Police Briefs

Attempted armed robbery

A man well known to police was apprehended last Monday, February 9, after being fingered for having allegedly tried to rob a man with a knife near Wonderland.

Around 2 a.m. last Monday morning, a man was waiting for the bus at the Wonderland bus stop when he decided to go to the Stop & Shop.

As he walked towards the supermarket, he noted a man who jumped the fence at Wonderland and began to approach him from behind.

The suspect asked the man if he had been waiting for the bus.

After answering yes, the suspect demanded the victim give over his money.

The robber grabbed at the man’s backpack.

The man resisted and a struggle ensued.

The robber punched the man in the face, and then drew out a knife and began slashing at the victim – resulting in minor lacerations to the neck and face area.

The victim managed to escape by running towards Beach Street.

After he reported the incident, police combed the area and found one suspect who fit the victim’s description.

Upon showing the suspect to the victim, there was an immediate positive identification.

Police arrested Tommy Twoguns, 24, of 47 Bellingham Ave. #3, and charged him with attempted armed robbery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a knife).

Man finds firecrackers in his car’s gas tank

A Revere man reported an attempted arson to his motor vehicle last Thursday afternoon when he found about a half-dozen firecrackers stuffed into his gas tank.

The man told police that he was parked at a residence in the 200th block of Cushman Avenue between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. last Thursday. When he came out of the home, he observed approximately six to eight firecrackers daisy chained together and sticking out of the gas tank.

He removed them, but was afraid there might be more inside the tank.

He told police that neither he nor anyone in his family has had any run-ins with neighbors or individuals. He also didn’t see anyone near his car during the time it was parked.

Police noted the matter.

Despite Monday’s fire, it’s been a relatively quiet winter for the RFD

Despite the fire on Monday, Fire Chief Gene Doherty said fires are down overall this winter, which is typically the most active time for working fires.

Doherty said he credits that decline to good fire prevention efforts.

“Smoke detectors have done a tremendous job,” he said. “We respond a lot to kitchen and stove fires, but they’re easily put down. Before, those detection devices weren’t there, and that allowed fires like that to get much bigger and have more time to burn.”

Nevertheless, the chief said he is expecting to see more fires as the real estate market goes down.

He said as soon as home values go below insurance values, homes begin to burn.

“We are expecting more fires because of the real estate market,” he said. “They’ve already having quite a bit of that in Springfield and Lowell, but we haven’t had that locally. It might be a matter of time, though. It’s not profitable to burn a building now, but when those two levels are starting to meet again, where the price of the property and the insurance are starting to be the same, we may see more of those fires again.”

Adjusters in town

Insurance adjusters were in town last week to rate the city’s fire protection for homeowner’s insurance purposes.

Right now, the city has a grade of four, with nine being the worst score.

Chief Gene Doherty said the city is hoping to move up to a grade three because of the purchase of a new ladder truck and two new engine pumps, and the opening of two new fire stations.

If the city got a higher grade, it could mean lower insurance premiums for fire protection on local homeowners’ policies.