This week police made 25 motor vehicle stops, which resulted in 10 written warnings and 15 verbal warnings. The Harvard ambulance responded to three emergency calls and took one person to Clinton Hospital and one to Emerson Hospital. One person refused treatment.
Tuesday, Sept. 2
A caller notified police at 8:57 a.m. that there were paving trucks blocking part of the roadway on Littleton County Road. Police assisted with traffic control while the trucks worked on a private driveway. At 3:31 p.m. police responded to an emergency call from the scene of a two-car accident on Ayer Road near Harvard Chiropractic. According to police, both cars were headed north on Ayer Road during heavy rain. When the first car slowed and stopped to allow a vehicle ahead of it to turn off the road, the driver of the vehicle behind it tried to stop as well, but hydroplaned, rear ending the stopped car. The second vehicle sustained heavy damage and was towed from the scene. Two people were injured, but both refused treatment and transport to the hospital. At 5:29 p.m. a caller reported suspicions about a man who was riding a bicycle on Ann Lees Road wearing a backpack. The caller thought the man might have been scouting homes in the area to rob. Police arrived to investigate and subsequently arrested Douglas F. Cavaretta, 40, of Ayer, on an outstanding warrant from Fitchburg for assault and battery. Cavaretta was processed and later released on bail, pending his appearance in Fitchburg District Court. At 9:39 p.m. Harvard police assisted Boxborough officers with a motor vehicle stop in that town. At 10:21 p.m. Harvard officers again assisted Boxborough police, this time at a domestic disturbance in Boxborough.
Wednesday, Sept. 3
A Stow Road resident called at 1:46 p.m. to notify police that a state vehicle apparently involved in some local habitat restoration was on his property. The caller said no response was required, as he was just making police aware of it. An officer on patrol at 11:47 p.m. came across an unoccupied disabled vehicle parked in a bad location on Ayer Road and ordered it towed.
Thursday, Sept. 4
An officer on patrol at 9:30 a.m. observed some equipment partially in the roadway and upon investigating found it belonged to a tree-cutting crew doing work in the area. The officer stood by to direct traffic while the workers moved the equipment. At 4:22 p.m. someone called the station to report that an iPad valued at around $300 had been stolen from a Harvard home. The case is under investigation. A Myrick Lane resident called at 4:23 p.m. to complain that someone had stopped at the house trying to sell items for MassPIRG, a Massachusetts-based public interest research group. The caller said that when the solicitor was asked if he had a permit to solicit, he responded with obscenities. An officer responded and located the man, a Boston resident, and subsequently issued him a summons for possession of a fraudulent driver’s license out of Ohio. A Littleton County Road resident called at 10:20 p.m. to report that someone had removed traffic cones that had been placed in the roadway to mark drainage covers that were sitting lower than the road surface, pending highway work to make them level with the road. An officer replaced the cones.
Friday, Sept. 5
A caller reported at 12:23 p.m. that there were some low-hanging wires near the General Store. Charter and Verizon were called to the scene to repair the wires. A resident on Old Littleton Road called the station at 5:17 p.m. to get the OK from police to have an outdoor cooking fire. An officer on patrol at 5:38 p.m. came across a disabled vehicle with a trailer on Ayer Road. The occupants said it was the trailer that was disabled; an officer stood by while they moved it off the road. A boarder at Friendly Crossways who was out walking called the station at 8:24 p.m. to report being lost and was guided back by an officer. One of the people with the disabled trailer stopped at the station at 9:44 p.m. looking for tools to borrow to fix it but was told there were none at the station.
Saturday, Sept. 6
Harvard Fire Department’s Engine 4 was dispatched to Littleton to cover the fire station there while the Littleton crew was otherwise occupied. A Slough Road resident called at 7:08 p.m. to notify police about a phone scam. Police and fire officials were called to Glenview Drive at 7:09 p.m. after someone reported a tree on fire on some power lines there. The fire crew extinguished the fire; National Grid was called to repair the wires.
Sunday, Sept. 7
At 1:53 a.m. an officer on patrol stopped to question two people walking on Ayer Road. They told the officer that their car was disabled and gave the location. The officer called a tow truck for them. An officer on patrol at 10:36 a.m. was flagged down by a Still River Road resident who reported that his mailbox had been destroyed sometime during the night in an apparent hit-and-run incident. Someone stopped at the station at 2 p.m. to report finding a dead dog near some wetlands. Animal control was notified. A resident on Stonecutters Path called at 4:14 p.m. to ask for help in retrieving her three dogs, which had treed a black bear in her yard. Police helped get the dogs to safety. An Old Littleton Road resident called at 4:34 p.m. to notify police about a bear in the yard. Police speculate that it was probably the same bear.
Monday, Sept. 8
A caller reported that a very large tree was down on some wires on Tahanto Trail and was blocking the entire roadway. National Grid was called to the scene. Their tree-cutting crew was assisted in removing the tree by Harvard’s Department of Public Works.
