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 communities.
FRIENDLY COYOTE PUP’S CLOSE CALL
After a baby coyote was found in Rowley in the area of Route 1 and Haverhill Street, Ipswich Regional Animal Control shared a photo of the pup on Facebook. “Recently, kind and well intentioned individuals found this little cutie pie alone and cold, he walked right up to them, they wanted to help,” the post said. “They picked him up and wrapped him in a sweatshirt, more than one person held him until ACO [Teagan] Dolan responded. This little guy’s life was in limbo for the entire day while phone calls were made regarding potential exposure to rabies.” Calls were made to various state agencies as well as a veterinarian, and the pup was cleared to be taken to a wildlife rehabber who currently has a litter of coyote pups around his age. But things could have gone a lot differently. “If he hadn’t been cleared, meaning if even one of the people who handled him without proper protection had a cut on their hand, or if he acted as both wild animals and domestic puppies do and nipped or scratched one of those people,” the post said, “that really nice vet who made calls with us, would have had to euthanize this baby” and send it to a state lab to be tested for rabies. Unfortunately, that’s the only way to test for rabies, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Because there are no approved methods for testing for rabies in living animals, they must be euthanized, which makes it all the more important not to touch wildlife, and to call professionals if you see an animal in need of assistance. Otherwise, you could be handing the animal an automatic death sentence. “Rabies is FATAL,” the post said. “We HAVE to take it seriously. So PLEASE if you see a wild animal that looks like it needs help keep your paws off, give us a call, we WILL help with wildlife, we work with vets and rehabbers who are just a phone call away for advice and placement if needed.”
THE QUESTION HOVERS UNANSWERED
At 8:37 p.m. May 13, Norwood police received a report of a solicitor driving around on a hoverboard while going door-to-door on Railroad Avenue. The caller was concerned because it was quite dark outside and wondered why someone, on a hoverboard no less, would be going door-to-door so late in the evening. Police checked the area, but couldn’t find the hoverboarding salesperson.
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER
On the morning of May 23, Beverly police got a call from someone requesting animal control to remove a large beaver from the healing garden at Beverly Hospital. The caller was advised that the animal control officer was not available, so if he wanted the beaver to leave he’d need to call a private company to escort it off the property.
KNOW WHEN TO FOLD ‘EM
On June 2 police in Salem, N.H., asked the public for help in identifying a “slick suspect” who used fake poker chips at Chaser’s Poker Room. “This gentleman pictured is one of our more creative fraudsters,” police wrote on Facebook. “He passed off some homemade poker chips at Chasers as real ones. Some may think this is comical, some may think, ‘what’s the issue with that?’ Well, the issue is it’s a crime. Could be fraud, could be theft by deception, could be a lot of things. We don’t have to get into the boring law talk of the law enforcement world. What we can get into is who this is. Does anyone know him from a pottery class? Maybe a paint and sip party? Maybe a crafting class in the area? Who knows where this man’s creativity ends.” Anyone with information is urged to contact Officer Maxwell Greeley at 603-893-1911 or at mgreeley@salemnh.gov.
An unexpected owl visit, a shopping cart crash, and the worst dinner date ever‘Help Me’ prank at Starbucks lands baristas in hot water
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