MEXICO — Police officers responded to 122 calls in the past week, including the following:
* On June 10, a Roxbury Road resident reported that someone backed into the garage door at his home sometime around June 5 and damaged three sections of the door. “We have no idea who did it,” Chief Roy Hodsdon said Friday morning. “He didn’t give us a damage estimate, but I’m figuring $500, because you have to replace the whole garage door.”
* At 7:03 p.m. June 8, a Mexico resident found a phone system-testing device at the Dead River propane station beside Route 2, across from Wal-Mart. “So we still have that here (at the police station) and we’re unable to find out who that belongs to,” Hodsdon said. “It wasn’t damaged or anything.”
* At 7:43 p.m. June 7, a Whitman Street resident reported seeing a male with dark hair run into the woods toward Front Street onto Spring Street while carrying a laptop bag. “He just thought it was suspicious, because (the male) was running in an area where (the homeowner) said he hasn’t seen anyone,” Hodsdon said.
* At 12:31 p.m. June 4, police took a report of missing traffic cones on Highland Terrace near Pine Street. The orange cones belong to the water district. “We were able to recover the cones,” Hodsdon said. “We found out it was a young juvenile who was stealing them. There will be no prosecution due to his young age, but a warning was issued. He was stealing them and hiding them behind his house. We warned him about being responsible for causing an accident and the charge of theft on top of that.”
In other police news, Hodsdon said his department has been inundated with complaints about callers claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service and telling residents that they will be arrested for nonpayment of taxes unless they send money to the caller.
Additionally, they are now receiving complaints from people getting calls from scammers saying they are with Central Maine Power Co. and are demanding payments on bills or threatening to shut off customers’ electricity.
“I’ve spoken to several people about that and they’re concerned,” Hodsdon said. “Use your common sense.”
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