the counter while ordering, and it then disappeared. An officer reviewed security footage with the eatery’s manager, and the video showed the woman ordering all right — sans cellphone. After officers departed, the woman called police again to report why: She’d found the phone on the grass outside the restaurant, where she’d apparently dropped it.
CLEANUP IN AISLE 6
Just before 5 a.m. March 13, Bridgewater police responded to a Cumberland Farms in that town, where a man who was thought to be intoxicated — he was, by way of evidence, wearing neither pants nor shoes — was rearranging merchandise on the shelves. Police responded and removed him from the premises, charging him with disorderly conduct.
Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @emilysweeney.
