Belmont Police Log, July 25-31: Overnight Car break-ins, Cartel threats, falling tree limbs, check washing and more

The following are excerpts from the Belmont Police log as made available by the Belmont Police Department. The log is public and available for review. All persons are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law. 

Friday, July 25

11:48 a.m.: Treasurer of Beth El Temple reported a check from Cambridge Savings Bank was cashed by an unknown party. The amount was changed from $5,960 to $11,450 and who it was made out to was changed from “Greater Boston Interfaith Organization” at one address and altered to “Luisa Ines Vicente Andrade “at a different address. It has not been determined who forged the check.

2:50 p.m.: A tree limb damaged a vehicle parked on Brettwood Road due to a storm. The windshield was shattered, and bits and pieces of the tree were on the roof of the vehicle.

3:10 p.m.: A large town tree limb and wire fell onto a car parked on Stults Road due to a storm. There was visible damage to the roof and windshield of the vehicle. Belmont Light also responded.

3:10 p.m.: Another town tree fell onto a house at 89 Stults Road and was leaning on a power line. Belmont Fire determined the wires were still live. The home was unoccupied, but a neighbor had a key. Belmont Fire shut down the power and gas line for safety reasons. The building commissioner advised the homeowner that she could not live in the home until the power line was deemed safe. Belmont Light contacted Verizon to address the power line and pole.

3:12 p.m.: A tree fell onto a vehicle along the north edge of Pleasant Street by Snake Hill Road. The driver was in the driver’s seat and receiving medical attention. The large branch penetrated the center of the windshield glass was strew upon the driver who had cuts and scrapes on her face and arms and glass embedded in her skin. The vehicle had significant damage. The driver declined to be transported for further medical treatment and was picked up by a family member. The vehicle was towed.

Saturday, July 26

12:37 p.m.: A Belmont resident said he left a blank check on his kitchen counter for a refrigerator repair from Bank of America. His house was cleaned by a service he has been using for some time. The next morning, the check was written for $1,500. He did not authorize the check for that amount and contacted Bank of America. It was still being processed through a mobile deposit. He was able to cancel the check. The cleaner had a new employee helping clean the house and he is worried they may have attempted to cash the check. He provided the phone number used for the mobile deposit.

3 p.m.: Threats reported by an Olmstead Drive resident who was looking on an escort services site. He never went through with actually meeting anyone. Today, he began receiving text messages via the app, “WhatsApp” from an unknown number. The person messaging him said he was a member of the CJGN Cartel and that he had to pay them for looking at the escort services or they would kill him and his whole family. They also sent his address and names of several family members as well as several photos of mutilated bodies as proof of their intent. Out of fear for his life, he sent $500 to a Zelle account provided by the unknown person. He provided the police with the name and email for the account. After he sent the $500, the person asked for more money. He was advised to block the number from his phone and to send the police screenshots of the conversation.

5:40 p.m.: A resident at the Underwood Pool requested police assistance. A young male had a lemonade stand set up on the corner of Cottage Street and Concord Avenue. The individual driving the ice cream truck came up to his lemonade stand and said he was violating health codes by not having a cover on the lemonade container. He was also filming and taking photos of him. He had taken the lid off the container to mix the lemonade briefly. He was done selling the lemonade and leaving with his father for the day. When an officer arrived on the scene, the ice cream truck driver said he was concerned the lemonade container was open and the cover was sitting on the ground. He was not filming the boy but wanted to document the open lemonade container. He understood he could have handled the situation better and agreed not to approach the lemonade stand again. He was apologetic and said he would leave for the day.

7:46 p.m.: Suspicious activity on Thayer Road. A resident said she is being harassed by someone she believes is an online hacker who goes by several alias’s such as, “Ray Jordan,” “Dheeraj Kumar,” and “Techie Onsite Computer Repair.” The individual gained access to her computer, and she believes has access to all her personal information, including her Amazon and bank accounts. This has been happening for about two years now and she doesn’t know how to resolve the issue. She provided contact numbers for the Techie Onsite Computer Repair. She called the number this morning and was on the phone with an individual claiming he was conducting software repairs on her laptop. She also had a voice mail from Ray Jordan threatening her with his legal team if she doesn’t pay $400 for software repair services. She was advised to no longer engage with the individual, not to make payments and to contact the credit bureau.

Sunday, July 27

1:10 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported threats. Her brother is currently in a psychiatric facility. Today, she has been receiving numerous calls from him using a phone from the facility referencing his rap music and pedophilia in Hollywood. He yelled and screamed at her incoherently. He was being released today and made several threatening statements including, “(Profanity), I ‘m on my way,” and “if you call anybody else” She attempted to speak with the nursing staff to alert them about the phone calls and threats, but they handed the phone to him. The police attempted to contact the facility to inform them of the threats and inquire about his status. The nurse said she was unable to tell the police anything. The resident was offered the opportunity to apply for an emergency restraining order. She decided not to get one at this time. She was provided with a Chapter 209A notice of rights form. At 2:40 p.m., the brother called the police and said his sister stole his phone.

Monday, July 28

3:24 p.m.: CVS on Trapelo Road reported shoplifting. At 3 p.m. a male came into the store and grabbed something off the shelf and walked out without paying. It was the same male who shoplifted last week. He followed him outside and was able to get the license plate. Police identified the man as a Belmont resident. After watching the video, it was determined he took a striped throw valued at $25 off the top shelf. He will be sent a “no trespass” order.

Tuesday, July 29

12:12 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported he was having trouble logging into his Coinbase account online. He called a number he found on Google for Coinbase. He spoke with someone for a few days, and they told him they wanted to do multiple transfers into his wallet account. He did four different transfers for $11.32, $252.82, $6,970.08 and $6,970.08 totaling $32,234.34. He believed he was transferring money into his wallet so it would be safe. When he logged in, he saw there was only $1,500.40 left in his account. He called another number from his Coinbase account and spoke to someone who said the website he went on previously was a scam. They were able to lock down his account and change the passwords.

12:20 p.m.: A Merrill Avenue resident reported a contractor dispute. The contractor was removing an old porch. Before the work was completed, he asked for more money for the project. The resident refused to pay it. As a result, the contractor left the wood removed from the porch because they would not be getting paid for its disposal. At 2:16 p.m., the resident reported vandalism to his property.  The resident said he asked the contractors not to start the work until he agreed on the terms, but they started the work anyway. He accused them of damaging the footing of a door. He will provide the police with photographs.

1:20 p.m.: A woman reported flowers she left at the Belmont Cemetery on Grove Street were torn out of the ground at her relative’s grave site. This has happened a couple of times now.

8:42 p.m.: A Cross Street resident said she was gardening in her front yard. She thought she had her iPhone 15 Max Pro with a pink case, valued at $1,000, in her bag but realized it was missing. She tried calling it but was unable to locate it.  She will continue looking for it and reach to to T-Mobile for assistance.

Wednesday, July 30

5:03 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported sometime between April and May, Bank of America checks with her name were being cashed without her authorization. She received notifications for eight checks being cashed. The first six were made out to the University of Oregon in the amount of $2,500. Two others were cashed, and she did not know the amounts or who they were made out to. The bank froze her account and gave her a new one. She received statements from Bank of America that there were unpaid credit card fees. She could not tell the police the exact amount of money on her credit card. The most recent notice states she has $2,438.88 worth of unpaid credit card payments. She believes a friend who she recently had a falling out with may be involved. She has paid him in checks in the past for maintenance work to her house. She was advised to contact the three major credit bureaus.

5:16 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported someone tried to defraud him. He received a text regarding a PayPal balance of $149.95. He does not have a PayPal account. He then received a phone call from an individual who claimed to be from the fraud department of East Cambridge Savings Bank, saying there have been numerous fraud attempts on customers and he had to take out $19,00 from his account or it would be stolen. He received another call one hour later saying an additional $25,000 would also be stolen from his account. He became fearful his money would be taken. Hours later, he received another phone call urging him to go to the bank immediately before it closes to withdraw $19,000 in cash and was told to remain on the phone. He went to the bank, withdrew the money and the individual asked him to deposit it into an ATM machine at a nearby business. He then ceased following the individual’s commands and called the police.

Thursday, July 31

8:06 a.m.: A Harriet Avenue resident reported a motor vehicle break-in. Her Subaru Outback was parked in her driveway. This morning, she began to receive fraud alerts via her cell phone from banks. She found her glovebox was open and her wallet kept in the center console was gone. She usually locks her car doors at night. There was no visible damage to the exterior of her car or signs of forced entry.  She said the vehicle may have been unlocked but she was not sure. The wallet contained five credit cards, her license, two previously expired licenses, a college identification, miscellaneous metro cards, museum cards, health insurance card and $20-$60 cash. The cards were used to make several transactions totaling $500 to online shops from Philadelphia and California. The transactions went through and were reversed by her bank several times. Due to numerous reversed transactions on her credit card accounts, she is unclear of the total fraudulent activity amount charged.

She was able to recover her health insurance card at Belmont Street and Warwick Road and believes her wallet was tossed down a sewer grate nearby.

Surveillance footage provided by the Watertown Police shows from residence on Warwick Road shows three individuals attempting to pull on car door handles.

9:30 a.m.: Belmont residents reported fraud attempt. They received a call from Chase Bank in Stoughton to verify whether an individual was authorized to cash one of their checks. The check appeared to be printed rather than handwritten and the dollar amount was altered to $2,347. On July 28, they deposited a check for $2,300 into a mailbox outside the Waverley Square Post Office on Trapelo Road. The post office was closed at the time, so the check was placed directly into the mailbox. Chase Bank will freeze the account and initiate an internal investigation.

11:10 a.m.: A Trowbridge Street resident reported theft of a trash barrel.

11:58 a.m.: Ani’s Catering and Café on Belmont Street provided surveillance footage to help with the investigation of the break-in on Warwick Road. The footage shows three individuals at around 4 a.m. crossing Belmont Street from Harriet onto Warwick.

A Ring camera on Belmont Street also shows three individuals at the same intersection.

1:35 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported she was a victim of fraud. She went on Redfin to find a place to rent in the cape and found an apartment in Centerville. She contacted the property owners through text messages and emails. She agreed to rent the property and signed a lease. She agreed to wire transfer the first and last month’s rent ($2,700) from her Bank of America account to a Capital One account. She tried to make contact with the owners after the transfer via text and the messages were no longer blue. They were green. She then realized they blocked her number, and she may have been a victim of a scam She tried to call them with negative results. She left messages with Redfin and is waiting for a reply. She informed Bank of America and learned the wire transfer was sent to Capital One in Minnesota to a woman with a Texas address. She filed a fraud claim with bank of America and a IC3 complaint.

Belmont Police responded to eight mental health calls between July 25 and Aug. 1, 2025.