Chester Police Log, Aug. 24 through Dec. 19, 2016

© 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Editor’s Note: The Chester Telegraph Police Log is a sampling of incidents directly from Chester Police reports. In general, we do not identify individual victims of crimes nor those who have been arrested.

Wednesday, Aug. 24, 6:29 a.m.

A woman on Potash Brook Road was on her deck when she heard noises in the bushes. She called out “Can I help you?” a man jumped up and ran up the hill. He was wearing dark colored sweatshirt and jeans. The responding officer was unable to locate anyone in the area. A person out walking said she had seen a bike lying beside the road at the start of her walk, but it was gone when she came back.

Friday, Nov. 4, 9:29 p.m.

Police responded to an accident involving one car on South Main Street. The 2006 BMW X5 registered in New York into a telephone pole. The driver said he had been traveling north when he fell asleep and crashed. A witness stated driving behind the BMW said that the car just crossed the center line and crashed into the pole. No other evidence suggested any other scenario.

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 10:09 a.m.

Police responded to a report of a burning tree behind the Green Mountain High School. The officer reported that the tree was burning hotly but the fire department put it out and the tree was cut down. It appeared that the fire was set.

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 4 p.m.

An officer responded to a call from a teller at TD bank regarding a suspicious man who was loitering outside the bank. The employee said that the man had been outside for quite some time, wandering around, standing by the ATM, staring at the bank, and talking on the phone. The call came after several armed robberies in Springfield. The officer approached the man and found that he was a truck-driver from Springfield who learned that his bank card had been compromised so he stopped at the bank immediately when he got back to Vermont.  He was on the phone with his branch when the officer arrived.

     Nov. 16, 9:16 p.m.

The Springfield Hospital Emergency Department called to report that a man had checked himself out of the ER with an IV still in his arm and they wanted it back. The man was told he should take it back and he said he would.

Sunday, Nov. 20, 4:45 p.m.

Police received a report that a deer had been hit by a car on Route 103. The weather was clear and dry and so was the roadway. The driver,  a  resident of North Springfield, and the bystander who reported the accident were both present when police arrived. But the deer had died by then.  The driver said the deer had frozen in front of her and she did not have time to stop. The front of the car had about $3,000 in damages but could be driven away.

Monday, Nov. 21, 5:07 p.m.

An officer responded to a report of a suspicious person near the American Legion on Route 103 south. The subject told the officer he was waiting for his mother.

Tuesday, Nov. 22, 4:23 p.m.

A two-car collision occurred at the intersection of Elm and Pleasant streets. Neither driver was injured. One had been attempting to turn left from Elm Street but couldn’t see beyond the guardrails on the bridge. He pulled out without seeing the second car, which struck his car. The second driver said she was unable to avoid the crash as the first car appeared too suddenly. The first car sustained about $2,500 in damages; the second car about $3,000. The cause of the crash was determined to be driver one not yielding to oncoming traffic. The first driver was issued a ticket for operating without liability insurance.

Monday, Nov. 28, 10:51 a.m.

Police received a complaint about a tree service truck parked in a field off of Crow Hill. Upon arrival, police found an Asplundh Tree Service truck that seemed to have been working on the nearby power lines. The officer found that the owner of the field was upset by the truck in his field and pulled his truck into position to block the tree service truck from leaving. The officer got the parties together and saw that a miscommunication was responsible for the problem.  The owner moved his truck and the workers left the area. The owner told police this was not the first time it had happened and he was sick of it saying that going forward, no one was allowed into the field or else he would “start ventilating” with his rifle and scope.

Thursday, Dec. 1, 11:32 a.m.

Police spoke with employees at Chester Hardware store regarding the vandalism of their Christmas lights. Over the previous week, the outside lights had been cut and damaged four times, always in the same place on the right side of the building. Night shift officers were advised to keep an eye on the area.

Friday, Dec. 2, 9:07 p.m.

A man called to report that a vehicle had been driving around the town of Andover, checking mailboxes. Being suspicious, he followed the vehicle to the Jiffy Mart and called the police. The responding officer saw a lone woman in the car and as he approached, the woman hurried to a trash can, shoving several pieces of mail into it. The woman said that she had been putting flyers for a garage sale into mailboxes. Seeing that the mail was from multiple residences, the officer asked if any of it belonged to her and she said no. The officer then said he didn’t believe her and she began flipping back and forth among several stories about how she had gotten the mail.  When asked for an example of the flyer, she said she had passed them all out. When asked about the odd timing of a garage sale, the middle of winter, she said she was moving. Further investigation showed that she had a non extraditable warrant out of California for burglary. Later, two state troopers arrived, spoke with the woman and searched her car. They found several empty packaging boxes and envelopes, such as and American Eagle box and a Starbucks Gift Card made out to someone else. All of them had shipping labels missing or illegible, and were from multiple residences. The woman was taken into custody and the car was towed.

Saturday, Dec. 3, 9:46 a.m.

An officer was dispatched to Depot Street for a landlord who had found that tenants who moved out had left behind two rifles that he wanted removed from the property.  The rifles were taken to the police department for safe keeping and logged as found property.

Tuesday, Dec. 6, 12:01 p.m.

An accident occurred at Pleasant St. and Route 103 when the first of two drivers waiting to pull out on 103 pulled forward and stopped. The second driver – expecting the first to continued – drove forward and ran into the back of the stopped car.

Sunday, Dec. 18, 3:46 p.m.

Police were dispatched to Roland Road when a man called to complain that his landlord had repeatedly removed the extension cord he was using to get power from a neighbor’s mobile home. While the neighbor had given permission, the landlord felt that the situation could lead to having power shut off and he would have to pay to have it reconnected. He was also concerned that the man was using two short cords with the connection laying in the wet snow between the mobile homes. Police asked the landlord whether he it would be OK if one longer extension cord was used only until Wednesday night when the man was supposedly paying his bill. The landlord agreed and the man was told he had until Wednesday night. By then, the neighbor had returned home and also agreed to these terms.

Sunday, Dec. 18, 4:29 p.m.

Police answered a call about a man at the Jiffy Mart who was acting strange and making customers nervous. The employees believed that he was under the influence of some type of substance. On arriving, police spoke with an employee who said that the man left shortly after the call had been made. He then got into his green Honda CRV with Vermont plates and drove off, screeching the tires as he accelerated. He headed south on Route 103 toward Rockingham. The employee then showed the officer the Jiffy Mart Rewards Card application that the man had filled out showing his name and address in Weathersfield.

Monday, Dec. 19, 1:39 p.m.

A woman called to say that she had received a Priority Mail package containing a check for $2,850.90 bearing the name of a real company.  She called to verify the check and was told it was a fraud and she should destroy it.  Police asked her to bring the check into the police department to scan and make note in case of similar frauds in future.