Crime & Safety

Man Pays British Beer Company $400 To Avoid Larceny Charges

The following information was supplied by the Westford Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction. More detailed reports may be delayed due to extenuating circumstances.

Dec. 24, 7:30 a.m. – Police were dispatched to the British Beer Company for reports of stolen beer kegs.

The employee who called the police said that he had seen a man taking the kegs earlier, but that man had been told approximately three months earlier by other employees at the restaurant he could take kegs whenever he wanted.

Police caught up with the man, who agreed to return to the restaurant to sort out the misunderstanding.

Find out what's happening in Westfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Upon arrival with the officer, the man told a manager at the restaurant that another person provided authorization to remove the kegs.

The manager was unaware who this person was and said it was against company policy to give kegs to anyone except for vendors, who have to pay a fee.

Find out what's happening in Westfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This manager continued that she would not be interested in pressing charges if she got the 13 kegs back or got $400 to replace them.

The man said he had only gotten $80 for all the kegs, with the officer telling the man either he could give the manager the $400 by 1:30 p.m. or face a summons for larceny.

The man returned at 1 p.m. with the $400 and apologized for the misunderstanding. 

Dec. 29, 11:45 p.m. – A man from Blue Heron Drive came into the Westford Police Department station to report a suspicious vehicle on his street earlier that night, a dark colored-Toyota.

The man had come home from Billerica when he noticed the vehicle drive into the street and the back out of the street, following it until Drum Hill in Chelmsford.

There he spotted a Chelmsford Police officer who recommended he file a report in Westford.

The man was concerned this driver could potentially be a burglar researching the neighborhood, as he had previous experience with home invasions at previous homes.

Before losing the vehicle, the man got its license plates. Police used that information to try and track down the vehicle. First they called the phone number associated with the vehicle’s registration, which turned out to belong to someone completely different, and then they found the owner of the car.

The owner, a resident in Gardner, told police she was not in Westford on that night, saying her car was still covered in snow.  


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.