Billerica Police | MA

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.

• 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.

BPD Officers responded to two residential breaks yesterday. The first break was reported from Bicknell Rd. The residents at the home noticed a basement window had been damaged. It appears that the suspect activated the security alarm during the attempted entry to the home.  Nothing appears to have been stolen.

The second break was reported at George Brown St.  Residents were home at around 5pm when they heard a noise that they attributed to a family pet.  At around the same time frame the outside motion lights came on outside.  No one was seen outside but they did notice that the basement doors had been opened.  It was then discovered that someone had entered the home through a basement window.  An inspection of the home revealed that items had been stolen from a bedroom.

We would like to once again remind residents to notify police immediately of suspicious activity.  Property crime has a tendency to increase around the holidays so please secure your property and set your security alarms if you have one.