Belmont Police Log, Dec. 2-8: Check fraud, gift card scam, missing male reunited with family 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. 

Tuesday, Dec. 2

9:07 a.m.: A Cross Street resident reported check fraud. He recently mailed a check that never made it to its intended destination. The check was altered and cashed by an unauthorized person. The check was mailed inside a mailbox at Pleasant and Brighton Streets. The Boston Firefighter’s Credit Union asked if he recently wrote a check in the amount of $7,220. He informed them he had not. The check mailed was in the amount of $729.54. The credit union advised him the check was washed and cashed at Rockland Savings. The credit union returned his month and closed his account.

Wednesday, Dec. 3

3:16 a.m.: A man reported being harassed. He is being followed by the same person driving various vehicles, including a blue Jeep operated by a white male that has a Massachusetts State Trooper sticker on it. The person drives by his home and stares at him. He has also been followed by a silver Ford Explorer and a black Chevrolet Silverado. He is concerned because he is the only person of color living on his block and lives next to three police officers from Belmont, Watertown and Cambridge.

Thursday, Dec. 4

8:57 a.m.: A disoriented person reported at Rock Meadow conservation land. An elderly man who appeared to be of Asian descent appeared cold, lost and walking in circles. He did not speak English. The officer attempted to communicate with him using his Google translator. The man stated the country Kazakhstan. Attempts were made to communicate with him in Russian and Mandarin but were unsuccessful. Officers reached out to surrounding cities and towns to see if a person matching his description has been reported missing. Belmont Fire and Rescue evaluated the male. Another male walking by assisted with his translator and officers were able to learn his name, age and date of birth (except the year). He said he was visiting his child. He was transported to Mount Auburn Hospital for an evaluation. The police reached out to McLean, Belmont Manor, Bridges and Waterstone to see if anyone matching the male’s description was missing. A short time later Lexington Control contacted Belmont Control saying they received a 911 phone call from a woman reporting her father-in-law was missing. The description matched the male at Mount Auburn Hospital. The man was reunited with his family.

10:21 a.m.: An Elm Street resident reported receiving a phone call from 214-771-5735. The person claimed to be her son and sounded just like him. He said he was arrested for OUI in Watertown and failed a breathalyzer test. He said he needed $250,000 cash for the bail and that she would need to meet up to make the transaction. He said he would give her a location to meet up once she had the money in hand. She told him he only had $5,000 but would get the cash from the bank. As she was leaving, her other son stopped came to the house. She told him what happened and he made her aware it was a scam.

8:30 p.m.: A woman reported she received a phone call from 978-666-9730. A voicemail was left stating it was Deputy Daniel Thompson from the Middlesex Sheriff’s Department calling to speak to her about legal matters. She called back and spoke to him. He said she had a warrant for failure to appear and contempt of court to which she was summoned for. She was unaware of these charges, and he informed her he was in possession of a summons she signed acknowledging receipt. When she questioned him where the charges originated from, he said he could not tell but mentioned they involved minors. She believed this could be related to a recent incident she was involved in. She said she never signed the summons, and he told her she would have to do a handwriting analysis to confirm her signature. If it did not match, she would not be charged. If it does match, she would have to plead guilty and be held for 72 hours to resolve criminal charges. He gave her another option to pay the citation fees which she agreed to. He gave her instruction on how to pay the fees via gift cards. HE sent her text messages of CVS, Walgreens and Walmart gift card barcodes to make deposits into. She withdrew cash and went to three different locations to make the transactions in the amounts of $1,003.74, $940 and $955. She then went to CVS in Woburn and made three transactions for $499.95 each. Lastly, she went to a Walgreens in Woburn and made a transaction in the amount of $495. All these transactions were deposits onto the gift cards the deputy provided to her. Two more payments were made via Apple cash in the amounts of $184 and $316. The total of all transactions made was $5,433.59. Once she made all the payments, the deputy informed her the charges were resolved and the call was terminated. She was on the phone for approximately seven hours. She was advised on the next steps to take to protect herself.

Friday, Dec. 5

7:22 p.m.: A Belmont Street resident reported an issue with her upstairs neighbor about the condominium. Earlier this morning her basement side door was open, and her water pipes were frozen. She called a plumbing company to fix the water pipe and install a space heater near the location of the water pipes. She attempted to call her neighbor, but the neighbor didn’t answer. When the neighbor came home, she explained to her what happened and how the plumber had to make repairs and place a space heater near the pipes as a precaution. When she went back down to the basement a couple of hours later, she realized the space heater was moved and turned off and her water line was also shut off. Officers told the neighbor not to touch her water pipes, and the space heater was there to benefit both residents. She said she understood and agreed to resolve any condo issues between the two of them.

Saturday, Dec. 6

12:15 p.m.: CVS on Trapelo Road reported shoplifting. A black female entered the store at 11:56 a.m. and went to the pharmacy to pick up medication, then stole multiple items prior to leaving the store at approximately 12:10 p.m. She took protein drinks, hair straightener, gel fantasy nails and air freshener refills. The pharmacy provided her name. Officers located her address. She came outside and admitted to stealing the items. She said, “times are tough and I have two kids. This is extremely embarrassing for me.” She said she didn’t open the items and was instructed to follow the officer back to the store to return them. She apologized to the officer and the manager of CVS and said she would never steal again.

8:38 p.m.: McLean Hospital patient reported her white iPhone with a black case worth approximately $250 was taken from her room. Her nephew tracked it using the “find my phone” feature to an address in the Cambridge area and later in the area of 30-50 Summer St. in Boston. He then said the location would not refresh and the phone was most likely turned off. She said it was on her bad when she was away from her room. She believes another patient took her phone. Attempts were made to reach the patient with no results.

Sunday, Dec. 7

4:22 p.m.: An intoxicated female in her mid-50’s was reported on the sidewalk on Gorham Road. She appeared to be struggling to get up. She slurred her words and could not remember where she was coming from. She could not hold herself up and kept falling back into the bushes while trying to sit up. A short time later, a friend picked her up and drove her back to her house.

Monday, Dec. 8

9:11 a.m.: A Belmont resident who is president of a non-profit organization that uses Chase Bank for all accounts and Bill.com for payment of bills. She has been receiving unauthorized transactions from the organization since Nov. 24. Chase has frozen all the accounts related to the organization. The unauthorized transactions totaled $168,329.38. She was advised to stay in contact with her bank.

3:25 p.m.: A Belmont resident said he dropped off a check at the Belmont Town Hall on Oct. 10, 2025. The payee was the Town of Belmont for $2,547.50. On Nov. 29, he learned the check was cashed for $2,800 and payable to an unknown individual. Chase Bank reimbursed him for the funds stolen and opened a new account for him.

3:29 p.m.: A Belmont resident reported receiving threatening text messages from an unknown number, 804-370-8814. The sender made statements about being the “boss” and if he didn’t comply, they would come to his house and kill him. He is not involved in any activity that would give these text messages any meri. There have been multiple attempted scams on him in the past and he believes this is another scam but wanted to report it.

Belmont Police responded to five domestic and four mental health calls Nov. 30th through Dec. 8th.