Every day, police officers respond to reports of all sorts of events and nonevents, most of which never make the news. Here is a sampling of lesser-known — but no less noteworthy — incidents from police log books (a.k.a. blotters) in our suburbs.
MAKING THE SAVE
On Feb. 9, Burlington police tweeted a photo of a wide-eyed owl they rescued. “Believe it or not, this is the owls happy face!!!!” police wrote in the tweet. “Burlington Police received a call about a bird tangled in the netting of a soccer goal behind the Memorial School. Acting quickly, Officer [Joseph] Papsedero and Officer [Spiros] Tsingos CAREFULLY cut away some of the netting and freed the bird.”
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HOLY HEIST
At 11:35 a.m. Jan. 8, a priest from St. Margaret’s church walked into the Saugus police station and reported that someone “hacked into his payroll checks” and deposited them into another account at Citibank. Police took a report of the incident.
FUNNY BUSINESS
At 12 p.m. Feb. 9, Wellesley police were dispatched to a local business after a customer called to report a robbery in progress. But soon after officers arrived at the scene, they learned that it wasn’t a robbery at all — just a misunderstanding. According to police, a customer had overheard two employees who were kidding around. Police said one employee manning the cash register asked another employee if there was anything he wanted. When the employee replied, “the cash in the register,” he wasn’t being serious, but he also didn’t realize there were customers nearby who could hear their conversation — and they didn’t get the joke. Police determined that the worker didn’t mean any harm and said the business would handle the matter.
TREASURE HUNT
At 3:56 p.m. Feb. 3, police received a 911 call about a disturbance on Water Street in Saugus. The caller said two men were yelling at each other and causing a commotion. According to the log entry, Officers Paul Henehan and Christopher Zelinski showed up and spoke to two brothers who were, according to the police log entry, “digging for gold.” We asked Chief Ronald Giorgetti about this, and he explained that the two brothers were actually attempting to locate valuables with a metal detector. It was unclear from the log entry whether they found anything, but peace was restored rather quickly, because the officers cleared the scene by 4:14 p.m.
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ABUZZ ABOUT A HAIRCUT
At 10:27 a.m. Jan. 24, a man walked into the Saugus police station and said his uncle’s brother shaved his 1-year-old son’s head without his or his wife’s permission. Officer James P. Brown and Detective Stacey Forni advised the man to contact the boy’s pediatrician.
A HARD DAY’S NIGHT
At 8:03 a.m. Jan. 10, a man told Marblehead police that he’d parked his car behind a local pub the night before and now he could not find it. According to the log entry, he said he had the keys to the car and called several tow companies. But eventually he realized where it was — his friend had driven it home.
AT LEAST SHE DIDN’T DRINK IT
At 6:36 a.m. Jan. 30, the Marblehead Fire Department was called to a home on Bennett Road because someone had poured gasoline down the sink there. According to the log entry, the homeowner thought the gasoline was coffee, because it looked brown in color, and didn’t realize her mistake until she dumped it down the drain. The fire department reported that only a small amount of gasoline went down the sink, and they used water to dilute it.
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THROWING A FIT
At 5:37 p.m. Jan. 8, Bridgewater police responded to a disturbance at the Greyhound Tavern. According to a tweet by police, the tavern owner reported that a woman who “may be under the influence was causing a disturbance and threw a 2x4 across the restaurant.” No one was hurt in the incident, and the woman was asked not to come back to the establishment, according to Sergeant Thomas LaGrasta.
Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @emilysweeney.