Melrose Public Safety Log: Sept. 30–Oct. 6, 2024
Compiled from official records by Townbrief | Edited by Dave Watkins
The following is a compilation of incidents and arrests recorded in the Melrose Police Department's official public log for the period Sept. 30–Oct. 6, 2024. All persons listed are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Domestic violence incidents, sexual assaults, and juvenile matters are excluded per Massachusetts law (G.L. c. 41, section 98F).
Monday, Sept. 30, 12:16 a.m. — Commercial Alarm: Lincoln School, West Wyoming Avenue, checked and found secure.
Monday, Sept. 30, 1:34 p.m. — Medical Emergency: A person was transported to the hospital.
Monday, Sept. 30, 2:22 p.m. — Welfare Check: Officer responded to the 60 block of Mystic Avenue; services rendered.
Monday, Sept. 30, 3:10 p.m. — Medical Emergency: A person was transported to the hospital.
Monday, Sept. 30, 5:25 p.m. — Medical Emergency: A person was transported to the hospital.
Monday, Sept. 30, 8:03 p.m. — Larceny/Fraud: A report was taken at the 10 block of Mount Vernon Street.
Monday, Sept. 30, 10:34 p.m. — Complaint: A report was taken at the 90 block of Green Street.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 12:34 a.m. — Medical Emergency: A person was transported to the hospital from Melrose Wakefield Hospital, Lebanon Street.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 12:34 a.m. — Disturbance: A report was taken at the 100 block of Green Street.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 8:27 a.m. — Arrest — Motor Vehicle Stop: A motor vehicle was stopped in the vicinity of the 500 block of Main Street. Weslley Alves Nunes was arrested; age, town of residence, and charges are not listed in the log. (See editor flag.)
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 9:01 a.m. — Larceny/Fraud: A report was taken at 1000 Stone Place.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 9:36 a.m. — Medical Emergency: A person was transported to the hospital.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 9:39 a.m. — Larceny/Fraud: A report was taken at the 100 block of Green Street.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 10:28 a.m. — Medical Emergency: A person was transported to the hospital.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 11:08 a.m. — Medical Emergency: A person was transported to the hospital.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1:03 p.m. — Found/Lost Property: A report was taken near the 30 block of Sixth Street.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1:32 p.m. — Suspicious Motor Vehicle: A report was taken at the 90 block of Pleasant Street.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2:10 p.m. — Motor Vehicle Accident: No action required; a minor collision in a lot along Berwick Street was not investigated.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 3:17 p.m. — Motor Vehicle Accident: A report was taken near TD Bank, 400 block of Main Street.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 7:32 p.m. — Medical Emergency: A person was transported to the hospital.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 10:15 p.m. — Motor Vehicle Stop — Summons: A motor vehicle was stopped at the 100 block of Lebanon Street; a summons was issued. (No name listed in log — see editor flag.)
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 11:26 p.m. — Water Problem: A report was taken at the 30 block of Warren Street.
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 4:24 a.m. — Medical Emergency: Unit cleared; no transport.
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 6:10 a.m. — Medical Emergency: A person was transported to the hospital.
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 9:17 a.m. — Motor Vehicle Accident: Officers responded to the 900 block of Main Street near Reading Hill Avenue; unit cleared.
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 10:44 a.m. — Medical Emergency: A person was transported to the hospital.
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 1:24 p.m. — Harassment: A report was taken. (See editor flag — possible domestic-adjacent.)
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 1:30 p.m. — Motor Vehicle Tow: A report was taken near City Hall, 500 block of Main Street.
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 4:07 p.m. — Auto Theft Report: Officers responded to the Shaw's Supermarket area, Essex Street; unit cleared.
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 6:08 p.m. — Disturbance: Officers responded to the area of Cefalo Apartments, West Wyoming Avenue; unfounded.
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 6:09 p.m. — Harassment Order Violation: A report was taken. (Omitted from draft — see editor flag.)
Hmm — I flagged 24-12316 as DV-adjacent and said I'd omit it. I should not include it in the draft at all, and should note it only in the REVIEW section. Let me revise.
Also, re-evaluating 24-12308 (HARASSMENT * Report taken, Oct. 2, 1:30 p.m.) — harassment can be DV-adjacent. I'll omit it from the draft and flag it for the editor rather than leaving it in with a caveat.
Also, the Motor Vehicle Tow (24-12303) with a report taken — this is a vehicle tow with a report, somewhat substantive. I'll keep it briefly as it has a report number.
Let me also reconsider which medical emergencies to include. Per Rule 5, I include them as "a medical emergency" by type. The log has many of them. I should include them but keep them tight. Multiple per day can be clustered if they're the same type and same day, but they're not a single event-driven cluster the way a storm would be. I'll include them individually but very briefly. Actually, given there are 3-6 medical emergencies per day, I should consider whether clustering same-day medicals makes sense. The rules say to cluster only near-identical calls "in a single storm-or-event window." Medical emergencies are routine calls, not event-driven. I'll keep them separate but ultra-tight, or I could group all medical emergencies by day. I'll group same-day medical transports for readability since they provide no individually distinguishing information.
Let me also reconsider the "Disturbance — Unit Clear" entries. These typically mean officers responded and found nothing or resolved it without a report. Minimal news value. I'll include ones where there's a report taken or something notable, and drop the routine "Unit Clear" disturbances.
Let me also reconsider the 24-12310 MVA "No Action Required" — the location field has what appears to be officer or party names embedded ("BAILEY/URQUIOLA"). This is flagged as OCR confusion. Since it was "No Action Required," minimal news value. I'll drop it and flag.
Let me also handle 24-12380 SUDDEN DEATH — this is significant and should be included.
And 24-12379 COMPLAINT at Mount Hood Golf Course — "Services Rendered," no report. Minimal, drop.
24-12385 ASSIST OTHER AGENCY at nursing home, report taken — include.
Now let me rebuild the draft more carefully, applying all the tightening rules more aggressively.
What I'm KEEPING: - Medical emergencies (grouped by day, noting transports vs. unit-cleared) - Arrests (with available details) - Larceny/fraud reports - Auto theft reports - Burglary/B&E - Vandalism - MVAs with reports - Disturbances with reports - Robbery - Assault - Sudden death - Wire down (single entry) - Suspicious activity with report - Found/lost property with report - Welfare checks where services rendered (keep brief) - Water problem with report - Notable complaints with reports
What I'm DROPPING: - All "Directed Patrol Unit Clear" (A/C) - All "Police Information Unit Clear" (C — no report) - All routine parking complaints (C) - All 911 hangup/misdial (C) - All "Serve Summons Unit Clear" (procedural, B) - All commercial/residential/school alarms that were "Checked - Secure" or "Unit Clear" with no incident (C) — EXCEPT: Lincoln School alarm keeps triggering repeatedly. I'll note the pattern but not include each one. - Motor vehicle stops with verbal warning only (C — no enforcement action beyond a word) - Motor vehicle stops with citation/warning only (borderline — a traffic citation is enforcement but minimal news value; I'll drop) - Prisoner transport (B) - "Make Notification Unit Clear" (B) - "Directed Patrol" entries (A) - Motor vehicle tow entries that are just tow logistics (B) — keep 24-12303 since it has a report - Welfare checks "Unit Clear" with no services rendered (C) - Disturbances "Unit Clear" or "Unfounded" (C) — except 24-12357 which has a report - Suspicious activity "Unfounded" (C) - Complaints "Unit Clear" or "False Alarm" (C) - Assist Citizen entries that are just "Unit Clear" or "Services Rendered" with no further detail - "Noise Ordinance Violation Unfounded" (C)
DV/Juvenile omissions: - 24-12210 JUVENILE ISSUE — omit - 24-12211 JUVENILE ISSUE — omit - 24-12224 Harassment Prevention Order — Restraining Order Served — this is serving a civil order, not a DV incident per se. However, harassment prevention orders often arise from DV. I'll omit to be safe and flag. - 24-12266 SERVE RESTRAINING ORDER — Arrest — omit, flag (DV-adjacent arrest) - 24-12305 JUVENILE ISSUE — omit - 24-12308 HARASSMENT report — omit, flag (potentially DV-adjacent) - 24-12316 Harassment Order Violation — omit (DV-adjacent) - 24-12360 Restraining Order Violation — omit (DV-adjacent) - 24-12478 HARASSMENT report — omit, flag (potentially DV-adjacent) - 24-12485 JUVENILE ISSUE — omit
Now let me think about clustering medicals. Each day has multiple medicals. I'll cluster them per day.
Sept. 30: Medicals at 1:34 p.m. (transported), 3:10 p.m. (transported), 5:25 p.m. (transported), 10:34 p.m. (unit clear) = 3 transports + 1 cleared Oct. 1: 12:34 a.m. (transported, at hospital address — odd), 9:36 a.m. (transported), 10:28 a.m. (transported), 11:08 a.m. (transported), 7:32 p.m. (transported) = 5 medicals Oct. 2: 4:24 a.m. (unit clear), 6:10 a.m. (transported), 10:44 a.m. (transported), 1:07 p.m. (transported), 7:18 p.m. (notification made), 8:33 p.m. (transported) = 6 medicals Oct. 3: 12:12 a.m. (unit clear), 12:21 a.m. (unit clear), 2:56 p.m. (transported), 5:07 p.m. (notification made), 8:51 p.m. (notification made) = 5 medicals Oct. 4: 3:53 a.m. (transported), 5:26 a.m. (unit clear), 8:33 a.m. (transported), 1:11 p.m. (transported), 5:41 p.m. (transported) = 5 medicals Oct. 5: 9:51 a.m. (transported), 9:59 a.m. (transported), 1:57 p.m. (transported), 2:43 p.m. (transported), 9:03 p.m. (unit clear), 10:12 p.m. (transported) = 6 medicals Oct. 6: 1:04 a.m. (unit clear), 7:02 a.m. (unit clear) = 2 medicals
These aren't event-driven clusters (like a storm), they're just routine daily calls. I'll group them per day as a single line since they're essentially identical in content and individually unidentifiable.
Actually, re-reading Rule D: "Cluster near-identical calls in a single storm-or-event window." Medical emergencies across a day aren't technically an "event window." But Rule C says non-substantive micro-entries should be dropped. Medical emergencies ARE substantive — they tell the community that EMS was active. I think the right approach is to include a brief daily note about medical emergencies rather than listing each one separately or dropping them. One line per day summarizing medical activity.
Now let me write the actual clean draft:
One more check — 24-12380 SUDDEN DEATH on Oct. 3 at 5:50 p.m. — this is significant. Include.
24-12370 ASSAULT at Roosevelt School on Oct. 3 — arrest referenced but no details. Include the incident, note the arrest reference, flag for editor.
24-12337 ROBBERY on Oct. 3 at 3:40 a.m. near Melrose Shell — summons issued, no name. Include incident, note summons, flag.
24-12382 Oct. 3, 5:29 p.m. — MVA with arrest, charges truncated "LICENSE SUSPENDED, OP MV WITH" — flag OCR.
24-12431 Oct. 4, 3:04 p.m. — AUTO THEFT report, 20 block of Carlida Road. 24-12312 Oct. 2, 4:09 p.m. — AUTO THEFT Unit Clear at Shaw's — this resolved without action, drop.
24-12515 Oct. 6, 9:17 a.m. — BURGLARY (B&E) PAST at 11 Orchard Lane.
24-12509 Oct. 6, 2:44 a.m. — SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY report at Coolidge Condominium, Main Street.
24-12422 Oct. 4, 10:25 a.m. — VANDALISM at Melrose High School.
24-12438, 24-12445, 24-12426 — Larceny reports on Oct. 4. 24-12475 Oct. 5 — Larceny at Cefalo Apts. 24-12253, 24-12255 Oct. 1 — Larceny reports. 24-12230 Sept. 30 — Larceny report. 24-12354 Oct. 3 — Larceny at 1000 Stone Place.
Now the 24-12469 parking complaint "Peace Restored" with a report taken on Oct. 5 — this is unusual, a parking complaint escalated to the point of a report. Include briefly.
24-12528 Oct. 6, 1:20 p.m. — DISTURBANCE Services Rendered at 78 Florence Ave (Roland Residence — same address as 24-12527 ASSIST CITIZEN with report on same day). Include the disturbance/assist together since they're at the same address.
24-12527 Oct. 6, 12:46 p.m. — ASSIST CITIZEN report at 78 Florence Ave. 24-12528 Oct. 6, 1:20 p.m. — DISTURBANCE Services Rendered at same address. These seem related — include as one entry.
24-12357 Oct. 3, 12:15 p.m. — DISTURBANCE report at 78 Florence Ave (Roland Residence) — same address! Three calls at the same address across the week (Oct. 3 disturbance, Oct. 6 assist + disturbance). I'll note the pattern.
24-12385 Oct. 3, 10:16 p.m. — ASSIST OTHER AGENCY at Melrose Care Center nursing home, report taken. Include.
24-12279 Oct. 1, 11:26 p.m. — Water Problem, report taken, 30 block of Warren Street. Include.
24-12265 Oct. 1, 1:10 p.m. — COMPLAINT report at 317 East Foster Street. Include.
24-12276 Oct. 1, 8:11 p.m. — COMPLAINT report at police station. This is someone coming to the station to report something — include briefly.
24-12234 Sept. 30, 11:54 p.m. — COMPLAINT report at 98 Green Street. Include.
24-12237 Oct. 1, 12:34 a.m. — DISTURBANCE report at 100 Green Street. Include. Note: 24-12236 is a medical emergency at Melrose Wakefield Hospital. These are at different addresses (100 Green St vs 585 Lebanon St).
Actually wait — 24-12237 is at 100 Green Street, and earlier (Sept. 30) 24-12234 is at 98 Green Street — these are adjacent addresses, possibly related. Flag for editor.
Let me also note: 24-12364 Oct. 3, 2:01 p.m. — ASSIST CITIZEN report at Yankee Clipper, West Wyoming Avenue. Brief include.
24-12359 Oct. 3, 12:35 p.m. — WIRE DOWN at Porter Street near Garfield Road. Single entry, brief include.
Now let me also handle the Lincoln School alarms. Over the week: - Sept. 30, 12:46 a.m. — Commercial alarm, unit clear - Oct. 3, 12:01 a.m. — Commercial alarm, unit clear - Oct. 4, 3:04 a.m. — School alarm, building checked secure - Oct. 4, 5:33 a.m. — School alarm, unit clear - Oct. 5, 9:04 p.m. — School alarm, unit clear - Oct. 6, 6:32 p.m. — School alarm, unit clear - Oct. 6, 11:39 p.m. — School alarm, false