Crowds have descended in Oak Bluffs.
Ray Ewing

Crowded Summer Weekend Brings More Calls for Police

A slew of minor incidents related to drunken driving, stolen property, vandalism and rough seas occupied Island police over the weekend. Edgartown police alone responded to 130 calls.

A slew of minor incidents related to drunken driving, stolen property, vandalism and rough seas occupied Island police over the weekend.

Edgartown police responded to 130 calls, an increase over the same weekend last year, said Lieut. Chris Dolby.

Edgartown and West Tisbury police assisted in three medical transports from South Beach, where an offshore tropical storm churned up seas with high winds and large waves. Several swimmers became caught in the surf and were injured. Lieutenant Dolby reported a possible broken wrist, spinal injury and dislocated shoulder.

“People were just getting tossed onto shore,” he said.

On Friday, Edgartown police responded to an altercation between a group of fishermen and a fast-moving oversand vehicle at Wasque. Lieutenant Dolby said the driver of the vehicle was traveling fast to avoid becoming stuck in the sand. The driver was approached by a group of fishermen who were aggravated by the speeding vehicle, exchanging words, he said.

After the driver left, one fisherman “walked toward the vehicle with a screwdriver in hand and stabbed the tire stem, causing it to lose air,” the lieutenant said. Police are investigating the incident as vandalism.

Edgartown police arrested one person for drunken driving and another for public intoxication over the weekend. The department is also investigating an incident of a metal detector and beach chair stolen from a car parked near Fuller street beach, which was reported on Friday, Lieutenant Dolby said.

Tisbury police Sgt. Max Sherman said his department arrested a 56-year old man from Boston for drunken operation of a motor boat.

Sergeant Sherman said the call came in at about 8 p.m. Thursday from the harbor master with a report of a possibly intoxicated boater, whose vessel had become entangled in the lines of another boat.

Working with the harbor master, police located a man in 32-foot Boston Whaler attempting to untangle mooring lines from the motor. The man said he had been attempting to empty water from his kayak, in order to paddle back to shore, when his boat began to drift deeper into the harbor and ended up entangled in the mooring lines of a sailboat, police said.

After assisting the boater, police conducted a field sobriety test and the operator was arrested on a charge of drunken operation of a motor vessel, the sergeant said.

West Tisbury police chief Matthew Mincone said his department saw an uptick in motor vehicle stops and ambulance runs. He also said police are still responding to noise complaints from fireworks, with two complaints lodged on Saturday.

“Maybe [the fireworks] were what was left over . . . from the Fourth,” the chief said.

Chilmark, police responded to a single vehicle rollover that did not result in injury, according to police chief Jonathan Klaren.

“Busy weekend at the beaches this weekend but they didn’t generate any police calls for service,” Chief Klaren wrote in an email. “Overall pretty quiet here.”

Aquinnah police responded to a handful of medical calls and a report of a dog that was left in a Jeep at West Basin. The reporting party removed the dog from the vehicle, gave it some water, and waited for animal control and police to arrive, police chief Randhi Belain.

In lieu of a fine, the dog’s owner said he would make a donation to the Vineyard animal shelter, Chief Belain said.

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 07/14/2020 - 14:24

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Clark Edgartown

God bless our police.

Driving past the High School the other day, I noticed that the sign in front says "Black Lives Matter," which places taxpayer support behind a political movement that advocates for defunding the police. I have been stuck in my car in NYC during a Black Lives Matter rally. I heard horribly vile comments directed at police from some of the "protesters" at these rallies (including calling for police deaths). The Black Lives movement has, to my knowledge, never disavowed these remarks.

As a society we seem really confused. As a taxpayer, I am not. Defunding the police makes as much sense as defunding the medical profession because of rogue doctors or defunding the banks because of rogue bankers. Defunding the police falls hardest on the good people in minority neighborhoods who are powerless without their presence (consider the sharp rise in crime and shootings we are seeing in minority neighborhoods in Chicago and NYC).

Just a few short weeks ago we were praising the police for the unusual risks they were (and still are) taking to keep us safe during the pandemic. I still remember the police on 911 running to the burning towers. Can we please start by showing the Police the respect that they are due and remove the sign at the High School? Taxpayer money should not be used to promote any political movement.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 07/15/2020 - 14:12

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Carrie Oak Bluffs

I blew up the picture and saw very few people with masks on and Zero social distancing!
Lets get it together OB!! BOH, Selectmen and Cops do your jobs and at least try to save people at risk which is everybody!

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