Belmont Police Log, May 12-18: Reports of fraud, car fire, bike theft, car break-in 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, May 12

4:03 p.m.: Dartmouth Street resident reported missing property. She misplaced her license and potentially her library card while travelling between May 9 and May 11. She is unsure if it was stolen or lost. She took an Uber a few times while away. She contacted the Amtrak Police, credit bureaus and wanted to report it because she is concerned someone has her driver’s license. Officers advised her to monitor her accounts for any fraudulent activity.

8:44 p.m.: Statler Road resident reported unemployment fraud. He received a debit card from U.S. Bank issued by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance. He did not file for unemployment. He filed a fraud report with the Department of Unemployment and checked credit bureaus for fraud. He also has notified his employer.

Sunday, May 14

5 p.m.: Goden Street resident reported 2015 Hyundai broken into. On May 12 at 6 p.m. he parked his car at the end of his driveway. The next morning at 9:30 a.m., he realized his backpack which contained his work computer, a power cord and two PGA Master shirts were no longer in his vehicle. Shortly after that discovery, his wife learned from a neighbor his backpack and two shirts were on her property. The backpack was in the bushes. His two shirts were on the front lawn of his neighbor but there was no sign of the laptop. He checked with neighbors to see if there are any cameras. The value of the laptop is $700. His car was not locked.

Monday, May 15

8:15 a.m.: Harris Street resident reported damage to two motor vehicles, a 2010 Chevy and a 2007 Lexus. She found the tires flattened on both cars in her driveway. The Chevy had a back right tire flattened and the Lexus had the right front tire flattened. Officers did not observe any slash marks on the tires. The mechanic had the vehicles towed and informed the officers it did not appear to be vandalism. There was a nail in one and damage from hitting a curb on the other.

9:34 a.m.: Winslow Road resident reported fraud. She was a victim of identity fraud last year and had a fraud alert on her credit. Since then, she has been notified that there were two attempts at Bank of America to open an account. However, they were prevented due to the alert.

11:15 a.m.: A Hamilton Road resident reported unemployment fraud. On May 12, he received a phone call from his employer saying someone applied in his name for unemployment benefits. The person he spoke to was from Human Resources. She said she would follow up with the Department of Unemployment. His employer is the Archdiocese of Boston. There has been no other suspicious activity and was advised to notify his financial institutions and keep an eye on his credit score.

Tuesday, May 16

8:10 a.m.: Marlboro Street resident reported fraud. Someone tried to open an account using her personal information. This is the second time this has happened in the last few weeks. She received three emails from her bank, Bank of America, asking her to verify her address, welcoming her to online and mobile banking and  notifying her they were unable to open her account online. She called customer service right away and notified them the attempt was fraudulent. She asked if they could put a freeze on her account and not allow anyone to open an account without verifying with her first. She was concerned the Customer Service representative did not know how to do anything she was requesting. She had Experion put a flag on her information.

10:11 a.m.: A Trowbridge Street resident reported unemployment fraud. In today’s mail, he received a Bank Relia card from the Department of Unemployment. He did not file for unemployment. He notified his human resources department and will inform the Department of Unemployment about the fraud. He was also advised to notify his financial institutions and keep an eye on his credit score.

2:08 p.m.: Stewart Terrace resident reported lost property. She recently lost her purse. She believes it was at BJ’s in Waltham on May 10. She may have left it in her shopping cart before leaving the parking lot. Her Bank of America, Amazon, driver’s license and passport were in the purse. Information pertaining to her husband’s bank account was also inside. There has been no activity at this time on any of their accounts. She will cancel all her cards and notify the bank. BJ’s has not found her purse. She was advised to call if there is any suspicious activity.

3:08 p.m.: An Acorn Park Drive resident reported larceny of a bicycle. At noon today he went into the secure bike closet located in the garage and discovered his bike was no longer there. His bike was inside the closet three days ago. It was locked with a bike lock and the closet was locked. Every resident who owns and registers a bike with the building management receives a fob for the closet. There are no security cameras in the garage. It was an 18-speed Cannondale trail bike, green, valued at $650.

5:11 p.m.: An Amherst Road resident reported fraud. He lost his credit card in September 2022. He started receiving debt collection letters from Target. The account has accrued $863.35. On May 1, a Bank of America account as opened in his name and $1,050 was deposited. The account was used for multiple transactions, some occurring through the bank’s Zell feature. On May 8, Bank of America closed the account because they could not verify his identity. He was advised to monitor his credit score and notify the credit bureaus.

Wednesday, May 17

2:58 p.m.: Collision into tree in area of 15 Exeter St. A 2016 Ford operated by a Cambridge woman crashed into a tree. There was heavy front-end damage and airbag deployment. The operator had burns and cuts to her chest from the seatbelt and a large bruise and swelling on her right leg. She was parking her car and thought she was in reverse when the vehicle moved forward at a high rate of speed and crashed into the tree. She was transported to Mount Auburn Hospital. The car was towed. She received a citation for marked lanes violation.

Thursday, May 18

10:59 a.m.: A Trapelo Road resident reported fraud. She received an EBT card in the mail. Someone using her name filed for unemployment benefits. She never filed for unemployment. Her employer informed her someone filed for unemployment benefits using her name but they didn’t realize it until she notified them because the email was in the spam folder. She filed a report with the department of unemployment and notified the credit bureau. She will also notify her bank to put an alert on her account.

12:58 p.m.: Acorn Park Drive reported a car on fire, a 2019 Hyundai. The owner of the vehicle said he returned home a short time earlier. While en route he popped his tire in Cambridge and drove home without a flat tire because he didn’t have a spare. After he parked his motor vehicle in the parking lot. As he walked away, he smelled smoke and then noticed his vehicle was engulfed in flames. The vehicle was extinguished by Belmont Fire and towed from the scene.

Belmont Police responded to four domestic calls and five mental health calls between May 12 and May 18.