Theft Crimes

October 22, 2008

Cousin Reveals Massachusetts Drunk Driver Leaving Scene And Attempting Fraud

We are now announcing a special “family plan” for the “Hey, I’ll Bet I Can Make This Situation Worse” club we have spoken so much of in this daily blog.

Lawrence, Massachusetts. July, 2008. A 1997 Honda Civic careens into a fence on Phillips Street. Eduard M., 19, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), the driver, takes the unorthodox approach – he tells his passengers to follow him and they flee the scene. He then reports the car stolen.

It’s a good start toward individual membership. After all, what’s a simple car accident when you can have charges of leaving the scene and fraud added with very little additional effort?

Clinching this nomination, however, is the Defendant’s cousin, Jose, who then went back to the scene to retrieve his hat.

You see, Jose is a friendly guy and ended up talking about the situation with a resident of the house where the accident had occurred. He told the resident how the Defendant had been drunk, but that his auto insurance would cover damage to the fence.

Lawrence police are a friendly bunch too and one of their officers ended up engaged in the conversation with cousin Jose. So, Jose elaborated on the story. He told the officer that his cousin, the Defendant, was drunk and had a suspended driver’s license, but still insisted on driving five other people home from a party on Kendall Street. Missing a turn at Dorchester and Phillips streets, the Defendant hit the fence instead.
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October 20, 2008

Andover, Massachusetts, Couple Arrested For Internet Crimes Of Harassment, Identity Fraud And Threats

by Altman & Altman

The Ten Commandments had a few things to say about interaction with one’s neighbors. It might have been helpful, however, had they mentioned what would later be named “the internet” and how it would play into things. At least, it might have helped a particular Andover couple.

Friday morning, Bill and Gail J., both 51 (hereinafter, the “Defendants”), were arrested and charged with criminally harassing their neighbors (hereinafter, the “Neighbors”) over the Internet because of a property dispute.

The harassment allegedly started with a fake advertisement on Craig’s List for used golf carts and other items such as unwanted memberships to a national nudist association. You guessed it…the Neighbors were listed as the people to contact. It then escalated to fake reports of child abuse to state social workers, mysteriously opened bank accounts, and threatening emails and letters, prosecutors said.

The harassment took place over several weeks in March, authorities said. According to court records, the Neighbors began receiving dozens of harassing and threatening e-mails and phone calls. At one point, DSS social workers came to their home to investigate false claims that their 14-year-old son had abused a female at school.

The Defendants pleaded not guilty to counts of criminal harassment, identity fraud and conspiracy at their arraignment in Essex District Court, as they each stood by their individual attorney. Both lawyers said the Defendants are Tewksbury High School graduates who own a realty company and have lived in Andover for nine years. They are also parents of three teenage daughters.
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October 16, 2008

North Of Boston, A Robbery Victim Gets Lucky

by Altman & Altman

Here is a cautionary tale out of Lynn, Massachusetts, that could have ended much differently.

On Monday night, shortly after 10:00pm, Jackeline H., 26, of Haverhill, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), earned the Commonwealth’s Bracelets of Shame after an alleged robbery.

According to the police, a certain unnamed gentleman (hereinafter, “Mr. Unnamed”) had just dropped off his girlfriend at her home and was now sitting in his car on Lewis Street, perhaps lost in thoughts of a lovely romantic evening, with a pile of cash just lying in the center console. $240 in cash to be exact.

Suddenly, according to the police, the Defendant suddenly appeared out of nowhere and jumped into the “Car o’ Cash”. She asked the driver if he wanted to buy a pair of sunglasses.

He answered “No”

At that point, the Defendant took the more direct approach and allegedly grabbed the money and jumped out of the car.

Mr. Unnamed, then, followed her down the street demanding his money back. This continued until the Defendant allegedly said she had a screw driver and, “Don’t come any closer or I’ll stab you,” according to a police report.
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October 14, 2008

Massachusetts Automobile Insurance Fraud Probe Yields White Collar Record Breakers

by Altman & Altman

Have you ever wondered how seriously insurance companies take the possibility of fraudulent claims?

In Lawrence, Massachusetts, the city’s auto insurance fraud task force brought charges against nine people last week…all involving the very same two-car accident.

One method the task force uses for their investigations is to be on the look-out for what they call “frequent flier” cases. “Frequent flier” is the nickname the auto insurance industry labels those with five or more claims in 10 years. Such high claim totals generally raise “red flags” about the credibility of claimants and suspicions about possible fraud. Four of the nine people charged in their latest probe had filed seven or more claims.

The accident took place in January, 2003. As the story goes, a 1996 Honda Accord was driving on Bailey Street when it slid in the snow and through a stop sign at the intersection with Phillips Street, hitting a 1993 Lincoln Mark VIII. Two passengers in the Honda, however, now tell the police that the accident was a fraud. Accident reconstructionists are also of the opinion that the damage could not have been caused as described.

The “red flag” in this case? Well, let’s take the driver of the driver of the Honda, Jose C., 58 (Defendant 1). He has filed 26 auto insurance claims over a 51/2-year period ending in early 2003, including eight for accidents involving injury.

Coincidence, you say? Perhaps he is simply the unluckiest driver in the world. Maybe. But, let’s look at the owner and passenger in the Lincoln, Rita L., 52 (Defendant 2). She has had 22 auto insurance claims over a 12-year period dating back to 1996. Nine of the claims involved car accidents with reported injuries. Defendant 2 claimed to have been hurt in six of those cases.
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October 13, 2008

Massachusetts Trespassers, Thieves And Adventurers Face variety Of Criminal Charges West and South Of Boston

by Altman & Altman

Today is Columbus Day. As we honor the adventurer who is celebrated as the man who discovered America (although other people were already living here at the time), I think it appropriate that we recognize other valiant efforts at similar discoveries. However, being that this is a daily Criminal Law blog, we unfortunately have to focus on a few not-so successful voyages.

It turns out to be easy, though; last week was not a particularly good week for voyagers to the other side of the law, especially south and west of Boston.

Let’s turn first to Tuesday in Warren, Massachusetts, where the police believe they have linked a suspect to three recent break-ins. This gentleman, Matthew W., 24, (hereinafter, “Defendant 1”), was captured thanks to his alleged intended victim – a 78-year-old woman who confronted him in her bedroom and chased him out the window.

Defendant 1 is currently being held at the Hampshire County House of Correction in Northampton, awaiting trial on charges out of Ware. Tuesday, he was arraigned at Western Worcester District Court in East Brookfield on nine counts related to three break-ins.

According to court documents, the intended not-so-helpless victim was inside her apartment in West Warren about 9:30 a.m. when she heard a voice yelling “Hello, Hello,” outside her bedroom window. She went to the window and saw a young man, who asked if she’d like him to mow her lawn. She declined and he asked her if she got out much.
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October 7, 2008

Outstanding Warrants Come Back To Haunt Massachusetts Resident

by Altman & Altman

William Shakespeare once told us that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. His point was “What’s in a name?” A gentleman from Chicopee, Massachusetts, apparently agrees with him. In Chicopee, he is known as Felix Maldonado. In Waterbury, Connecticut, however, he was known as Alfredo “Eddie” Gonzalez. But to us, as well as the criminal justice system, he is now known as the Defendant.

The Defendant, 43, is currently being held without bail in Connecticut, courtesy of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where his various identities were finally meshed. He was returned to Connecticut in August to face 18 outstanding arrest warrants dating back to 1995 and 1996.

He had been alluding authorities for years by moving around and using a variety of aliases and birth dates, police said. After all, what good is a new identity without a new birthdate to go along with it?

September 29, 2008

Western Massachusetts Runners Attempt To Escape Arrests For Shoplifting, Possession Of Stolen Automobile and Parole Violation This Weekend

by Altman & Altman

The “wild west” has long been associated with images of folks making their own rules and bravely trying to tame the frontier. It would appear that two Western Massachusetts gentlemen had similar attitudes…although, according to the police, their actions would be more aligned with untaming than taming the area.

Let’s start with this past Friday in Springfield. 30-year old Ricardo M., (hereinafter, “Defendant”) was observed by police officers while allegedly ducking down inside a car near 86 Maple Street. When simply nestling under the dashboard did not work, he decided to jump out of the car and lead the police on a foot chase. This, however, did not make his situation dire enough, so he took the extra alleged step of breaking into an elderly woman’s apartment to hide.

She screamed. Police came. He was arrested.

September 25, 2008

Insurance Fraud And Other White Collar Crime Alleged In Salem, Massachussets

by Altman & Altman

Yesterday’s Salem News told of 31 year old Peabody resident Tyler P. According to prosecutors, he is an enterprising young man with a taste for some of the nicer things in life. Unfortunately, they also claim that his methods of financing such things were not so nice. So they went out and got him something they knew he had not already gotten for himself. They got it from the local grand jury. You guessed it, it’s a brand new indictment.

Mr. P. now faces a multi-count indictment alleging four counts of felony larceny, three counts of insurance fraud, three counts of filing a false police report, forgery, attempted larceny and uttering a forged instrument.

Mr. P. first came to the attention of insurance company investigators last spring after a series of claims raised red flags at Arbella Mutual, the company that insured his car. A year earlier, in July 2007, he had added rental car coverage to his auto insurance policy. An hour after adding the coverage, he called again to say he had been involved in an accident. While the car was waiting to be repaired, prosecutors in the attorney general’s office allege, he filed a false police report with the Beverly police, claiming that his car had been vandalized and reported the vandalism to Arbella.

September 23, 2008

Sex For Money For Drugs Drama Has Its Final Act This Friday In Springfield, Massachusetts

by Altman & Altman

Last Wednesday, a Hampden Superior Court jury returned with a verdict in a case of alleged unarmed robbery of a person 60 years old or older.

The cast of this particular drama included two defendants. They were Aretha Hallums, 40, and Donald Alford, 55. Cast in the role of victim was the elder Edward Foster, formerly of Springfield. The scene of the facts at issue was outside the Bay Street Social Club at Bay and Catherine streets, apparently an unlicensed bar.

Particularly helpful for the jury, I would imagine, was that both defendants testified in their own behalf…each contradicting the other.

September 22, 2008

Fruitlands Museum Files Complaint In Worcester, Massachusetts, Claiming A Family Of Bad Apples Embezzled Over One Million Dollars

by Altman & Altman

Did you have a nice weekend? A few Museum Patrons in Hollis, New Hampshire didn’t. According to Friday’s news, a lawsuit has been filed against in Worcester Superior Court that is likely only the tip of the legal iceberg of their problems.

Fruitlands Museum has filed a lawsuit against former chief operating officer Peggy Kempton and her children for allegedly embezzling more than $1 million during the past eight years. Also named in the legal action is a Leominster accounting firm that allegedly did not notify museum officials about the alleged fraud.

The Complaint, filed Tuesday, accuses Peggy Kempton, Fruitlands’ former chief operating officer, and her children, of obtaining money and property by false pretenses, and converting or misappropriating Fruitlands’ assets. Ms. Kempton, who leased a cottage owned by Fruitlands at 144 Prospect Hill Road, next to the museum since October 1999, for $1,400 a month, is also accused of failing to pay rent. The lawsuit further accuses Solar & Kilcoyne, an accounting firm in Leominster, Massachusetts, of negligence and failing to alert anyone on the nonprofit museum’s board of directors about the alleged financial irregularities.