Police Briefs — Week of Oct. 22

On Oct. 16 at 1:30 a.m., an individual called the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) and requested assistance from the seventh floor of Dowling Hall. The person, who is not affiliated with Tufts, said that they were being followed by several people and would follow them frequently. They identified themselves to TUPD and stated that they were visiting a friend in Somerville and did not know how they ended up at Tufts. TUPD called an EMT to have the individual examined for symptoms of paranoia or other medical issues, but they biked away before an EMT arrived.

On Oct. 17 at 7:50 p.m., a Tufts employee reported to TUPD that their vehicle had been struck in Cousens Parking Lot, across the street from the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center. Their car sustained damage to the driver's side door, but the cause of the damage was undetermined. This is not the first hit-and-run incident in the Cousens lot this month. 

On Oct. 19 at 3:30 p.m., TUPD received a report that the previous evening, at the Voute Tennis Courts on Professors Row, people were playing tennis when passersby mocked and heckled the players on the courts. There was an exchange of words between the two groups before the hecklers left the area. The same individual reported that this occurred the previous Friday, except with a different group of hecklers. 

On Oct. 19 at 11:54 p.m., TUPD officers were dispatched to Lewis Hall due to a report of vandalism. TUPD questioned the individual who reported the incident, who told officers that they found a two-foot-wide hole in the wall outside of their room on the fourth floor. At 5 p.m. that evening, the student said they heard a bang, opened the door to find a hole in the wall and saw a tall white male with dark hair walking away. 

On Oct. 21 at 11:17 p.m., a student reported to TUPD that they were a victim of a scam involving an organization called "My Apple." They stated that they were told their Apple ID and iCloud account had been breached. The scammers succeeded in extorting money from the individual, and when the individual realized it was a scam after the fact, they reported the incident to TUPD.