The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department.
Arrests
Dec. 28, 8:28 a.m.: On Dec. 27 at about 8 p.m police received a call from Dunkin’ in Watertown Square about a man causing a disturbance by yelling at customers. The man continued to cause a disturbance after police arrived. They found the man had been given a trespassing order from Dunkin’ on Oct. 5. On Dec. 27, the man berated police officers, but they were able to calm him down and left. A summons was requested for the man for trespassing and disorderly conduct. On the 28th at 8:28 a.m. the man went back into Dunkin’ and sat at a table inside. He was yelling at customers and police were called. Officers spoke to him about the previous trespass order and the man became uncooperative. Toros Torossian, 56, a homeless man from Watertown, was arrested for trespassing. He also faces the charges from the summons on the previous day.
Dec. 30, 12:56 a.m.: An officer patrolling on Charles River Road by Irving Street noticed a vehicle parked at the side of the road with its headlights on. As the officer drove past, two passengers were seen inside and the officer conducted a query of the license plate. It revealed that the registered owner was wanted on an outstanding warrant from Waltham District Court for home invasion and larceny of drugs. The officer confirmed the identity of one of the people in the car, who was the person wanted on the warrant. Amy McPherson, 44, of Wayland, was arrested on the warrant.
Jan 1, 12:45 a.m.: An MBTA bus broke down as it was turning into the driveway around the Watertown Delta. It was blocking Galen Street heading south across the bridge over the Charles River. MBTA crews were repairing the bus when an officer came upon it. The officer pulled the cruiser behind the bus and turned the lights on to alert people to the bus. As the officer was directing traffic he heard some of the MBTA workers yelling “Stop!” at an approaching car. The Honda CRV struck the back of the police cruiser going about 20 mph. It did not appear that the vehicle tried to stop. The accident did significant damage to the front end of the Honda and the rear of the police car. There were no injuries. The officer checked on the driver, who seemed OK, but smelled of alcohol. The driver said she had consumed alcohol before driving. She did not pass five field sobriety tests. Leah Palanzi, 39, of Newton, was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Incidents
Dec. 28, 9:52 a.m.: A package was stolen from Nichols Avenue. A woman had ordered a Dyson hairdryer valued at $584.36. It had been confirmed delivered on Dec. 21 at 9 a.m. When the resident went to retrieve it, the package was gone.
Dec. 29, 3:30 p.m.: Two customers got into an altercation at the register area of Target. A woman checked out and when she was trying to leave the self-checkout area, but a man was checking out had left his cart in a place blocking her from leaving. She tried to get his attention verbally to ask him to move the cart, and when he did not she moved the cart. She was planning to move the cart back, but when she moved it the man turned around and pushed her with two hands. The woman fell over, and then attempted to speak with the man. Target security intervened and police were called. The man denied pushing the woman but officers confirmed the incident by reviewing security footage. The 54-year-old Cambridge man was summoned to Waltham District Court for assault and battery.
Dec. 30, 5 a.m.: The clerk at 7-Eleven in Coolidge Square called police after a man was causing a disturbance. Officers arrived and the clerk tried to explain what the problem was. He pointed out a customer, and officers escorted the man outside to continue the conversation. As they were speaking to him, the man lifted his sweatshirt and slowly began to remove a firearm from his waistband. Police ordered him to stop. As he was lowering the firearm to the ground an officer noticed there was an orange tip on the end of the firearm, which meant it could have been a toy gun. Then the man removed a second firearm and moved it to the ground. That one did not have an orange tip. Police asked the man to move away from the firearms, but he did not respond. Officers noticed the man had a “1,000 yard stare” and was not responding to their instructions to get down on his knees. Police were able to use de-escalation techniques to get the man to cooperate. Officers determined the firearms were BB guns. The man appeared to be in crisis. Police called an ambulance to take the man to a hospital for a psychological evaluation. No charges have been filed at this point.
Jan. 1, 4:07 p.m.: A vehicle was broken into while parked at the Purple Garage at Arsenal Yards. The man parked his Toyota Corolla at 3 p.m. on Dec. 31. When he returned at 12:30 a.m. he found it had been rummaged through and $140 was missing from the center console, as well as a Craftsman toolset worth $113. The car had been left unlocked.
Jan. 2, 4 p.m.: A Walnut Street resident came into the Police Station to report a stolen bicycle. The woman said that sometime between Nov. 25 and Dec. 30 someone had taken her daughter’s bicycle out of an unlocked garage. The 24-inch red Trek child’s bike is valued at $380.
“December 3o, 5 a.m.” is a dramatic and heartening example of a situationally appropriate police response. From the description, it’s easy to imagine a terrible outcome with less level-headed and well-prepared officers. Thank you, Watertown Police.