Police Log: Officer Saves Suicidal Man, Shoplifter Caught Several Hours After Theft

The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Log.

Arrests

Oct. 11, 4:12 p.m: A man was yelling and throwing clothing and other items onto Mt. Auburn Street. A pedestrian across the street told the man he had to pick up the items. The suspect crossed the street, yelled at the pedestrian and said he was going to kill him. Police were called and when officers arrived the man ignored attempts to calm the situation down. When police tried to take the man into custody he made it difficult for officers to move him and threatened an officer. On the way to the Police Station, the man continued to yell and threaten the officer. Avedis Vartanian, 68, of Waltham, was arrested on two counts of threatening to commit a crime, one count of disorderly conduct and one count of resisting arrest.

Oct. 16, 7:25 p.m.: A man was spotted at Best Buy taking a laptop computer worth $500. The man left, but police were able to identify the man from security video because the man was familiar to them from previous incidents. Officers searched the area but did not find him. An officer doing a routine check of Arsenal Yards at 3:30 a.m. saw a man sitting at a chair at a table behind Roche Bros. near a construction site. The officer had been on duty earlier in the day and was working a double shift, so he recognized the suspect. The man was arrested and the laptop was recovered. Mark Rankin, 25, of Everett, was arrested on a charge of shoplifting by concealing merchandise.

Incident

Oct. 12, 9 a.m.: A man reported that a large sum of cash had been stolen from his room. He had recently moved into a home on Common Street with people he met through Facebook Marketplace. He left $5,000 in his room and later noticed it was missing. He said the door was not locked, and it did not appear anyone forced their way into the room. Police are investigating.

Oct. 12, 4:31 p.m.: A children’s bike was taken from a home. A 12-year-old boy left his bike on the side of his home on Rutland Street on Oct. 11 at about 6:15 p.m. When he returned the next day at 3 p.m. it was gone. The 2021 SE Block Flyer was left unlocked. It has orange and black camouflage paint with orange spokes and tires and is worth $600.

Oct. 13, 3:50 p.m.: A rock was thrown through the window of a home on Edenfield Avenue. On Oct. 4, the resident heard a loud crash late at night, and got up to see what it was, but thought something had fallen off the table. On the 13th she discovered a broken window on the side of her home. A rock had broken the outside pane of the double-pane window and was lodged between the two panes. The estimated repair cost is $1,200.

Oct. 15, 7:29 a.m.: A vehicle parked on Kimball Road was vandalized. The owner said her front windshield had been struck and it left a spider web-shaped crack. A large rock was found in the area of the vehicle. It was last seen undamaged at 7:30 p.m. The resident had heard a loud noise on the 14th between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Oct. 16, 6:45 a.m.: A construction vehicle was vandalized overnight. Workers at the 100 Forge Road project at Arsenal Yards found a crane that had mustard spread on the side view mirror, beer cans inside the cab, and the fire extinguisher from the crane had been discharged inside the cab.

Oct. 17, 9 p.m.: Motorists reported that a man yelling while in the middle of Arsenal Street near Arlington Street and he had a knife. An officer working a detail shift at Arsenal Yards responded and found the man in the street with cars swerving around him. The officer was able to speak to the man, who was in crisis. When the officer tried to calm him down, the man said “Just shoot me. Just kill me,” and put the knife to his own throat. The officer is trained in critical incident stress management. He pleaded with the man not to hurt himself. The man dropped to his knees while still holding the knife to his throat. The man extended his hand while still holding the knife to his throat with the other hand. The officer approached cautiously, but the man continued to ask the officer to kill him. When he got close the officer grabbed the man’s hand and disarmed him. The officer continued speaking with him and trying to calm him, but the man still said he wanted to die. When he was calmed down, Firefighters who responded were able to load him into an ambulance and take him to a local hospital for treatment and evaluation. The incident took about 20 minutes from the time the officer responded to the point where the man was put into the ambulance.