Crime

Computer software for disabled students stolen at GLEC

From the Eagle Tribune
October 23, 2009
Computer software for disabled students stolen Burglar smashed car window at educational collaborative
By Mark E. Vogler

METHUEN — A car burglary in the parking lot of the Greater Lawrence Educational Collaborative has hampered learning for at least 15 non-verbal students with disabilities. Several thousand dollars worth of special computer software that gives voices to people who can’t talk on their own, along with a laptop computer and other equipment was reported stolen from a staff member’s car Wednesday.

“Whoever did this can keep the computer,” said Bernice Pierce, a program director at the school at 464 Broadway. “Just give us back the software that allows them to communicate with their peers, teachers and family members. It’s no good to anyone else but these students,” Pierce said

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Increased patrols on Rt 97 catching speeders

From the Eagle Tribune
Police crack down on Route 97 speeders
By Paul Tennant
Published: October 19, 2009

HAVERHILL — If you plan to drive on Route 97, also known as Broadway, you’d better keep your speed down.

Residents along this well-traveled road, especially in the outlying section on the way to Methuen, have complained about speeding vehicles and the Police Department has responded with a crackdown. Officers have issued several dozen citations on that road in the last two weeks and have placed an electronic speed board there to make drivers aware of how fast they are going, said police Capt. Michael Wrenn.

Everett Raymond of 859 Broadway said he thinks drivers on Route 97, as well as Lake Street, have slowed down during the last couple of weeks. “They’ve been visual,” he said of the increased police presence.

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Clean River Project down to last four vehicles in Merrimack

More stolen vehicles pulled from Merrimack River
By J.J. Huggins
October 01, 2009

METHUEN — Ronald Reagan was president when the rusted 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix was dumped in the Merrimack River. The car, which was reported stolen in Lowell in 1982, was probably ditched in the river that same year. A crew from Clean River Project, state police and Coady’s Towing pulled it out of the water in Methuen yesterday, near the Dracut line off Route 110. The group also pulled half of a 1980s model Dodge — probably a pickup truck — from the same area, and a late 1990s model Toyota 4Runner reported stolen in Lawrence in 2003 that was in the water behind Lin Garden Restaurant & Lounge in Dracut, said Rocky Morrison, founder and president of the volunteer Clean River Project. The 4Runner was probably in the water since 2003, Morrison said.

The group has pulled about 30 cars out of the river during the last couple of years. Seven cars were pulled from the water on Aug. 21. There are possibly four more in the water in the area, Morrison said. “So we’re down to our last four vehicles, unless somebody throws another in,” he said.

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Counterfeit bills found at Market Basket

From the Eagle Tribune
by Jim Patten
published September 03, 2009

METHUEN — Fake $100 bills turned up twice last month at Market Basket, 186 Haverhill St., and store loss prevention officers said they believe the same woman is responsible. A store security camera captured the woman in the act on Aug. 26 and again on Aug. 30, store officers told police Officer Neil Quinlan.

They also were able to determine when the transaction took place because there was only one $100 bill in the register on each day. A review of the sales, they said, found only one instance in which the respective cashiers had entered $100 as the amount tendered by the customer. Each of the two days, the same woman was the customer where the counterfeit bills were passed, they told police.

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Salem man is suspect in hit-and-run on Hampshire Road

from the Eagle Tribune
By James A. Kimble
September 01, 2009

SALEM — Methuen, Mass., police are expected to charge a local motorist with hitting a bicyclist and fleeing Saturday on a road that straddles the state line.

Salem police responded to an area near 18 Hampshire Road about 4:18 p.m. following a report of a hit-and-run accident in which the driver of a green Toyota RAV4 fled before police arrived.

The bicyclist had minor injuries.
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Methuen woman thwarts GPS theft attempt

From the Eagle Tribune

Man wiggles out of sweatshirt
By J.J. Huggins
Published September 1, 2009

METHUEN — A 48-year-old woman caught a man trying to steal a global positioning system from her neighbor’s truck last night and tried to detain him, police said.

The woman, who lives on Green Street, saw a man walking on her street and looking through windows about 7 p.m. She watched him enter her neighbor’s 2007 Chevrolet pickup through an unlocked door and close the door, said Sgt. James Gunter.

While the man sat in the truck, the woman walked up, opened the door, and asked what he was doing, Gunter said.

“And he said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m just hungry,’” Gunter said.

The man handed the woman the GPS he was apparently about to steal and tried to run away, but she grabbed his gray sweatshirt. The man managed to wiggle out of the sweatshirt and flee toward Newport Street, Gunter said. [Continuue reading]