The following police logs are from the Amherst Police Department from Friday, Dec. 6, 2019 to Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019.
Friday, Dec. 6, 2019
Citizen Transport
7:35 a.m.: A reporting party near 4 Boltwood Ave. was desperately looking for a ride to Ernie’s to pick up her vehicle which was towed overnight.
Assist Other Police Department
8:10 a.m.: A “Be on the Lookout” was issued out of Granby for a possibly intoxicated operator of a green 2004 Honda Civic. An area search was negative.
Motor Vehicle Crash
10:02 a.m.: At 217 South Pleasant St., a PVTA vehicle struck a pedestrian. The incident is currently under investigation.
2:06 p.m.: A reporting party contacted APD stating his vehicle slid off the road into a mailbox. He said there were no injuries and did not know his plate number. APD located a gray 2014 Buick Encore which had been traveling northbound on Montague Road and slid off into the snow in the northeast corner of the intersection. The vehicle had been taking a right onto Pulpit Hill Road but was traveling too fast for conditions. There was no new damage to the vehicle and there was no mailbox or sign to hit at that location.
2:45 p.m.: A reporting party called from 343 Montague Road stating he was waiting for an officer. The officer had located another vehicle near Pulpit Hill Road and thought it was in reference to the earlier call. The officer returned to the area and found the site of the accident. A gray 2013 Toyota Tacoma was traveling northbound on Montague Road when the vehicle lost traction and was skidding around. It struck a mailbox and post on the west side of the roadway. The operator spoke with the resident. APD spoke with the resident and advised that she could get the driver’s contact info if she wished.
2:47 p.m.: At 85 Olympia Drive, a reporting party stated that she struck a snowbank in a gray 2005 Toyota Camry and that she was stuck.
2:53 p.m.: At 676 East Pleasant St., APD came upon a black 2008 Toyota Yaris which was on the west side of the road in a yard. The operator was traveling northbound too fast for road conditions, lost control of the vehicle and skidded sideways into the yard, striking the mailbox and post. APD spoke with the resident who said she would speak with the mother of the driver of the vehicle. The driver understood he might have to pay for a new mailbox and was waiting for AAA.
3:01 p.m.: A blue 2019 Mazda CX5 was operating westbound in the entrance to Puffton Village at 1040 North Pleasant St. when it slid into a gray 2004 Buick Century while it was parked in front of 21 Puffton Village. Damage was likely over $1,000 but there were no injuries or tows at the scene.
Breaking and Entering Motor Vehicle
11:09 a.m.: At 231 Triangle St., an involved party reported that tools were stolen from an unlocked vehicle. The tools were worth approximately $2,000. The incident is currently under investigation.
Follow Up
12:08 p.m.: At 200 Triangle St., APD found security camera footage that showed vehicles during the time of a previous larceny incident. APD will review the footage for possible suspects.
Traffic
1:26 p.m.: An anonymous complaint was reported at 43 Longmeadow Drive that a majority of sidewalks in the area were not being shoveled. The reporting party had waited a few days since the last storm before calling. Parking enforcement was unable to check on Friday but a warning was given on Dec. 7 at 11:30 a.m.
1:28 p.m.: A reporting party struck something on the roadway near 19 Northampton Rd. which she believed was a big rock. There was only one call from that location and a search area was negative.
1:44 p.m.: At 1 Spring St., a lot was closed until the Merry Maple Ceremony was over.
4:45 p.m.: A reporting party at 1 South Pleasant St. stated there was a silver Prius blocking another vehicle from leaving the lot.
10:32 p.m.: At 397 Northampton Rd., a reporting party stated that there were pieces of debris in the travel lane. The travel lanes were clear on arrival.
Disabled Motor Vehicle
3:27 p.m.: At 277 East Pleasant St., a brown 2015 Honda Accord slid into a snowbank. The vehicle was pushed free.
Disturbance
3:49 p.m.: At Ren’s Mobil at 161 North Pleasant St., a 911 caller reported that a male party was causing a disturbance and screaming at the caller’s boss. The male party then followed him into the manager’s office, brandished a knife and slammed it down on the counter. The male then fled northbound on North Pleasant St. in a motor vehicle. He was described as a black male in his early 20s who was approximately 6’2”. APD located the vehicle and two occupants were removed and the driver was placed under arrest. The 23-year-old Amherst man was arrested on two charges of assault with a dangerous weapon.
Motor Vehicle Complaint
3:55 p.m.: At 3 East Hadley Rd., a reporting party stated that a silver 2001 Honda Civic was swerving all over the road and nearly running into snowbanks. The vehicle nearly struck another vehicle which was stopped at a red light. APD was notified of the call but no officers were available due to a higher priority call.
7:18 p.m.: South Hadley Police Department passed on a motor vehicle complaint about a dark grey Chevy pickup that was driving all over the road and slowed down in the middle of traffic for no reason. APD observed the vehicle traveling north on West St. for approximately half a mile. The vehicle failed to stay in the travel lane when it crossed over the marked fog line on the right more than three times and drove over the left side granite curbing of two rotaries. APD also observed the vehicle traveling as low as 28 mph in a posted 50 mph zone. The vehicle was stopped and the operator was identified. He admitted to being nervous about driving because the road was wet and there was snow present on the roadside, although it was not snowing at the time. He also stated that he had difficulty seeing, despite wearing glasses. The operator was issued a written warning and was advised that an Immediate Threat application would be filed.
Suspicious
4:16 p.m.: A reporting party walked into Amherst Fire Department Central to report an intoxicated male party going through trash cans at 1 East Pleasant St. An area search was negative.
Community Policing
9:33 p.m.: A reporting party at 30 Boltwood Ave. requested that an officer do a walkthrough, as an event at the Inn on Boltwood was getting a little rowdy. Officers conducted a walkthrough to make sure all was in order.
Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019
Motor Vehicle Stop
12:57 a.m.: A white 2011 Toyota Sienna was stopped for making a right on red at South Pleasant Street onto Main Street, then failing to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk. A verbal warning was issued.
10:11 p.m.: At 48 Triangle St., a gray 2008 Nissan Altima was stopped and the operator was issued a verbal warning.
Disturbance
1:36 a.m.: A reporting party inside Antonio’s Pizza at 31 North Pleasant St. said individuals were arguing and shoving one another inside. Both parties were arguing very loudly. Other individuals who were friends were trying to keep the arguing parties separated. The arguing parties were found to be cousins. It was unclear what started the argument. Both parties were advised of the consequences of creating a public disturbance and were sent on their way.
Suspicious Motor Vehicle
8:19 a.m.: A black 2001 Ford F-150 was reported parked behind The Spoke at 35 East Pleasant St. and had been running for over an hour. Upon arrival, a Springfield man was found sleeping in his vehicle. The man had an active warrant and an arrest was made. The party was later bailed.
Traffic
10:11 a.m.: Black ice was reported in the area of Farmington Road and West Pomeroy Street. Several reports were made of cars spinning out. The DPW was notified.
12:51 p.m.: A party at 51 Phillips St. reported the way people were parked on the street was making it so residents could not get to their spaces. A ticket was issued and the vehicle was moved eventually.
1:37 p.m.: A silver 2015 Nissan Rogue was parked in a no parking zone at 38 Spring St.
1:44 p.m.: Three vehicles, a white 2008 Nissan Maxima, a gray 2015 Subaru Impreza and a green 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee, were issued parking tickets for parking on the street and forming a hazard. The owners were contacted.
Suspicious
11:20 a.m.: A party called from the post office and stated one of her carriers was at 91 Blackberry Lane and tried to speak to a 6-foot white man with black pants and a black hoodie on, but was ignored and thought it was suspicious. An officer spoke with a resident who was outside smoking, shoveling and listening to music on Beats headphones. The officer says that “if the postman has a question for the resident, he should speak louder than the music.”
Citizen Transport
12:16 p.m.: A party was transported from 188 East Hadley Road to Econolodge in Hadley.
Animal Complaint
12:56 p.m.: At 10 Summer St., a resident reported a skunk in her yard that looked sick or “old and feeble.” The skunk had crawled into a cement cellar window and a gunshot could not be fired safely to dispatch the animal. The resident was “not willing to risk being sprayed to dig it out.” The officer suggested the resident call a nuisance animal expert. The animal came up out of the window for a moment to look around and then returned to it. It looked old, but did not appear to be sick.
Fraud
5:14 p.m.: A reporting party walked into the lobby at 7 Eaton Court to report that his boss’ email had been hacked. The party received what he thought to be a real email from his boss, but it was in fact a scam. He provided the email sender with his cell phone number and thought that he was communicating with his boss. The sender at the contacted number asked the party to go to Walmart and purchase three Google Play gift cards of $200 each, then send a picture of the card face and activation code on the back. The party completed this task and then was informed that his boss’ email had been hacked. The party had already spent $600 on his American Express credit card and had contacted American Express and Google. He will be seeking a refund through Google and wanted the incident on file with the police. The officer attempted to call the number that the party provided and reached a computer-generated voice asking for the caller’s name.
Escort
5:46 p.m.: APD escorted the ARHS football team back to the high school at 21 Mattoon St.
Motor Vehicle Crash
6:18 p.m.: At 318 College St., a gray 2014 Honda Odyssey was traveling west. A 2017 Honda Fit was traveling east and failed to yield to the oncoming Odyssey when turning left into a parking lot. Damage was over $1,000. The operator of the Honda was unlicensed and a summons was issued to the 20-year-old Northampton man operating the vehicle for failure to yield at an intersection and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
6:31 p.m.: At 1 Spring St., a black 2012 Ford Escape was traveling northbound on South Pleasant St. when it was rear-ended by a brown 2016 Honda CR-V. The driver of the Honda stated he was distracted by someone on the side of the road and he wasn’t paying attention. The Ford suffered damage to the rear bumper but was driven away under its own power. The Honda suffered damage to its front bumper causing damage to the radiator and was towed.
7:25 p.m.: At 73 South Pleasant St., a PVTA bus was traveling south on South Pleasant St. and was pulling into the bus stop. A red 2009 Honda Odyssey was turning out of a parking lot and sideswiped the rear end of the bus. There was no damage to the bus but more than $1,000 damage to the Honda. Information exchange was completed on the scene and a crash report was assigned. A PVTA supervisor arrived on scene and was provided information.
Motor Vehicle Complaint
7:22 p.m.: At Amethyst Brook at 187 Pelham Rd., a vehicle was reported swerving left to right and going over both lines in the travel lane. APD observed a vehicle for a period of time until the operator failed to yield to oncoming traffic when he turned left from North Pleasant St. to Phillips St. The vehicle’s registration was found to be expired and Ernie’s Towing was contacted to tow the vehicle. The operator was issued a citation.
10:11 p.m.: At 364 North Pleasant St., a Domino’s delivery man called in a motor vehicle complaint. The delivery man stated that a PVTA bus pulled out in front of vehicles causing a traffic hazard. A second complaint came in of the same PVTA double-length bus pulling out in front of vehicles and causing cars to go into oncoming traffic to avoid getting hit. PVTA was notified of complaints.
Follow Up
8:36 p.m.: An individual called to report that she received a seven-page handwritten letter in pencil via mail at her residence in Eastern Massachusetts from another person and that her son received a similar letter at his residence in New Hampshire. The individual reported she was concerned for her family’s safety as they are witnesses in a case in which the person is in the defendant. Hampden County Sheriff’s department was contacted and verified the person was in custody in Ludlow and his next scheduled court date was in January. The individual was asked to send a scanned letter via email to add to the report.
Noise Complaint
8:49 p.m.: At 1040 North Pleasant St., a noise complaint stated there was loud bass in a Puffton Village Apartment. A couple of residents were playing loud music and were cooperative and turned the music off. The residents were advised of town bylaws and a warning was issued.
11:34 p.m.: In Puffton Village 219 at 1040 North Pleasant St., loud bass music was reported. There was a small gathering inside but the music was at a respectful level. APD explained town bylaws and a verbal warning was issued. The music was turned down.
Assist Other Police Department
8:49 p.m.: A “Be on the Lookout” was issued from South Hadley Police Department for a gray 2005 Chrysler Pacifica with a registered owner with a suspended license. The individual was wanted in relation to a domestic incident in their town.
11:07 p.m.: Cooley Dickinson Hospital Emergency Room requested APD make contact with staff at 9 Chestnut St. CDH ER stated a patient had been transported earlier but was unreliable and the staff could not get any medical history out of the patient. No staff was on scene at 9 Chestnut St.
Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019
Noise Complaint
12:03 a.m.: At 1040 North Pleasant St., loud music was heard through an open window. There was a gathering of people in the apartment. Town bylaws were explained and the music was turned down.
12:10 a.m.: A reporting party stated there was loud music at 15 Beston St. Noise was gone on arrival.
1:13 a.m.: A reporting party at 41 Hobart Lane wanted to talk to an officer about an individual throwing a beer bottle at them. APD had to try several doors for several minutes before a resident came to the door. Doors were wide open. Residents were advised of the issue and told that they were responsible for their guests. APD explained the noise town bylaws as the noise was unreasonably loud. No warning was issued as no call had been made concerning noise. Regarding the bottle being thrown, the residents did not know who had thrown it but were advised it was documented as coming from that address. The reporting party stated the bottle had not hit him and he did not have a description of the person who threw the bottle.
Assist Citizen
12:12 a.m.: An individual believed that he left his phone on top of the car and it was now possibly in the area of 168 Harkness Rd. The reporting party was at the UMass hockey game on Saturday evening and was driving back to West Roxbury when he realized his phone was missing. On the Find My iPhone app, the device was located on Route 9 in the area between Harkness and Old Belchertown Road. An APD officer located the item and returned it to APD. The reporting party advised that his friend was staying at a hotel and he would call him in the morning to pick up the phone. The phone was left to be picked up by the friend who would return to West Roxbury.
5:27 p.m.: At 11 East Pleasant St., a reporting party stated that an employee at Cousin’s Market took his ID thinking it was fake but the reporting party stated it was not. The ID checked valid.
Motor Vehicle Crash
12:28 a.m.: At 35 Belchertown Rd., a red 2016 Honda Civic was parked at a gas pump. A black 2006 Nissan Rogue was backing out of a spot and hit the front grill of Honda. There was minimal damage to both vehicles. Operators were in agreement as to fault and exchanged information on their own.
12:06 p.m.: At the Big Y at 175 University Drive, a PVTA bus struck a parked white 2010 Toyota Venza as the bus was trying to make a turn in the parking area. No tow was required and information was exchanged.
Disturbance
1:37 a.m.: At 51 East Pleasant St., an Uber driver reported that four individuals fled after causing damage to his vehicle by punching the center console. The individuals were seen traveling from Porta toward the rotary. The individuals were located and one, a 21-year-old Needham male, was issued a summons for destruction of property and assault and battery.
12:06 p.m.: A reporting party at Jake’s at 68 Cowls Rd. stated there was a male party in the restaurant who was asked not to come in anymore. The male party was described as a white male in his 30s wearing a dark green or grey puffy coat and a winter hat. He had since left and was walking toward Atkins. APD spoke with the male party and informed him that he was no longer welcome at Jake’s. APD provided the reporting party with a trespass notice and information on how to solve it.
Assist Other Police Department
2:00 a.m.: At 200 Sunset Ave., an individual was placed in custody by a UMPD officer for a liquor law violation across from the Southwest Residential Area.
Larceny
2:13 a.m.: A reporting party called from UMPD to report past larceny of her black Calvin Klein jacket valued at $200 from an unsecured room at a brown fraternity house at 41 Nutting Ave. There were no suspects at the time.
Suspicious Motor Vehicle
7:36 a.m.: At 18 Hedgerow Lane, a reporting party noticed that both of his vehicles were broken into last night. The reporting party only noticed change missing. The reporting party was not at home and did not want to speak to an officer in person. The reporting party was sent down to the station officer. The individual only wanted to make the department aware of what happened and did not need assistance.
Traffic
9:08 a.m.: A gray 2011 Lexus ES350 was parked on the sidewalk near 902 North Pleasant St. The vehicle was ticketed and no contact was made with the registered owner. Ernie’s Towing towed the vehicle.
11:53 a.m.: A reporting party at 49 Berkshire Terrace stated that her street was a sheet of ice. DPW was notified as the road was covered in ice and snow.
Assist Business/Agency
10:06 a.m.: At 399 Northampton Rd., an operator attempted to leave pump station number seven while the pump hose was still in his tank. He separated the hose from the pump. The manager was attempting to gather information from the operator of the vehicle but was not getting full cooperation. APD assisted the manager with being clear with all info provided.
8:21 p.m.: An involved party called asking he could come in to register. The individual was advised that an officer working later in the night could assist him or there would be officers during the next day’s shift who could advise. The involved party advised he would return the next day.
Disabled Motor Vehicle
12:45 p.m.: At 100 Meadow St., an officer advised of a disabled motor vehicle. The vehicle was pushed to a parking lot.
12:46 p.m.: A reporting party requested assistance with a van that had a Hoyer lift that was stuck at 326 Pine St. They were concerned because they could not transport any residents in or out. With the assistance of AFD, APD manually raised the gate.
6:43 p.m.: At 19 Northampton Rd., a reporting party stated there was a disabled green vehicle in the area. The vehicle was gone on arrival.
Recovered Property
12:57 p.m.: At 22 Lessey St., a reporting party turned in a Visa card that was found at Clark House.
Motor Vehicle Complaint
3:21 p.m.: At 100 Northampton Rd., a blue 2006 Honda Accord and a silver Subaru Forester were traveling east on Route 9. The Honda failed to stop and collided into the Subaru’s rear end. No tow was required.
7:49 p.m.: At the Dunkin Donuts at 229 University Drive, a reporting party stated a black 2012 Mercedes C-Class was swerving all over the road and driving 20 miles below the speed limit. APD did not observe any infractions.
Suspicious
9:04 p.m.: A reporting party in California reported that their neighbor told her that her front door was open and all the lights were on inside her residence but nobody should be there. There was a Volkswagen Passat in the driveway that should be there. APD advised the reporting party they would be informed of findings and would call in the morning for a walk-through with APD. All doors were secure. Footprints of large boots were found from the front door to the road and there was a package at the mailbox and it was thought the footprints belonged to a delivery driver. There were lights on in the pantry and interior foyer. The resident thought the porch light should be on, not inside lights. No lights were on in the side rooms or upstairs and there were no prints in the back or side yards. The resident was advised that officers did not notice anything suspicious but they would be happy to do a walkthrough when the resident returned home. APD additionally stated they would drive by and make sure lights would stay as they were overnight. APD spoke with the neighbor who thought the door was open and noted the door windows were large and clear, making the door appear open at a glance.
Motor Vehicle Stop
10:18 p.m.: At 739 Pleasant St., the operator of a gray 2005 Subaru Baja appeared to slow for pedestrians in the crosswalk and then, as they were still closer to the sidewalk, decided to continue on through. The operator was educated that she must stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk, especially on a campus when people just walk out. A verbal warning was issued.
Kathrine Esten can be reached at [email protected]. Ana Pietrewicz can be reached at [email protected].
