Police Log: Drug Task Force Arrests Dealer, Jewelry Stolen from Gym

The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department.

Arrests

Oct. 20, 1:46 p.m.: The Suburban Middlesex County Drug Task Force had a man under surveillance for suspected dealing narcotics. On Oct. 20, the task force followed the suspect to Waltham where they observed what they believed to be a drug deal with another man. They followed the suspect and he pulled over on Main Street near Chestnut Street. Plain clothed detectives approached the man in his car. During the investigation they found he had 17 individually wrapped baggies of what police suspect is cocaine. They also found a digital scale with what appeared to be cocaine residue on it, an undisclosed amount of U.S. currency, and glassine plastic baggies that are often used in the sale of narcotics. The man, Harold Miller, 55, of Pittsfield, was arrested on a charge of possession to distribute a Class B substance — cocaine.

Oct. 23, 2:10 a.m.: An officer was stopped on Arsenal Street at School Street and spotted a pickup roll through the intersection slowly. The officer tried to get the driver’s attention by honking his horn, but the vehicle kept going and went up on the curb and hit the building at 311 Arsenal St. at a slow rate of speed. The officer went over to get the man’s attention, but he was asleep behind the wheel. When he was finally awoken, the man appeared confused and could not follow directions to shut off the vehicle, so the officer reached in and turned off the ignition. The man mentioned that he “had too much to drink.” He unsuccessfully took four field sobriety tests. Ramiro Rivera, 26, of Watertown, was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Incidents

Oct. 18, 9:23 a.m.: An Edenfield Avenue resident reported that a window of his home had been smashed. The previous day it was intact. The man went to bed at midnight, and did not hear anything. When he came out he saw the outer pane of a double pane window was broken and a rock was found just below the window. The estimated replacement cost is $1,000.

Oct. 18, 5:13 p.m.: A resident called on behalf of an elderly parent for a case of fraud. The woman said she began getting letters sent to her mother from Citizens Bank, but her mother does not have an account with the bank and lives in a nursing home. Police looked into it and found that it appeared that someone opened an account in the mother’s name at the Citizens Bank at 171 Watertown St. Police are working with the bank to try to identify the suspect.

Oct. 20, 4:36 p.m.: A Watertown woman reported a missing package. She ordered multiple crystals for $361.84 through a company she found on Instagram. The package was confirmed delivered on Oct. 7 to her home on Hawthorne Street, but she never found it. Surveillance footage showed the UPS driver dropping the package off, and that was the last time it was seen.

Oct. 20, 5:37 p.m.: A man ordered a vinyl record online on Oct. 6 and when the package arrived on the 19th he opened it and there was no record inside. He had ordered the record on eBay for $2,447. It was shipped from San Francisco. Police are working with eBay to find out more about what happened.

Oct. 21, 8:26 a.m.: A resident found a property in Florida to rent in an ad from Craigslist. The man made two payments of $1,500 using the Zelle app. When the person renting the property asked for a third request for money the resident became suspicious. He researched the property and got in touch with the property owner in Sarasota, Fla., who said he was not renting out the property. The resident is working on the incident with his bank, the Sarasota Sheriff’s Department and the Florida Attorney General’s Office.

Oct. 21, 9:24 a.m.: A Watertown resident mailed a check for $61 to a company and put it in a box on the corner of Cypress and School streets on Oct. 17. On the 21st, the resident noticed $5,000 missing from his bank account. When he went to Santander Bank to talk to them about the check a bank employee showed him the check on which the amount had been changed to $5,000, and was made out to a person, not the company. It appears that someone took the letter from the mailbox and changed the check. The case was referred to the U.S. Postal Police, who are investigating.

Oct. 22, 7:16 p.m.: A man came to report that some of his jewelry was stolen. He had been at Title Boxing Club on Arsenal Street on Sept. 5 for an evening class. He left his backpack in a locker in the locker room. Later her noticed a necklace, a pendant with the face of Jesus on it, and a gold ring were missing. They were worth a combined $5,848.

Oct. 23, 12:41 p.m.: A man left his electric scooter locked in a bike rack outside Home Depot at noon. At about 12:30 p.m. the man went out and found the scooter was missing, and the bike lock had been cut off. The scooter is a black Go Trax G2 valued at $450.