The following police logs are from the Amherst Police Department from Friday, April 3, 2020 to Sunday, April 5, 2020.
Friday, April 3, 2020
Vandalism
9:06 a.m.: At Amherst Chinese Christian Church at 611 Belchertown Road, an APD officer reported apparent vandalism on the front law. A vehicle drove across the front lawn, causing ruts in the soft grass. There were no cameras at the church and no suspects were reported at the time.
Disturbance
10:00 a.m.: At 148 Summer St., a reporting party stated that there was a fight of some sort going on up on a balcony and also outside of the building. The caller was unable to describe the individuals involved and stated that she was unable to give an apartment number or describe which building it is in. The verbal argument was between residents over “loud chewing” and they separated themselves. Peace was restored prior to APD arrival.
3:07 p.m.: At the Big Y at 175 University Drive, a reporting party stated that there was a white male in his twenties wearing a Patriots hat, a blue shirt and jeans who was being vulgar with customers. He was smoking in the store, then coughing toward the manager and spitting in his direction. It was an argument between the involved party and management over the number of checkout lanes open. The disturbance was over at the time of the response, but management wished to trespass the involved party. The order was initiated and copies were given to the individual and Big Y management.
5:45 p.m.: A reporting party stated that there was an elderly male in a green jacket and jeans refusing to leave the Big Y at 175 University Drive. He was yelling at the manager and employees. The individual was being escorted outside upon APD arrival. He was agitated and fairly uncooperative. Management requested that he be trespassed. Paperwork was signed and served to the individual before he boarded the bus.
Suspicious
10:45 a.m.: A reporting party at 6 University Drive advised that a homeless person had made camp under one of the stairwells in the common area and was also smoking marijuana. The reporting party wanted the person to be moved along and trespassed. The individual was located and found to be waiting for a 12:30 p.m. appointment with a business on the second floor. He was not smoking in the building but there was a strong odor of marijuana present. No camp was set up. The owner of the building was advised of findings and the involved party was cooperative in waiting for the appointment in his car.
2:46 p.m.: A reporting party stated that the bathroom door at Ren’s Mobil at 161 North Pleasant St. looked smashed and there was a gray Volkswagen parked by it. The vehicle was normally parked that way for building security.
4:28 p.m.: At Sigma Delta Tau at 409 North Pleasant St., a reporting party stated that a male party wearing a black hoodie, jeans, a military backpack and a homemade mask on his face was pounding on her door and yelling that he was looking for a place to go. He was last seen heading toward the First Baptist Church. The involved party was located waiting near Craig’s Place at 434 North Pleasant St. He was wearing a mask due to COVID-19 and advised that he was homeless and looking for a place to sleep. He was provided with shelter hours. He did not match the description of a suspect from a previous breaking and entering. He was sent on his way.
9:49 p.m.: A reporting party stated that there was a male party with a long, grey beard and hair and a reusable shopping bag staring at their house, which was located at 647 Main St.
Suspicious Motor Vehicle
11:09 a.m.: At 165 Sunderland Rd., a reporting party witnessed a blue 2011 Chevrolet Silverado dumping a large amount of trash on the side of the road on Route 116, north of Meadow Street. The vehicle fled into Hadley. The reporting party followed the vehicle to the Walmart parking lot and called Hadley Police Department, who were en route. APD attempted to stop at his home and left a call to pick up the trash.
9:39 p.m.: A reporting party at 30 Columbia Drive stated that a black pick-up truck struck his neighbor’s mailbox and left north on East Hadley Road toward Route 116.
Disabled Motor Vehicle
12:55 p.m.: AAA reported a disabled motor vehicle in the middle of the rotary at 1102 West St. It was a flat tire, which AAA changed. The operator was sent on her way.
Community Policing
1:51 p.m.: APD assisted with traffic for the Fort River teacher parade at 70 South East St.
Follow Up
1:55 p.m.: At 958 East Pleasant St., APD spoke with an individual who had been reported leaving trash on the side of Route 116 to give him a chance to clean it up. He stated it was a case of mistaken identity. APD explained that he would be issued with a town bylaw citation for the violation.
Assist Citizen
2:51 p.m.: At 25 Kellogg Ave., a reporting party stated that her gray 2019 Nissan Sentra was no longer parked where she left it. She was looking for her vehicle on the wrong side of the building. The vehicle was located and there were no issues.
Assist Other Police Department
4:58 p.m.: APD assisted the University of Massachusetts Police Department with an area search near the Newman Center at 472 North Pleasant St. APD was able to identify an individual who was seen loitering around the Isenberg School. UMPD stated that they had been having issues with people unlawfully entering buildings on campus. K9 Marvin was deployed for a track and they ended up near the Bartlett and Goodell buildings. A couple buildings were found to be insecure and were known for individuals sleeping inside. UMPD checked the interior of the buildings with negative findings at the time.
Assist Business/Agency
7:47 p.m.: At Russell’s Liquors at 18 Main St., a reporting party asked for individuals who were upsetting his customers to be moved along from in front of his business. The individuals moved along without issue.
Saturday, April 4, 2020
Suspicious
11:12 a.m.: A reporting party stated homeless people were camped out inside the Bank of America ATM on 195 University Drive. The parties were gone on arrival.
Recovered Property
4:26 p.m.: A reporting party found a wallet on the fire hydrant by 54 Jerry Lane. The reporting party did not check the contents of the wallet. The wallet had four house-type keys inside.
Noise Complaint
4:57 p.m.: A reporting party stated there was a possible party around 203 Northampton Road and could hear yelling and loud music. An officer spoke with the resident, and they turned the music down.
5:43 p.m.: A reporting party stated there was a loud party at 35 Northampton Road. The reporting party was concerned because they were playing beer pong and kept going into the road to get the ball and because they were not social distancing. The reporting party was referred to the station officer and provided the residence’s phone number. The station officer advised contact was made with the resident.
9:34 p.m.: A reporting party at Colonial Village Apartments on 81 Belchertown Road stated her upstairs neighbors were playing music. She went outside to confront the neighbor, who began to swear at her. She told them to stop, and she believes they sprayed her in the back with some type of liquid, most likely water, and one of them “got in her face.” At the time of the call, music was no longer playing. The reporting party was referred to the station officer and was told to call back if the noise started up again and not to confront her neighbor.
10:56 p.m.: The reporting party from the previous entry stated she heard banging on the floor above her and thinks it was because she called in a complaint earlier. The station officer contacted the resident above the reporting party’s apartment. He stated the reporting party was exaggerating and that he was no longer making any noise. He stated he would try to be as quiet as possible from here on out.
Assist Citizen
6:14 p.m.: A reporting party stated she is locked out of her house at 3 Eaton Court with two young children. The reporting party decided to have Ernie’s respond to unlock their car so they can get their spare key.
Disturbance
7:00 p.m.: APD received multiple reports of a male party in front of Antonio’s Pizza on 31 North Pleasant Street that was yelling and spitting at passersby. One reporting party stated the party started throwing items at his car and was attempting to open his door. There was no damage to the vehicle. The male party was behaving as he normally does and was sent on his way.
7:14 p.m.: An officer remained on the scene at Antonio’s Pizza on 31 North Pleasant Street with the family who the male party in the previous entry was attacking in order to make sure he didn’t come back while they were waiting for their pizza. The male party came back and stopped right next to their vehicle after being told to move along. The officer again had a discussion with him, and he moved along.
Sunday, April 5, 2020
Noise Complaint
1:26 a.m.: A reporting party at an East Hadley Road apartment heard the apartment above her making banging noises and moving furniture. No unreasonable noise was heard.
Assist AFD
11:21 a.m.: APD assisted AFD with possible smoke coming from a Colonial Village apartment at 81 Belchertown Rd. The caller, from another apartment, stated there was heavy smoke to the point where she could not breathe and went back to her own apartment. The source of the smoke was determined to be a farm property south of Amherst Nursery. An officer spoke with the property owner who advised AFD had granted him a burning permit for 199 Belchertown Rd.
Assist Business / Agency
11:36 a.m.: A PVTA professional bus driver advised she had asked members of the homeless population who ride the bus with no specific destination or purpose and do not pay fees to exit the bus based on health reasons and PVTA rules. One male passenger was removed from the PVTA bus and three other homeless individuals were advised they would have to exit at the South Pleasant Street stop before returning to Northampton. All were advised they could contact PVTA for any grievances.
1:34 p.m.: APD assisted the Board of Probation with a probation hearing for an involved party.
Motor Vehicle Crash
1:32 p.m.: A blue 2014 Subaru Forester rear ended a gray 2014 Jeep Patriot when the Jeep stopped for a pedestrian in the crosswalk at 1500 West St. APD assisted with traffic while paperwork was processed. There were no injuries, but airbags were deployed and one vehicle was towed by Ernie’s Towing.
911 Hang Up
5:09 p.m.: A party at 21 Lessey St. stated he accidentally called 911 and did not need assistance.
Disturbance
7:17 p.m.: An individual outside the post office at 141 North Pleasant St. was talking loudly and aggressively, but it was discovered he was just carrying on what is considered for him a “normal conversation.” There was no actual disturbance.
Assist Citizen
7:50 p.m.: A reporting party called to state a man was sitting on a rock outside the caller’s residence on East Pleasant Street and using his laptop to take pictures of the residence. The involved party additionally threatened to cut down trees he claimed were on his property. The reporting party believes the trees are between the two property lines. The caller stated he did not want a police response and stated he would call the surveyor to confirm who owns the trees in question. The caller was advised the call would be documented, which he was satisfied with and reiterated he did not want police response.
8:38 p.m.: A reporting party stated that while she was trying to buy toilet paper online, the site requested her debit card number. The transaction did not process. She tried her sister’s card with the same results. The party had conducted a Google search of the site, treasureboxstore.com, and found that others have had issues with placing orders and not receiving them. She was concerned her card may have been compromised. No officer was available to speak with her at the moment, but she was advised to freeze or cancel her card until she could contact her bank. She advised she had not entered the card’s expiration date or security code and the transaction had not been completed. She would contact her bank in the morning to have a new card reissued in order to prevent potential compromise.
Community Policing
8:12 p.m.: A foot patrol of downtown Amherst businesses was conducted.
Suspicious
8:39 p.m.: An involved party was stopped in Hadley on March 4. Subsequent to the stop, he had his gray 2015 Ford Mustang towed to Southpoint. He had last checked on his vehicle March 16. When he checked on April 5, he noticed it was gone. A follow up will be completed as to whether the vehicle was towed or stolen.
Motor Vehicle Complaint
10:55 p.m.: A reporting party stated there was a vehicle on West Street tailgating her with its high beams on. The party tried to allow the vehicle to go by, but it kept braking hard. There was a misunderstanding between the two vehicles on who was driving incorrectly. One thought the other was flashing their high beams, the other thought they were tailgating. Both vehicles were sent on their way.
Kathrine Esten can be reached at [email protected]. Will Mallas can be reached at [email protected]. Ana Pietrewicz can be reached at [email protected].
