Harvard police made 24 motor vehicle stops during the past week, all but one resulting in a citation or written warning. (The unusually high number of stops was part of a click-it-or-ticket safety enforcement program.) Police also responded to six medical emergencies, each with someone needing transport to the hospital, three with Advanced Life Support on board.
Tuesday, May 21
At 1:56 a.m. an officer checked on a vehicle that was parked at the General Store but found nothing amiss. A Still River Road resident called at 2:51 p.m. to report some wires had come down. Police found that they were phone wires and thus not a danger, but both National Grid and Verizon were notified. At 11:15 p.m. the Ayer police called to say a driver had told them about hitting a deer on Ayer Road near the post office; Harvard police in turn asked the Department of Public Works to remove the dead deer from the roadside. At 11:28 p.m. a Stow Road resident came to the police station to pick up a protective order that police had tried to serve twice earlier in the day.
Wednesday, May 22
At 12:42 p.m. someone on Under Pin Hill Road called about a wandering yellow Lab with long-expired tags, and police notified the animal control officer. A Bolton Road resident called at 1:20 p.m. about a case of credit card fraud. At 4:50 p.m. a person came to the police station to report ugly graffiti on the Clapp-Scorgie-Tufts-Smith conservation land on the edge of Bare Hill Pond. A Slough Road resident called at 6:36 p.m. to say a mailbox had been damaged. And at 7:57 p.m. police spoke with a Craggs Road resident about cleaning up trash the person had illegally dumped.
Thursday, May 23
Nothing of significance to report.
Friday, May 24
At 2:13 a.m. a car crash on Route 2 westbound brought out the ambulance squad, but no one was taken to the hospital. A Warren Avenue resident called police at 8:11 a.m., saying some wires had fallen across the road, and a car that tried to drive over them had become entangled. An officer saw that the downed wires were phone lines, freed the car, and cleared the road. At 11:18 a.m. someone on Woodside Road told police that a big woodchuck was hanging out on her back steps and acting oddly. Someone phoned at 12:59 p.m. about suspicious activity on Prospect Hill Road, and an officer checked the location; no other details were available. At 8:54 p.m. an officer checked on an empty car with its lights on in the parking lot at Sorrento’s on Ayer Road.
Saturday, May 25
At 8:39 a.m. a caller reported a road hazard on Warren Avenue near the intersection with West Bare Hill Road, and police notified the DPW. At 4:37 p.m. police received another call about the vandalism on the Clapp-Scorgie-Tufts-Smith land. At 6:40 p.m. a 911 caller said someone in a white Volkswagen Jetta headed north on Ayer Road had passed the caller in a no-passing zone. In a second 911 call about an hour later, at 7:48 p.m., someone reported a southbound white Jetta on Ayer Road had passed three cars in a row in a no-passing zone. In both cases, the car was gone when police arrived.
Sunday, May 26
At 1:31 p.m. Harvard police assisted Bolton officers in arresting a Worcester resident charged with driving without a license and using a cellphone improperly while driving. A 911 caller at 3:26 p.m. reported a crash involving a truck and a motorcycle near the intersection of Cleaves Hill and Littleton County roads; the injured person refused transport to a hospital. At 6:49 p.m. a caller reported a white work van being driven erratically on Ayer Road. Bolton police radioed Harvard at 8:31 p.m. to be on the lookout for a missing youth in the general area of St. Benedict’s Abbey on Still River Road, but the young person was located before Harvard officers joined the search.
Monday, May 27
At 6:09 a.m. a caller reported a horse running down Bolton Road, but the runaway was rounded up fairly quickly. At 8:32 p.m. someone reported an alarm sounding at an Old Shirley Road house. No one was home, but responders disabled the alarm. Later, at 11:01 p.m., the homeowner—finding a door unlocked and the alarm disconnected from the wall—called police to report a possible intruder, and an officer explained what had happened.
The police log is written by a Harvard Press reporter based on information gleaned from daily police logs and interviews with police staff. Decisions to publish or withhold names of people arrested is based on our need to balance the privacy of individuals with our responsibility to report news of significance and public safety.
