Crime & Safety

Mentally Disabled Man Allegedly Offers $10,000 to Murder Employee

The following information was supplied by the Westford Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.

The following are entries from the Westford Police log for Sept. 28, 29 and 30.

Friday, Sept. 28

4:38 p.m. - Matthew Kenney, 35, of 2 Essex St. in Haverhill was arrested during a motor vehicle stop on a warrant from previous motor vehicle related offenses.

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Follow Up

Sept. 9, 8:00 a.m. - An officer observed the letters "PKO" spray painted on the road near the corner of Lowell and Brookside roads along with a picture of male genitalia.

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The Highway Department was informed so it could be cleaned.

Sept. 15, 8:15 a.m. - Despite a sign that says "No Turning", one woman living near the intersection of Carlisle and Old Lowell road found the back of her car damaged inside of her driveway.

An officer observed the damaged vehicle and surmised that it was hit the front driver's side area of white SUV turning in the driveway due to paint chips and damage patterns left on the woman's vehicle.

Sept. 20, 12:44 p.m. - One man at Starbucks believed that an unknown individual keyed his car in the parking lot.                                           

Sept. 26, 2:30 p.m. - A man came into the Westford Police station to report a disturbing conversation he had allegedly heard from his friend at Rapid Refill.

Apparently his friend, whose identity he did not reveal to police, had heard an individual saying that he would allegedly pay $10,000 to murder a particular employee at a store down the street.

The employee, who came with the man, said that the individual making the threat had been allegedly harassing a female employee in the past, which he believed could have been a reason why this statement was made.

A few hours later, Westford Police caught up with the man who made the threat at his home in Chelmsford.

There, an officer talked with the man's mother. She explained that her son was "mentally disabled" and did not even have a bank account, let alone $10,000.

According to police reports, the officer concurred with the mother's assessment after talking to the son, who said that the employee was "out to get him," but could not articulate specifically why the employee would have any lingering animosity.

From there, the officer recommended that the mother and the son attempt to obtain a Harassment Prevention Order from the Lowell District Court.

A Harassment Prevention Order sought by the employee in Lowell District Court was denied.

 

The Westford Police Log is available to the public at the Westford Police station on Main Street, with earlier logs available online at www.westfordma.gov

Additional information is available in certain cases from the Westford Police Records Department for a nominal fee.

Any instances where streets are mentioned without addresses shall be placed on the map as occurring on the first address on that street for geographical convenience unless otherwise stated even though the incident may have happened somewhere else on the street.

For questions about the log, please e-mail the editor at andrew.sylvia@patch.com


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