Public Safety Report: Police warn residents to lock cars after string of vehicle break-ins

A number of residents in two northerly Waltham neighborhoods woke up on the morning of Oct. 9 to find that someone had opened and rummaged through their cars.

Residents filed a total of 11 reports of car break-ins on the morning of Oct. 9 between the hours of 7:43 a.m. and 1:25 p.m. According to the police department, the cars — which were all parked in neighborhoods in Lakeview and Cedarwood — were all unlocked. 

In the majority of these cases, nothing was taken, but owners reported missing credit cards from a few cars in the Cedarwood neighborhood. In at least two cases, the Waltham Police Department found that someone had since attempted to use the credit cards for purchases in Boston. This is an active investigation.

A police spokesperson connected these incidents to past “sprees” of car break-ins in Waltham, which he said have previously happened in neighborhoods located near the highway and have often targeted unlocked cars.

The spokesperson wishes to remind residents to “lock your car door, no matter what neighborhood you live in.”

Additional public safety actions

Between 7 a.m. on Oct. 8 and 7 a.m. on Oct. 17, the most common types of incidents recorded in the police’s public blotter — not counting check-ins from patrol cars — were logged simply as responses to alarms, dropped 911 calls, or reports of loud noises, at approximately 13% of all logged items; traffic incidents, at approximately 11% of items; and medical calls, at around 8%. 

Not all police incidents are logged in the blotter. Items related to domestic violence, for example, are often not in the publicly available police blotter because of state law about publishing such information. Occasionally, items in the blotter are also mislogged; for example, a lost and found item originally reported as a theft may still be logged under “larceny.”

A summary of public safety activity from Oct. 8 to Oct. 17 is as follows:

On Oct. 8 at 9:20 a.m., police responded to a report of breaking & entering on Maple Street. Officers found a cinderblock that appeared to have been thrown through the window of a new thrift store. The store’s owners reported they do not keep money in the store, and nothing was missing or stolen. Police have not yet received surveillance video of the incident, and this remains an ongoing investigation.

At 1:14 p.m., police responded to a report of identity theft at a private home on Endicott Street. The victim’s bank successfully blocked an attempt to cash a $2,800 check made from a mobile app, but the victim believes their identity may have been compromised after making an online purchase from an out-of-state store.

At 3:22 p.m., police responded to a report of breaking & entering at a house on Benefit Street. The reporting party, a family member house-sitting for the homeowner, found that someone had broken into the house the previous evening and stolen the motorcycle parked outside. When the officer who received the report returned to the scene around 9:57 p.m., they noticed building lights were, there was a man inside, and there were bags lying outside by an open window; officers knocked and made a loudspeaker announcement telling the person inside to come out, but received no response. Officers searched the bags, which contained personal information that identified a person named Nicholas Toppi, who was already named in warrants for three counts of larceny under $1,200, attempting to commit a crime and two counts of larceny from a building. Officers broke into the house and arrested Toppi for burglary. Toppi was also charged with possession of a class B drug after police found at the station that he was carrying a Suboxone, a drug used to treat opiate use disorder, without a prescription. Toppi pled not guilty to all charges at his arraignment on Oct. 17.

On Oct. 9 at 3:17 p.m., police went to the Day Center at 16 Felton St. to issue a trespass order barring a person from the premises.

At 4:55 p.m., police arrested a man for driving under the influence of liquor and failing to keep right for an oncoming motor vehicle.

At 9:09 p.m., firefighters responded to a call of smoke in a building on Trapelo Road. When firefighters arrived, they could not find any smoke or fire, but the resident identified an issue with a gas fireplace in the house, and said they had been feeling faint. Firefighters were able to shut off the fireplace, and the resident was evaluated by ambulance staff.

On Oct. 10 at 4:49 p.m., police arrested a man for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and on five more warrants for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, one of operation of an uninsured motor vehicle, a failure to stop/yield, an equipment violation, a suspended registration, and an inspection/sticker violation.

At 6:55 p.m. and 7:27 p.m., police arrested two men for possession and distribution, respectively, of class B drugs.

On Oct. 11 at 5:42 p.m., a person was bitten by a dog while on a walk at the intersection of Bacon and School Streets. The victim was transported to the hospital, and police identified the dog and filed an animal control report.

At 8:10 p.m., police received a report of identity theft from a person attempting to purchase a car on Moody Street. While applying for a loan for the purchase, they discovered that someone had opened multiple bank accounts using their social security number. Police advised them to report their case to the Federal Trade Commission.

On Oct. 12 at 7:03 p.m., firefighters and police responded to a report of an accident on Moody Street where a bicycle rider had hit a car. The rider was bleeding from their face, and was treated on scene and transported to the hospital by an ambulance.

At 8:23 p.m., police responded to a report of a fight at the Peter Gilmore playground at 80 Hall St. On site, officers interviewed a person who said they had encountered four or five men in grey ski masks, two of which had struck the person with their fists and a baseball bat. Multiple witnesses were at the playground, and one fully corroborated the victim’s story, but none were able to describe the men in ski masks. This remains an active investigation.

On Oct. 13 at 11:38 a.m., the family of a juvenile reported them missing after they had not returned home the previous evening. 

At 6:25 p.m., police responded to a report of a vehicle break-in on Adams Street. The reporting party told officers they had parked their vehicle two nights before, and had returned that morning to find that someone had rifled through the glove box and center console, and had taken multiple power tools collectively valued at $1,000. Police are waiting for surveillance videos from a nearby camera, and this remains an active investigation.

On Oct. 14 at 9:05 p.m., a police officer observed a group of vehicles parked at James P. Falzone Field. Knowing that the field had previously been the site of trespassing issues, and recognizing vehicles from a prior incident, the officer pulled in to investigate and observed a man inside a currently-running car reach for a bottle of alcohol. The officer asked the man to get out of the car and take roadside sobriety assessment tests, which he failed. The officer placed the man under arrest for driving under the influence of liquor, operating an unregistered and uninsured motor vehicle, misuse of dealer’s license plates, and keeping alcohol in an open container in a car.

On Oct. 15 at 5:53 a.m., police received a call of a man shoplifting from the 821 Main St. Mobil station. When police arrived, they identified the man and told him why they’d been summoned. The man said he had not stolen anything; upon further questioning, he produced $17 worth of items from his person and told the police he was homeless and didn’t have the money to pay for them. Officers told him they were going to arrest him, and he swore at them and threw a coffee he had been carrying on the ground. Officers arrested him for shoplifting by asportation and disorderly conduct, as well as on a warrant for trespass from Oct. 8, after a no-trespass order from Waltham Public Library — which the police had issued instead of a summons because he has no home address — and additionally for misdemeanor breaking & entering.

At 8:44 a.m., police responded to a call that a man was threatening four people with an item that looked like a knife — later identified as a vegetable peeler — near a bus stop on Chester Lane. He left on foot, and officers were able to locate a man matching the description nearby. One of the victims apparently had a recently-expired harassment prevention order against the man, and police identified him from previous reports. They arrested him on four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.

At 10:19 p.m., police responded to a call of shoplifting at the CVS on Harvard Street. A man was reported putting beef jerky and blankets in his bag — a total of $112 worth of merchandise — and left on foot down Main Street. Officers were not able to identify anyone in the area matching his description, and this remains an active investigation.