Three motor vehicle accidents occurred during the period covered by this report, all snow related, none with injuries. Officers responded to five reports of disabled vehicles and made eight motor vehicle stops, issuing four tickets and arresting one driver for operating under the influence of alcohol. The ambulance took four patients to area hospitals, none requiring advanced life support services.
Tuesday, Feb. 10
A driver called at 12:36 a.m. to report a car stuck in a snowbank at the intersection of Mass. Avenue and Slough Road. An officer went there to assist, but a tow truck was required to free the vehicle. A driver involved in a two-car collision on Cleaves Hill Road phoned police at 7:56 a.m. to report the mishap. The two drivers went to the station at 10:43 a.m. to fill out accident reports. A passerby called police at 9 a.m. to report that a woman living on Ayer Road had stepped out of her driveway to stop traffic so she could exit from her home. Her presence had caused an oncoming vehicle to skid into a snowbank. There was no damage to the car. At 9:08 a.m. an Eldridge Road resident complained to police that a neighbor’s plow service was dumping snow from a driveway across the road onto a recently built stone wall. Police spoke to the plow driver and told him his actions were not permitted. The ambulance responded to a 911 call at 12:15 p.m. and took a Littleton Road woman to Emerson Hospital. A driver on Ayer Road reported seeing a van parked in a bad spot near the post office at 12:27 p.m. An officer investigated, but the vehicle was gone. At 12:57 p.m. police were asked to direct traffic on Slough Road while a CBK crane worked to free a propane truck that had become stuck in the snow behind a home. The ambulance was dispatched to Acton Medical on Ayer Road at 3:24 p.m. and took a female patient to Emerson Hospital. At 5:19 p.m. police asked the DPW and the state highway department to begin clearing roads in Harvard. The fire department sent an engine to the Hildreth Elementary School at 8:10 p.m. to investigate reports of a gas smell in the building. The source of the smell could not be found, and fire officers did not detect any gas in the building.
Wednesday, Feb. 11
Police stopped a car on the westbound lane of Route 2 at 8:35 p.m. and issued a ticket for driving 75 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone.
Thursday, Feb. 12
Police were called to a Babbit Lane home at 3:36 a.m. to check on the well-being of a woman who had reportedly left the residence in some distress. In the course of their investigation, officers took the caller, who was intoxicated and unruly, into protective custody. He was later charged with intimidating a witness and attempting to commit a crime. The man was held for eight hours and then released. Charges are pending in Clinton District Court. At 7:55 a.m. a dispatcher asked the Harvard DPW and state highway department to begin treating roads for sleet and freezing rain. The ambulance took an Ayer Road resident to a local hospital at 9:20 a.m.
Friday, Feb. 13
A 9:12 a.m. 911 call from a doctor sent the ambulance crew to a Still River residence from which a female patient was taken to Nashoba Valley Medical Center. Police stopped and ticketed the driver of a car on Old Shirley Road who was traveling 43 mph in a 30 mph zone. A second ticket was issued at 9:49 a.m. to a driver who failed to stop at a stop sign on Lancaster County Road. A third driver was ticketed at 10:41 a.m. at the intersection of Mass. Avenue and Slough Road for driving 50 mph through a 30 mph zone. At 10:48 a.m. a caller complained that cars parked near the intersection of Myrick Lane and Ayer Road were causing a road hazard. Their owners were asked to move the vehicles. At 5:43 p.m. an Old Littleton Road resident reported that snow had drifted across the road near her home, making travel difficult. DPW was notified.
Saturday, Feb. 14
While officers assisted the Boxborough Police Department at 7:30 a.m. in its search for a man who was wanted for assault and battery and possibly armed, they encountered a disabled vehicle stuck in the middle of an I-495 offramp. CBK was called to tow the car. The suspect was not found.
Sunday, Feb. 15
At 10:09 a.m. the fire department responded to a 911 call from a Quarry Lane resident who reported a fire in an electrical outlet box. When fire officers arrived, the homeowner had already shut off the circuit to the box and the fire had been extinguished. The cause is thought to have been water leaking into the house from an ice dam, but the incident remains under investigation. Police stopped a speeding car at 7:18 p.m. on Ayer Road and arrested Jose Cruz, 25, of Ayer, charging him with operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, speeding, and failure to stay in the right lane. At 11:32 p.m. there was yet another report of drifting snow, this time on Prospect Hill Road. Police notified DPW of the problem.
Monday, Feb. 16
Police were asked at 5:14 a.m. to assist Ayer police in locating a man wanted for an incident of domestic violence that had occurred the previous evening and who was thought to be suicidal. Officers responded, but the man was not found. At 8:04 a.m. a DPW plow operator reported that his truck had been hit by a blue Toyota Camry, which had then “taken off.” The truck was not damaged, and there was no further sign of the second vehicle. At 8:19 a.m. police responded to a two-car accident on Ayer Road near Doe Orchards. The first vehicle was headed south toward Harvard when it slid into the opposite lane at the curve in front of the orchard. A second car headed north swerved into a snowbank to avoid a collision. The first car swerved as well and ended up in a snowbank on the opposite side of the road. One car had to be towed. There were no injuries. “It was a close call,” said one of the responding officers.
