Belmont Police Log, May 30 to June 5: Stamp collector scammed out of nearly $5K, family suspects breeder sold them sick dog 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 30

4:06 p.m.: A Hull Street resident reported a package containing Apple air pods was stolen. FedEx delivered the package at approximately 1:58 p.m. to his front door. Five minutes later, camera footage showed a man dressed in all black with a helmet on his head and a black mask covering his face pulled up to the house riding a small, motorized bike. He walked up to his porch and took the package.

4:45 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported he was a victim of fraud. He received a notice from a debt collector, Radius Global Solutions, stating he had an outstanding balance with. Cox Cable of $968.37. He has never had Cox Cable. He filed a dispute with Radius, and they requested a police report. He had a similar identity theft situation one year ago and he thinks this is part of that. He put a freeze on his credit and will be monitoring his accounts.

Saturday, May 31

1:19 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported harassment by a former high school classmate.

1:22 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported someone tried to steal his identity. He owns a business and one of his clients received an email about an outstanding balance of $21,200. The communication was not from him. The client received numerous emails from someone pretending to be him requesting payment of the balance. One of the emails requested the payment to be sent to Navy Federal Credit Union located in Missouri. An account number and routing number were provided and none of the accounts are his. On May 28, this person requested the payment be sent to a woman at a Kansas address. He also discovered his emails were being forwarded to another email address. He immediately removed the forward and changed his password. He contacted the credit union and was informed neither his name, business tax ID nor social security number were attached to the account. At this time, neither he nor his client are out any money. He was advised to notify his bank about the situation.

7:20 p.m.: A tree fell on top of a vehicle parked in the Housing Authority parking lot on Gordon Terrace. The tree was on transit property. The car could not be moved until the tree was removed. A vehicle parked next to the vehicle that was under the tree was also damaged.

8:53 p.m.: A three-car collision at the intersection of Frontage Road and Pleasant Street between a 2011 Audi operated by an Arlington resident, a 2019 Honda operated by a Waltham woman and a 2014 Mercedes operated by a Belmont man. The operator of the Honda was issued a citation for failure to stop/yield.

Sunday, June 1

8:20 a.m.: A Belmont resident reported fraud. Someone tried to use her information at TD Bank. She does not have any accounts with TD Bank and has never made an inquiry about opening an account. However, her credit report was pulled on April 26^th.

8:45 a.m.: A Belmont resident reported fraud. WhatsApp recently contacted her for a remote online job. She was set up with an account on salesloftpro.shop and was told she had to pay a small fee to review apps. Once she completed the reviews, the fees were increased with the promise of increased commissions. She paid $5,700 and was promised a commission but then was told she had to pay another $5,000 to release the payments. She paid the additional $5,000 and $818,000 was transferred to her crypto.com wallet. She is now being told she needs to pay $57,000 in taxes I order to withdraw. She contacted the company, but they are refusing to refund her money. The company told her she must comply with the company policy and pay the taxes in order to withdraw the currency. At this time, she has lost $10,700 in total. She has filed a report with the FBI and the FTC.

12:30 p.m.: A Belmont woman reported violation of an Abuse Prevention Order. Belmont Police arrested the ex-husband who violated the order.

4:20 p.m.: A six-year-old male was reported missing. A Belmont woman said her son was missing for approximately 15 minutes. He was playing outside with other children in the neighborhood. Belmont Police discovered he was hiding in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

Monday, June 2

10:21 a.m.: A Belmont resident reported a dispute with his neighbor. He lives and owns the second floor of a two-unit condominium. His camera caught the neighbor who owns the first-floor unit spraying unknown chemicals in and around their common area and easement in the basement. He was not notified about this. He sent him an email in regard to the spraying and she never responded. He also reported his camera showed two unknown men roaming around in the basement and his neighbor touching his furnace on five different dates in November, December and January.

2:34 p.m.: Collision on Concord Avenue between a 2017 Toyota operated by a Cambridge man and a 2019 Honda operated by a Belmont woman. The Belmont woman was issued a citation for unsafe operation of a motor vehicle.

Tuesday, June 3

9:06 a.m.: A Belmont resident who is a stamp collector said he recently purchased a stamp via PayPal for $4,941 on a website called, “Hip Stamp.” The 2023 valuation of the stamp number he ordered is $17,500. The stamp was delivered to him by the seller on Nov. 18, 2024, and he received it on Nov. 25, 2024. He mailed it out to get it certified by the American Philatelic Expertizing Service. It took about 90 days for the service to inform him the stamp sent was not the number advertised. It was certified as a different number and worth $400. After learning this, he reached out to the seller and informed him about the situation. The seller offered him different stamps to make up the cost difference, but they were unable to come to an agreement. He will be filing a fraud report with PayPal.

12:53 p.m.: A Gilbert Road resident reported vandalism to her driver’s side window. Nothing was stolen from the vehicle.  The driver’s side window was shattered, but intact. There was a small hole to the right side of the glass. It appears it may have been from a rock, which may have hit her car while there was landscaping work being done around the property, not a burglar because the window was intact, and nothing was missing. She was advised to inform her landlord about the damage.

12:53 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported receiving a call from a man claiming to be a Massachusetts State Trooper at approximately 12:30 p.m. He told him he knows he was soliciting underage girls for sex from Costa Rica online and if he paid $1,500, he would not get into trouble. He denied all the allegations, but was so scared, he didn’t know what to do. The caller told him to go to his bank and explain to the teller he needed the money for a family emergency. He quickly realized it was a scam and did not give any money to the man. He also blocked the number (617-343-5600).

4 p.m.: A Belmont resident who purchased a dog from a breeder reported it died unexpectedly the same day they brought it home. It was purchased from Newfoundland from a breeder on May 30^th. She and her family drove from Belmont to New York to meet the breeder at her home and receive the dog in exchange for $1,800. The dog was transported back to their home in Belmont and shortly after, they noticed it became very lethargic and was not eating or drinking. They brought the dog to the vet and were advised the dog would likely not survive the day and would have to be euthanized due to various health conditions and heart issues. This traumatized her family who became attached to the dog over the short period of time, and they felt they were lied to by the breeder. The breeder sent documents showing the dog had been to the vet in New York and was deemed healthy by a New York state licensed vet, however, upon closer examination, they realized all the documents showed the same serial number. This repeated serial number made them suspect the documents were fraudulent. She will email the documents to the Belmont Police.

8:34 p.m.: A wallet containing seven debit cards $18 in cash and an Illinois license was dropped off at the police station. Officers were unable to locate the individual on the identification and the wallet was placed into storage.

Wednesday, June 4

6:46 a.m.: Suspicious activity was reported on Common Street at the MBTA station. A message was spray painted on the ground two feet from the train tracks saying, “I’m going to hang myself one day and I’ll finally be famous.” It was signed by a former Belmont High School student. MBTA Transit Police were notified as well as the police from the suspect’s, hometown. The suspect’s mother was also contacted and said her son is in the hospital.

8:20 a.m.: An A street resident reported his blue Schwinn Mountain bike missing. It’s valued at $450.

9:38 a.m.: A Belmont resident reported violation of an Abuse Prevention Order. Charges will be filed against the ex-husband for violating the order on two separate occasions.

4:36 p.m.: Collision at the intersection of Hastings Road and Common Street with injuries between a 2021 Audi operated by an Acton man and a 2023 Chevrolet operated by a Belmont man. The Belmont man was issued a citation for failure to stop/yield.

Thursday, June 5

12:12 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported fraud. She was waiting for her federal tax check for $1,926 in the mail. When she checked, they told her it was already cashed. “USPS” was written on the back of the check. She checked with the local Belmont USPS branch, and they told her they do not cash checks. The phone number listed on the check comes back out of Atlanta, Georgia but does not have any other information listed. The license number listed on the check is not a valid license number. She was advised to run a credit check and make sure there are no other issues with her information. She is going to speak with the post office regarding the stolen mail.

1:22 p.m.: An Oxford Avenue resident reported a hit and run. There was damage to her front left quarter panel and driver’s side door. A nearby Ring camera was found, and the resident showed the Belmont Police the footage. The video shows a white sedan come close to the vehicle where the damage was. The license plate of the vehicle was not visible. The video was emailed to the Belmont Police and placed in the evidence locker.

4:45 p.m.: An intoxicated individual was leaned over in the driver’s seat of a vehicle parked in the Claflin Street lot. Due to the high temperature and no one responsible to pick him up, he agreed to go into protected custody and be evaluated at the hospital.

Belmont Police responded to three mental health and two domestical calls between May 30th and June 6th.