Online sale of $20 speakers causes flap; man vows to sue, move over holiday work

Friday, Feb. 17

10:03 a.m. Officers investigated a report that a parked car had been struck on Atlantic Avenue and Hawkes Street.

12:19 p.m. An out-of-town caller reported having received harassing phone calls.

1:06 p.m. An officer investigated a report of a vehicle crash on Humphrey Street.

10 p.m. Officers restored the peace after the report of a disturbance on Washington Street.

Saturday, Feb. 18

1:20 a.m. A 48-year-old Marblehead man was arrested and charged with a second offense of operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident with property damage after officers investigated the report of a crash on Bowden Street.

8:56 a.m. Officers investigated a general complaint on Creesy Street and filed a report.

1:10 p.m. Officers assisted a person on Washington Street and filed a report.

1:54 p.m. Officer spoke in the police station lobby with a man who six weeks earlier had purchased a speaker system on Facebook Marketplace for $20, which he subsequently learned did not work. The man had dropped the speaker system back off at the seller’s house and left him a note that the speakers were defective and to call him to arrange a refund of the $20. The man had finally heard back from the seller earlier in the day, but when he went to retrieve his $20, an argument ensued. The seller refused to return the money because, though a wire was missing, he believed the speakers worked just fine. Officer spoke to the seller in the hopes of brokering a settlement, but he resisted the suggestion to give the buyer a full or partial refund, saying he would only do so after he found another buyer for the speaker. Officer relayed that information to the buyer and suggested that he might be able to get further assistance from Facebook.

4:01 p.m. Officers investigated the report of a missing person

OBITUarIES

William E. Walker Jr., 94

William E. Walker Jr. died peacefully on Feb. 15, 2023, at the age of 94.

Bill was a lifelong resident of Medford. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of MassachusettsAmherst and his master’s degree in civil engineering from Northeastern University,

Margaret Connolly Hoffman, 94

Margaret Connolly Hoffman, 94, of Bellport, New York, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Saturday, Jan. 28.

“Peg” or “Peggy” was preceded one week in death by her beloved youngest sister, Mary Lane Connolly Cairns of Marblehead.

As one of four daughters of Eugene T. and Eloise L. Connolly of Marblehead, Margaret was known for her wry sense of humor, her beauty and her on Clifton Avenue and filed a report.

6:26 p.m. An officer assisted a person on Cheever Avenue and filed a report.

8:41 p.m. An officer responded to the scene of a minor car accident on School Street.

Officer arrived to find one vehicle pulled off to the side of the road with its registered owner standing by its side. The man said that the other car involved in the accident had left before he arrived. Man said that as he was pulling out of his parking space in front of the Marblehead House of Pizza, a dark-colored SUV that was coming through the stop sign from Washington Street struck his vehicle. He had spoken briefly to the other driver, a young woman, but as he was bringing back his insurance information from his vehicle, the young woman drove off. The damage to the man’s vehicle was limited to some minor scrapes on the front right bumper. He told the officer that he did not want an accident report done and that he was all set.

9:03 p.m. Officers investigated the report of a break-in and/or burglary at a building on Norman Street and filed a report.

Sunday, Feb. 19

11:14 a.m. Officer was dispatched to the First Church of Christ Scientist on Elm Street to investigate the report of a broken window, possibly vandalized. Officer was shown the damage to a second-floor storm window, which had been pulled back slightly from the building, and there were shards of glass from it directly below. There was no damage to the inside window pane or any other windows. Officer determined that, based on where the glass had landed, it appeared that the wind had pulled the storm window off the building just enough to flex the glass and cause the pane to shatter, and then the wind had blown the broken piece further back before it struck the ground, as the winds overnight had been a sustained mid-20s mph with gusts into the mid-30s. The church representative was relieved by this explanation and asked for a report for insurance purposes.

11:43 a.m. A caller reported a squirrel dead in the road on Carlton Road.

5:15 p.m. The report of an unruly customer on Pleasant Street led to the arrest of a 44-year-old Marblehead woman on charges of disorderly conduct and trespassing.

Monday, Feb. 20

7:33 a.m. A caller complained about construction work occurring on a holiday on Redstone Lane.

10:18 a.m. Police received another call complaining about the contractors working on Redstone Lane on a holiday. Officer arrived to find the complainant standing in the street directly in front of his neighbor’s driveway across the street. The man began explaining the ongoing issues that he had been having with his neighbor’s renovation projects. The man had admitted that he had approached and confronted a worker about working on the holiday and that the employee had responded by telling him that he was trespassing and threatened to beat him up if he did not leave. At the officer’s suggestion, they went inside the caller’s house to continue the conversation. While there was a van in the neighbor’s driveway, the officer said he could neither hear nor see any work being done. Officer explained that he was not aware of any laws that he could enforce to stop the work that was being done on Presidents’ Day, using his phone to show the caller information on the state’s website indicating that Presidents’ Day is not a holiday to which the state’s Blue Laws apply. The resident was “not satisfied” with that answer and said he was going to sue the town or move. Officer told the man that if he could produce a statute that showed the work was illegal, he would be happy to enforce it. The officer also told the resident that he would double check with his supervisor about his determination. The officerin-charge agreed that there was at Badger Engineering, which became a division of Raytheon, making lifelong friendships with his colleagues. where he later taught classes in engineering. He worked for many years athletic prowess in diving and sailing at the Pleon Yacht Club and Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead. She graduated from the Pingree School, the Windsor School and Briarcliff College in 1949. She raised a family of five children in New Canaan, Connecticut, with her husband, Edwin F. Hoffman Jr., who predeceased her in 1982 after 31 years together.

Bill served in the U.S. Army, 2nd Armored Division, during which time he was stationed in Germany and had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe.

Following Ed’s unexpected sudden death, Peg worked as a receptionist at IESC in Stamford, Connecticut for many years. Then, after being lured north by an old admirer and new “beau,” Edwin “Ned” Stephenson, to Franconia, New Hampshire, and Southport, Maine, Peg retired nothing in the town bylaws or state laws to give the police the power to order the work to cease for the day. Officer advised the resident to call the police if there were noise disturbances before 7 a.m. on any day.

10:27 a.m. Officer investigated a report that a man had gone swimming on Atlantic Avenue and filed a report.

10:59 a.m. Officer investigated a report that a truck had struck a garage on Redstone Lane and filed a report.

12:11 p.m. An officer investigated a report that a loaded clip of ammunition had been found in a repossessed vehicle on Anderson Street and filed a report.

12:39 p.m. Officers responded to the scene of a vehicle accident on Atlantic Avenue and Washington Street and filed a report.

7:07 p.m. An officer investigated a report of vandalism on Humphrey Street and filed a report.

Tuesday, Feb. 21

11:44 a.m. An officer spoke at the station with the woman who had been the apparent victim of an internet scam. The woman explained that she listed a table and several chairs on Facebook MarketPlace for sale. A person had reached out and offered to purchase the chairs using a Zell payment. After some back and forth, the buyer said that he would send her $800 if she sent him $300 first, which the resident had done. The resident then received a strange email, purportedly from Zelle, and came to the conclusion that the transaction was a scam. The woman had gone to National Grand Bank, where an employee told her that they would contact Zelle to try to get her money back. The officer advised the woman to also contact her credit agencies for credit monitoring. The case was forwarded to detectives for follow-up.

12:21 p.m. An officer spoke at the station with a man who reported that someone had intercepted a check that he had mailed on Feb. 8 and forged it. The man had used the mailbox with a “slit-style” opening on Lafayette Street on the corner of Everett Paine Boulevard, which should have prevented the envelope from being fished out of the box. The check had originally been made out to a lawn care company in New Hampshire for $623.24 but was forged and cashed by a man for $9,100. The resident had received a voicemail from the bank about the suspicious check on Feb. 18. The man had been able to get a copy of the forged check from his bank, which he shared with the officer. He pointed out that the signature on the check was not his. The only writing that was his was the date and the memo. The case was forwarded to a detective for follow-up.

4 p.m. An officer investigated a report of a suspicious vehicle on Atlantic Avenue. The vehicle could not be located.

4:07 p.m. An officer met a woman at the station who wanted to file a report of possible unemployment fraud. The woman told the officer that she had received a credit card in the mail on Feb. 17, stating that she was receiving the credit card because of her unemployment claim with the state. The woman said that she had not applied for unemployment benefits. On Feb. 21, the woman had called the state unemployment office’s fraud line, and an employee confirmed that a claim had been made on her behalf but that the claim had also been flagged as potential fraud. The woman had then called one of the major credit bureaus, and an employee told her that the other credit agencies would be notified about the situation. The officer took the brochure that had come with the debit card and shared it with a detective along with a copy of his report.

Wednesday, Feb. 22 members.

8:48 a.m. An officer investigated the report of a break-in to a vehicle on Elm Street and filed a report.

12:29 p.m. Officers assisted with a disabled vehicle on Humphrey Street. The vehicle was towed.

Bill was recently predeceased by his sister, Janice, and is survived by his brother, Dick; sister-in-law, Nancy; and his beloved nieces and their families: Amy and Dave Martin, Stephanie and John Jennings, and Allison and Andrew Chader. They brought great joy into his life.

Among his happiest times were the summers Bill spent at the family cottage in Marblehead. He loved sailing and racing his Day Sailor with the help of his brother, Dick, and other family to the comfort of family and loving grandchildren in 2003 to Bellport, Long Island, New York, where she resided until her death. She was known for her generosity and her love of family. She is survived by her sons Ned, Tim, Derek and Jon and eight grandchildren. She was predeceased by her older sisters, Barbara Connolly Guild and Ellen Connolly and, tragically, by her smart, beautiful daughter Holly, next to whom she will be interred in Beverly Farms Cemetery, Beverly. She is also survived by her brother Eugene T. Connolly of New Haven, Connecticut, and a large number of adoring nieces and nephews.

He also took great pleasure from his grand-nieces and nephews and followed their activities with great enthusiasm.

Because the nieces, as toddlers, had trouble pronouncing his name, Bill became lovingly known to the family as “Uncle Boo.” Godspeed, Uncle Boo! In accordance with Bill’s wishes, a family burial service will be held. Expressions of sympathy may be made in his memory to the Greater Boston Food Bank, 70 S. Bay Ave., Boston, MA 02118; 617-427-5200. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy for the Walker family may be shared at eustisandcornellfuneralhome. com.