The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department.
May 20: Loss prevention at Target spotted a man who they recognized from previous incidents. Police were called and arrived as the suspect left the store. He said he was told by an unidentified friend to walk out with merchandise, and that he thought the items were paid for. The suspect did not have the items with him, but officers were able to locate $309 worth of merchandise behind a wall at the Residence Inn by Marriott. Looking at his record, officers found that the suspect had 20 previous guilty findings. Officer Catherine Welch arrested Raymond Garcia, 66, of Boston, on a charge of common notorious thief.
May 20: A woman went on a run along the Charles River Path starting near Watertown Square. As she went down the section close to Pleasant Street she saw a man who she thought was following her. When she turned around the man put his hands on his head and would not look at her. She walked over to the dog park at How Park, and he walked that direction, too. She contacted police who went to the area but could not locate the man. The suspect is described as a white male, 5-foot-10, and had a sleeve tattoo on his right arm.
May 20: A man and woman went into Target and concealed $308 worth of clothing in a wheelie suitcase. They left without paying for the items.
May 20: A resident of Cleveland Road looked at the home security video from the previous night and saw a man walk up to their vehicle and then walk away. The man drove up in a sedan that had a spotlight on it, which he shone into the resident’s car before walking away.
May 21: A man walked a few feet up a driveway on Nyack Street on May 17 at about 1:30 a.m. He walked away when security lights went on.
May 21: A resident reported that someone slashed all four tires on a Jeep Cherokee parked on Riverside Street, and all four doors were left open. The vehicle had been parked there from May 17 to 19. Police are investigating.
May 21: A rabbi walking on Mt. Auburn Street was approached by a man who said to him, “How many children did you and your Israeli friends murder today?” He did not know the man, who was described as a white male in his 60s wearing a green jacket and a backpack. Police are investigating the incident.
May 21: A man took $95 worth of hydroxy chews and a diffuser from Bluemoon Smoke Shop on Main Street.
May 22: A resident was looking for an immigration lawyer and found someone claiming to be one on Tiktok. The resident contacted the person on WhatsApp and was asked to send $4,700. The resident realized it was a scam. Police are investigating.
May 22: Someone started a fire in the garden section outside of Home Depot. The general manager came out and put out the fire. There was little damage. Teenagers had been heard yelling in the area before the incident, and the general manager believes it was a prank.
May 23: A Myrtle Street resident found the rear window of a vehicle was smashed out. It was parked in the driveway. Nothing of value was missing from the vehicle and police are investigating.
May 23: Someone grabbed the microphone to the public address system at Home Depot and announced that someone had a gun in the store. The person fled, and the announcement caused some panic among people at the store. The security video was checked and no one was seen in the store with a gun. Police suspect it was a prank but are continuing to look into the incident.
May 23: A man went into Target and took $124 in merchandise. He left before police arrived.
May 23: A man was stopped in Target for shoplifting, and police discovered he had a warrant for his arrest. Officer Matt Donnell arrested Everett Woodward, 37, of Taunton, on a charge of shoplifting, and the warrant from Quincy District Court for drug possession and shoplifting.
May 25: A resident reported receiving messages through WhatsApp from someone trying to extort money. The resident did not know who was sending the messages, and did not send any money.
May 25: A man took $76 worth of items from Target.
May 25: Just before midnight, two unknown men approached a porch on Belmont Street where a package had been left out to be picked up by a parcel company. The security lights went on and the men left. Police are investigating.
May 26: A woman took $130 worth of clothing from Target.
May 26: A resident received a call from someone saying that the person owned money on their credit card, and was told there were warrants for the resident’s arrest. The caller said if the resident sent Target gift cards, the person could avoid prosecution. Two gift cards of $380 each were purchased and sent to the caller.
May 27: Roche Bros. reported a man went into the store and took $200 worth of items.
May 28: A construction vehicle was parked on Glen Circle. Tools were left unsecured in the back of the pickup truck and someone took them. They were valued at $5,370.
May 28: A mattress and damaged TV were dumped on Glen Circle. They appeared to have been there for a few days.
May 28: A man attempted to take $100 worth of merchandise from Target. The items were recovered and the man was trespassed out of the store.
May 30: A woman was caught taking $1,240 worth of beauty products from Ulta Beauty. Gabriela Cardoso, 28, of Brighton, was arrested on a charge of larceny over $1,200.
May 30: A resident reported that a piece of mail had been opened and personal information had been removed.
May 30: A man went into Target and took $349 worth of items.
May 31: Target reported a man took $115 worth of items from Target.
May 31: A shoplifter was stopped in Target after taking $1,304 in items and removing an anti-theft device. James Connolly, 49, of Boston, was arrested on charges of larceny and unlawful removal of a theft detection device.
May 31: Ulta Beauty reported a man went into the store and took $490 worth of items. Police are investigating.
June 1: A small dresser, an elliptical machine and household items were left on the side of Fayette Street.
June 1: Furniture was dumped on the roadside on Riverside Street and Wheeler Lane.
I suppose baselessly accusing the Jewish people of infanticide is still free speech, just as are the weekly protests against Israel’s right to exist in Watertown Square. I feel certain that if the police scouted the delta on any particular Saturday, they’d find no shortage of suspects who fit the description of a “white male in his 60s wearing a green jacket and a backpack”, more than half of whom would happily cop to the charge (whatever the charge would be).
Criticism of the Israeli government and peaceful protest are in fact still free speech, yes. Are you encouraging the police to target people exercising their 1st amendment right to say things you don’t like?
They already are: “Police are investigating the incident.” That surprised me, but they know laws against threat, harassment, intimidation, coercion, etc. better than I. Perhaps there was something less than “peaceful” about the incident. After all, the rabbi was in Watertown, not Israel. Nothing to do with what I don’t like, or find hateful and bigoted. Just police work.
Josh, the protests are not about Israel’s right to exist, they are about the conduct of the Israeli government recently. And actually, the accusations are against the Israeli government not the Israeli people, and specifically they accuse Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes which is fair game.
Even staunch supporters of Israel (I would include myself) have grown sick of what they have seen in Gaza and the West Bank. There are few who blame the Jewish people categorically. So don’t make the hyperbolic argument that the criticism of the Israeli government is tantamount to anti-Semitism. It is not.
The Palestinians have a right to exist also and also to seek a better life for themselves and their families and neighbors. Do you dispute that?
I disagree and find the protests hateful and bigoted. Which is why I was appalled, but not surprised, that a Jewish man was accosted on Mount Auburn Street, Watertown. Disagreement is protected speech, as I stated at the top, as I state here. Accosting a man on the basis of his faith alone—heck, his appearance alone—is unconscionable. Yet I seem to be the only one in this thread to say so. I and the WPD.
I found your protestations of hatefulness and bigotry supremely disingenuous. Call it chutzpah perhaps. Examine your own house first.
With regard to the incident in the article, you were not there, so you don’t really know what happened. You might want to hold some of your accusations until you obtain facts.
I can’t WAIT for the police report! And good on you for not condemning antisemitic harassment. Two swings and two misses. Stand firm.
I’m with you. The fact that not everyone can say this event in Watertown was wrong (and instead swings back to “criticism of Israel is not antisemitism”) is a large part of the problem.
(Current Watertown resident)
Good on you, Josh! Were they protesting when Hamas slaughtered roughly 250 young adults at a music/ peace concert? Or entire families? And filmed it all with go-pro cameras? I don’t recall that…
There is no shortage of rabbis with integrity and human empathy
who are appalled by Israel’s brutal crimes against himanity.
So why did the harasser pick on a rabbi at all?
I dispute your baseless charge against Israel, but I agree that some rabbis don’t. So, again, what is the message of picking on a rabbi just for being a rabbi?
Actually Josh and Rachel, you do not have full details of what happened. Likely the WPD doesn’t either at this point. None of us were there so we don’t know exactly what happened. So your conclusions are mere conjecture.
Josh, the war crimes are plain for all to see. I am sorry if you can’t.
Odd that you doubt a police report, yet accept Hamas/Hezbollah propaganda without question. But after all this time, I get it.
You have no idea what I believe and what I don’t believe. You’re just making stuff up to fit your narrative.
I’m not sure why you assume I don’t have full details. Also what would be a good excuse for accosting someone on the street who is not interacting with you? If the rabbi felt shaken enough to call the police, it was not a good interaction.
Okay, you’re saying you were there? You were a witness? You know everything that happened?
It’s very weird to me how you get from someone being harassed in Watertown because of what he’s wearing, to: if you disagree with actions of the Israeli government. you don’t care that this happened in Watertown. I don’t see any relation between criticism of the actions of the Israel government and indifference to verbal violence in Watertown .The incident was reported to the police and will be addressed.
And what I don’t get is why Rachel and I are the only ones to call out the alleged behavior as antisemitic harassment. But I’m glad you just did: “verbal violence” and someone being “harassed in Watertown because of what he’s wearing” are much more compassionate responses than “Were you there?” I don’t have to see shoplifting at Target or a DUI to believe that there is a credible charge in the police report. The question of how we got from “verbal violence” toward a Jewish person to “criticism of the actions of the Israel government” is best answered by the “white male in his 60s” who did just that. It’s despicable behavior, and not saying so only invites more of the same.
How we got there Josh is that you twist scant information in a police blotter into support for your larger agenda, which is accusing thoughtful neighbors of yours of “hatred and bigotry” because they oppose mass killing of innocent civilians. As I said before, examine your own house.
And if you have any more detailed information on the incident other than the few sentences above please present it.
Remind me why Hamas did not release the hostages? They couldn’t have returned to life those they had butchered on October 7th—the women, the children, the elderly—but they could have freed all 250 hostages at any time. And achieved peace. Yet for two years did not. Any idea why? They cowered in hospitals, schools, and mosques, they hid behind civilian shields, they turned their tunnels into torture chambers. They abused the hostages physically and mentally, and starved them to the point of death, indeed killing many. When they could have released them for an immediate ceasefire at any time. They must have had a good reason not to, but I can’t remember what it was. Do you have a clue? Does anyone else, anyone “thoughtful”? Perhaps the fellow who accused someone who appeared Jewish of infanticide? Yes, hatred and bigotry.
Right on, bro.