Public safety report: Stolen delivery vehicle recovered on Wellington Street

Waltham police responded to a report of a stolen motor vehicle at the Hilton Garden Inn at 460 Totten Pond Road on Nov. 16 at 2:31 p.m. The owner of a delivery service reported that a grey Toyota RAV4 was stolen. The vehicle was left running outside the hotel while the delivery driver went in to make a delivery. The key fob was in the delivery driver’s pocket. When the driver went back outside, the vehicle was gone.

Police were able to locate the vehicle via a GPS system installed on the car and stopped the vehicle at the end of Wellington Street. A juvenile male got out of the driver’s seat and fled down the Waltham Rail Trail. The passenger, Givannah Puerto, 19, remained seated in the vehicle.

Video surveillance from cameras in the vehicle showed Puerto entering the car and disconnecting the rear security camera. From this detail, police inferred that she was aware that she wasn’t supposed to be in the vehicle. Puerto was arrested for receiving a stolen motor vehicle and using a motor vehicle without authority.

The juvenile was located a half an hour later in the area of 35 Hanson Road hiding in a dumpster and was placed under arrest for larceny of a motor vehicle, using a motor vehicle without authority, receiving a stolen motor vehicle, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

A summary of additional additional police and fire department activity from Nov. 13 to Nov. 18 is as follows:

On Nov. 13 at 10:09 a.m., police responded to a report of a stolen motor vehicle at the UPS Store on Main Street. The reporting party had left her keys in the vehicle. The vehicle was recovered on Middle Street on Nov. 14. There are no current suspects. The matter is under investigation.

At 5:48 p.m. the fire department responded to an apartment unit on Middlesex Circle for reports of a fire. On arrival, there was smoke showing outside the building. Crew members forced entry into the apartment and found a fire in the kitchen, which they extinguished. The building was evacuated and ventilated. An investigation determined the fire was accidental.

On Nov. 14 at 5:58 p.m., police responded to the intersection of Elm Street and River Street where a skateboarder was struck by a Jeep. The skateboarder was transported to a local hospital due to possible internal injuries. The driver of the Jeep said they were waiting to turn left onto River Street from Elm Street. The driver began to turn and struck the skateboarder who the driver stated “came out of nowhere.” The driver was issued a criminal complaint summons for revoked registration of a motor vehicle, failure to stop and use care while entering an intersection and operating a motor vehicle without insurance. An investigation determined that the driver of the Jeep was responsible for the accident.

On Nov. 15 at 5:39 p.m., police responded to the intersection of Adams Street and Maple Street to reports of a motor vehicle that had struck a pedestrian in a crosswalk. The driver got out of the car to check on the pedestrian he hit, then ran back to his vehicle and drove away. A witness on the scene was able to record the license plate number of the vehicle. Based on the description given, police believe that the registered owner of the motor vehicle was the driver at the time of the crash. The driver was issued a summons for leaving the scene of an accident, personal injury, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and failure to use care while turning.

On Nov. 16 at 11:38 a.m., police responded to the Extended Stay Deluxe at 32 Fourth Ave. The reporting party said there was a red gel substance on their vehicle, and had removed it by the time police got there. There was no damage to the vehicle.

At 8:52 p.m. police responded to the Extended Stay Deluxe for an unrelated incident. The reporting party said that her rental Nissan Sentra had been used without her knowledge. She had left the keys in the car overnight and the car had been moved to a different parking spot than it was left in by the reporting party the previous night. There was damage to the driver’s side front and rear of the car, as well as vomit on the driver’s side window. The gas tank had been depleted. An open and partially consumed water bottle was left in the rear passenger area. The water bottle was sent to the lab to process for DNA or fingerprint evidence. The matter is under investigation.

On Nov. 17 at 1:50 p.m., police responded to the Paine Estate to reports of a man who had exposed himself to a woman. She had been putting her dog in her car when a man stumbled out of the woods next to her. He walked over to his vehicle and began to engage in lewd conduct. The woman turned away and informed the party she was going to call the police, at which point he got into his car and drove away. The woman was able to record the license plate of the vehicle the man left in, which helped police to identify the man. The man reported to the Waltham Police Station and stated that the allegations weren’t true. He said that he had only urinated in the woods. The man received a summons for open and gross lewdness.

All information was obtained from spokespeople with the Waltham Police and Fire departments, the publicly available police blotter and police reports available at Waltham District Court.