Police/Fire

Still Time to Sign Up for the Watertown Police Citizens Academy

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Once against this fall the Watertown Police Department will host the Citizens Police Academy, and you can still sign up. The academy is free and meets one evening a week for eight weeks, starting Monday, Sept. 18. To see the application materials click here. Watertown Police Chief Michael Lawn wrote the following informational letter:

As the Watertown Police Department advances its community policing efforts, it is important to have citizen-police interaction and cooperation.

Police/Fire

New Four-Way Stop at Intersection Near Watertown Square

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Watertown Police warn drivers to watch out for a new set of stop signs on Spring Street. 

There were already stop signs on Palfrey Street at Spring Street, but now there are stop signs on Spring Street at that intersection to create a four-way stop. The intersection is about three blocks from Main Street and two from Common Street. The intersection has had numerous accidents over the years. New stop signs and traffic signals are approved by the Watertown Traffic Commission. The Watertown Police put up the following post on its Facebook page:

The intersection of Spring Street at Palfrey Street is now an All-Way stop.

Government

Memorial for Watertown’s Fallen Firefighter Approved by Town Council

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The corner near house where Firefighter Joseph Toscano lost his life during a fire will be named in his memory after the Town Council voted to approve the memorial. 

Town Council President Mark Sideris read the resolution to create the Joseph A. Toscano Memorial in East Watertown last week. “Be it resolved that the Town Council gratefully acknowledges the ultimate sacrifice made by Firefighter Joseph A. Toscano and hereby dedicates a memorial at the corner of Merrifield Avenue and Bigelow Avenue in honor of Firefighter Joseph A, Toscano,” Sideris read. The Council resolution directed Town Manager Michael Driscoll to work with Town Councilor Angeline Kounelis to design an appropriate sign and memorial. The fire that took Toscano’s life occurred in Kounelis’ district in the East End. She added that she believes it is important to have a memorial for a hero like Toscano.

Fugitive

Watertown Man on the Lam Arrested by U.S. Marshals in Puerto Rico

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A Watertown man convicted of insider trading was arrested in Puerto Rico months after he failed to report to prison for a Federal prison sentence. 

Robert H. Bray, 79, was convicted in May 2016 of securities fraud after he was convicted of insider trading for buying – and later selling – shares of Wainwright Bank & Trust Company based on a tip that Wainwright would be acquired. He was sentenced to pay a $1 million fine and two year prison sentence. Bray was supposed to report to Federal prison in Devens on May 19 to begin his sentence, but he disappeared. After a months-long, nationwide manhunt, U.S. Marshals located Bray in the small coastal town of Añasco, Puerto Rico, according to a report in the Boston Globe. He is expected to appear in federal court in San Juan this week, the Globe reported.

Around Town

Vandals Spray Graffiti on Gravestone of Prominent Priest in Catholic Cemetery

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Visitors of a Watertown cemetery this week found several gravestones vandalized including the grave of a prominent Catholic priest. The graves lie in the Sandy Banks Cemetery, also referred to as the Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery, near Cottage Street, and one of the defaced gravestones belongs to Father Manasses P. Dougherty, who helped found many Catholic churches in the Cambridge area. Dougherty is one of many graves that had been researched by Newton resident Bill McEvoy, who spotted the red spray paint on the monuments and headstones on Aug. 10. First McEvoy and others approached Mount Auburn Cemetery, however, while the Catholic Cemetery abuts the Mount Auburn Cemetery, it is not part of that property, said Bree Harvey, Vice President of Cemetery & Visitor Services at Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Lifesaver

Belmont Teen Honored for Reviving Young Boy Who Nearly Drowned in Watertown

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A young boy is still alive thanks to the quick action of a Belmont teen who lifeguards at Watertown’s Oakley Country Club. On June 11, John Stewart was just getting off his shift when he heard that a boy had stopped breathing while swimming in the shallow end of the pool. He gave emergency life-saving aid and after giving the 11-year-old boy, named Brian, two rounds of  CPR the boy threw-up the water and he opened his eyes, according to a report by WHDH Channel 7. Brian survived and remains in contact with Stewart. On Thursday, Watertown Police Chief Michael honored 19-year-old Stewart for his heroics.

Federal Court

Feds Charge Watertown Resident, Restaurant Manager with Tax Fraud

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A manager of two Boston-area restaurants who lives in Watertown was charged today in federal court in Boston with tax fraud, the office of Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb District of Massachusetts announced. The US Attorney’s office sent out the following release:

Burhan Ud Din, 48, of Watertown, was indicted on one count of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and 12 counts of failing to withhold and pay employee taxes to the IRS. Two of Din’s co-conspirators, Hazrat Khan, 57, of Middletown, NY, and Khurshed Iqbal, 57, both Pakistani nationals, were charged in an April 2017 18-count superseding indictment with conspiracy and willful failure to pay over taxes. Khan previously pleaded guilty and will be sentenced later this year. Iqbal’s whereabouts are unknown.