Billerica Public Safety responded to a one vehicle accident yesterday morning in front of 837 Boston Rd. When units arrived they found the vehicle below impaled by a guardrail. No one was injured. The accident is under investigation. Photos by Sgt Gualtieri.
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Online sales have increased and this means more packages left on doorsteps. UPS alone will deliver about 120 million packages the week before Christmas. More packages often translates into more theft. Often times a delivered package is an easy target for thieves.
BPD recommends contacting your delivery service ahead of time to minimize risk. In addition, residents should take advantage of online tracking tools in order to keep updated on delivery times. If you know when a package is scheduled to be delivered let a neighbor or family member know to keep an eye out for it if you can’t be home.
UPS has a free program called My Choice which allows customers to keep better track of their packages. After registering online, you can get alerts on where your package is, specific delivery time frames, reroute options and more.
The FedEx Customer Support Center contains frequently asked questions includes helpful information regarding delivery and tracking.
If you are the victim of a package theft please call BPD and report it.
The Billerica Police Department received a 911 call at approximately 3:45pm, reporting that a canoe tipped over on Nuttings Lake and that a person was in the water. Police, Fire, and EMS units were immediately dispatched to the Marshall St. area of Nuttings Lake. It was reported that this person abandoned his sinking canoe and was swimming for the shore.
Frank Mclaughlin of Lexington, MA observed the capsized canoe and ripples in the water. He told his friend to call 911 and immediately drove his truck to the victim’s location. Mr. McLaughlin made his way to the shoreline and yelled to the victim. He realized that the man was struggling and, without hesitation, dove off the dock and into the frigid water. Patrolman Stephen Cogswell arrived on scene and also dove into the lake. Mr. McLaughlin reached the victim and was able to lift his head out of the water. Ms. Eileen Conway of Billerica, MA also entered the lake and provided the rescuers and victim with three life vests. They supported the victim with the vests and Patrolman Cogswell was able to bring the victim to the dock. He was pulled from the water by Mr. McLaughlin, Ms. Conway, Patrolman Frank Rayne, and Patrolman John Harring.
The victim is identified as a 54 year old male from Billerica, MA. He was transported by the Billerica Paramedics to the Lahey Clinic in Burlington.
On Friday, November 18, 2011 at approximately 5:20 PM Billerica Police Officer Donald MacEachern observed a stolen 2011 Nissan Murano operating on Route 3A in North Billerica. Officer MacEachern had been aware of an earlier alert for this vehicle which indicated it had been used during an armed robbery. The robbery occurred at the Brite Clean Cleaners in Chelmsford the previous day. Officer MacEachern was also aware that the suspect in that case was a young white male with a goatee that was wearing a black hoodie sweatshirt with white lettering. The suspect had also been suspected of a similar armed robbery on Middlesex Turnpike in Burlington on November 15. In that robbery, a female clerk working for Dunkin Donuts was threatened at gun point for the money in the store’s register. Having this knowledge in mind, Officer MacEachern conducted a tactical felony stop of the vehicle and arrested the driver for possession of a stolen motor vehicle and operating with a revoked license. Officer MacEachern also located a replica semi-automatic hand gun believed to have been used in the previous robberies. The individual arrested was identified as Derek Colamartino, a 21 year old male formerly of Billerica. Based on evidence collected following his arrest, the Burlington Police Department subsequently charged Mr. Colamartino with the armed robbery of their Dunkin Donuts on November 15, 2011. The investigation into the Chelmsford armed robbery remains open at this time.
• Protect your computer with the most recent updates installed for spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware software and a secure firewall.
• Shop on trustworthy websites.
• Protect your personal information.
• Offers on websites and in unsolicited emails can often sound too good to be true, especially extremely low prices on hard-to-get items.
• Shoppers should always look in the address box for the “s” in https:// when checking out of a shopping session.
• It’s best to use a credit card, because under federal law, the shopper can dispute the charges if he or she doesn’t receive the item. Shoppers also have dispute rights if there are unauthorized charges on their credit card, and many card issuers have zero liability policies under which the card holder pays nothing if someone steals the credit card number and uses it.
• Keep all documentation including a final confirmation page or the confirmation by email.
• Check your statements often.
• Federal law requires that orders made by mail, phone or online be shipped by the date promised or, if no delivery time was stated, within 30 days. If the goods aren’t shipped on time, the shopper can cancel and demand a refund.
