Above: A look at what the police and fire departments have been up to for the past few months. (photos cropped – top from Facebook and bottom from contribution by Finn Principal Clayton Ryan)
Yesterday, the Southborough Police Department announced an arrest for an alleged burglary attempt. It reminded me that it’s been 2½ months since my last roundup of news out of the SPD and Southborough Fire Department.
Here is the latest news, along with highlights from the department’s quarterly reports and highlights from Facebook of incidents and employee recognitions that I haven’t yet shared.*
Dell/EMC B&E interrupted
The SPD announced that they arrested two people for an alleged early hours B&E discovered in progress at a warehouse:
On July 30th, 2023 at approximately 2355 hours, the Southborough Police Department investigated a report of suspicious activity located at 21 Coslin Drive: the Dell/EMC Warehouse. Upon arrival, responding officers located a door propped open with a fire extinguisher. Officers entered the business and located two males attempting to steal a large piece of furniture. The suspects were taken into custody without incident.
One suspect from Ashland and a juvenile from Framingham were arrested and charged with a felony for a nighttime B&E.
Emergency Responses
Southborough’s emergency personnel responded to the following emergencies:
- May 26 — Both departments responded to a crash involving a telephone pole on Rte 9 West that caused traffic delays.
- June 2 — The SFD transported a driver with a shoulder injury after a 2-car crash on Cordaville Road.
- July 5 — The SFD responded to a rollover on MassPike with “minor injuries” that did require hospital transport.
- July 21 — The SFD responded to a car crash on Rte 9 West that only resulted in “very minor injuries”.
- July 24 — SFD engines and Ambulance worked with mutual aid to deal with a serious accident on the MassPike involving a car and box truck that resulted in “serious, but non- life threatening injuries” and a fire.
Community Alerts & Announcements
Scam Alert
The SPD often shares warnings about scams, especially when they learn community members have been victimized. Last week, they posted about scammers demanding Bitcoin payments:
Yesterday we had two (2) separate residents report being the victim of a Bitcoin Scam, in which their total loss was over $30,000. Bitcoin (BTC) is a cryptocurrency; a virtual currency designed to act as money and a form of payment outside the control of any one person, group, or entity (thus removing the need for third-party involvement in financial transactions).
One of the involved victims was told that they needed to withdraw money from their bank account; bring and submit the (physical) money into a bitcoin ATM; and then send it to the scammer (posing over the phone as a representative of the US Government).
Unfortunately this will have to serve as another reminder to never agree to send money to anyone over the phone; especially if it involves purchasing or sending gift cards, bitcoins, or other non-traceable items.
We will include [this link] that describes what some of these bitcoin scams are, so that we can raise awareness about this scam and (hopefully) avoid future victims.
Prescription Drug Drop Box
The recent post reminds the public that they can safely dispose of prescription drugs in the public safety building lobby. But it notes, “the smaller you can make the drop-off items (by breaking down larger boxes and/or containers), the more room there will be available for others.”
Catatalytic converters legal requirements
The SPD alerted the community about their legal responsibilities for complying with a law that went into effect this year about purchasing catalytic converters.
Hurricane Preparedness & Safe Grilling
The SFD frequently shares emergency preparedness tips for seasonal issues. Last month they gave tips for ensuring you are ready to deal with a hurricane. And in May they posted about avoiding the dangers posed by grilling.
Community Service/Relations
Police helped out at the following non-emergencies:
- Officer Julia Fontana participated in Algonquin Regional High School’s annual Carnival by using her radar gun to measure pitching speeds.
- CrossFit Tilt of Southborough held its annual Heroes Fundraiser in honor of people killed in the line of duty. Members of the SFD and SPD participated in a work out in memory of a Boston Firefighter and the SPD thanked the organizers for their workout honoring an Auburn Police Officer.
- The SPD assisted scouts and veterans replacing the flags at the Rural Cemetery in preparation for Memorial Day.
- The SPD served lunch to students at Trottier Middle School, Finn School, Woodward, and Neary.
- The SFD hosted a visit from Fay School preschoolers.
- DARE Officer Jeff Norton held a program graduation ceremony for 144 Neary students
- Officer Owen O’Brien helped the Library’s 4th of July Parade for kids safely cross streets
- SPD Sgt. Tim Slatkavitz let kids explore a cruiser at Fay Camp’s “Touch a Truck” event
- SFD Capt. Christian Dano spoke on the basics of CPR and AED use to members of Senior Center’s Dull Men’s Club.
Personnel Comings/Goings and Appreciation
Both departments shared congratulations, recognitions, and sorrow:
- The SPD shared its appreciation for the mini-grant from Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early’s Office to help fund Algonquin’s safe After Prom Party this year.
- SPD assisted the Senior Center and the Southborough Garden Club by delivering bouquets to homebound seniors.
- Personnel gathered for the annual Firefighters Memorial Sunday service. This year, they added the following firefighers’ names to the memorial plaque: Lisa Thompson, Fred Mabardy, and Steven Smith.
- The SFD congratulated Chief Achilles on his reconferred credential as Chief Fire Officer, “one of 1,882 Chief Fire Officers internationally”.
- The SFD first congratulated Captain Neal Aspesi for graduating from a Certificate Program in Local Government Leadership and Management then for taking a job as Northborough’s Deputy Fire Chief after 32 years in Southborough (23 full-time and 9 years auxiliary and call service).
- New full-time Probationary Officer Frank Urbani was officially hired on July 11th and sworn in the next day.
- The SPD & SFD thanked Uhlman’s Ice Cream for taking time during National Ice Cream week to serve personnel at the public safety building during
Training
A month ago, the SFD announced that personnel would soon be training on their new Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) which will “provide personnel and equipment transport, medical transport, wildland firefighting, and damage assessment capabilities to areas of the community with limited access”.
Quarterly Reports
The Quarterly Report issued for the SPD covering April – June showed there were over 30 arrests made and another 75 criminal applications charged. Officers handled 20 harassment complaints or restraining orders, more than 20 assault and domestics/disturbances, and 20 cases of larceny/forgery/fraud.
The report also shows over close to 120 vehicle accidents and 1,157 non-criminal citations issued.
Along with the report, the SPD highlighted, “Within this three month period our officers set up 1,231 radar posts on 52 different roads in town.”
The SFD’s Report for the same time period shows their crews responded to 362 emergencies (9% down from same period last year). 16% of incidents occurred at the same time.
Most of the calls were for EMS (close to 250). The report also notes that the department provided mutual aid 34 times and only received it 9 times.
For more details on what each department was up to last quarter, see the graphic reports below:
*Between my mid-May update and now, I have covered other public safety news (which I didn’t duplicate above.) You can find those stories, here.
