Crime & Safety

Lunging Dogs & 'Mystery Shopper' Scam

Information about the following incidents was supplied by the East Greenwich Police Department.


Wednesday, April 18

10:13 a.m. — A resident of Miss Fry Drive reported being frightened by a charging dog while walking on Westfield Drive. A landscaper retrieved the dog. Police found two labs in the yard in question, each with an electric collar. No one was home at the house so police left a message warning about loose dogs.

Thursday, April 19

12:16 p.m. — A Birchwood Way resident received an email asking her to be a “mystery shopper.” After she responded to the email, she received two “U.S. Postal checks” for $995 apiece in the mail. She was instructed to deposit the checks, spend the money at Wal-Mart and write a detailed report of her experience. She was then to write a check for $1,666 and send it by Western Union to an address in the Philippines and write an evaluation of Western Union. The woman was hesitant, learned the checks were fake and that this was a scam being replicated around the country. She notified police to document and publicize the scam.

Friday, April 20

10:35 a.m. — A Duke Street resident reported his neighbor’s dog had lunged at him. While the dog did not bite the man, it was aggressive, the man said. The landlord told police he’d contacted the dog’s owner several times regarding the dog. Police said since there was no bite, it was a civil matter but they would document the incident.

6:30 p.m. — A Barrows Drive resident reported he’d heard from Home Depot there’s been suspicious activity on his account between the dates of March 23 and March 25 at three different area Home Depots. The resident said he had not used the account since putting a new roof on his house in 2010. The five unauthorized purchases came to $8,172.44. He was told he needed to make a report to Seekonk police since EGPD has no jurisdiction over the matter.

Saturday, April 21

1:06 p.m. — A resident of Reynolds Street brought in a glass bong she found while at Academy Field with her two daughters. Since it had no marijuana residue, it was photographed and destroyed.

4:03 p.m. — Police went to an apartment house on Queen Street after a report of an argument with a possible firearm. Two women were moving things out of a bottom floor apartment and a woman in an apartment on the second floor started yelling at them about making too much noise. According to the two women involved in moving, the third woman threatened to “put a gun in your face.” The woman refused to let police in when they arrived and told police the others had overreacted.

Sunday, April 22

12:20 p.m. — Police went to a house on Cindy Ann because of a quarrel between a mother and her middle-aged son. The son at first complained his mother had hit him, but his story kept changing. Eventually, EG Rescue came to take him to Kent Hospital for detox. The father declined to seek a No Trespass order against his son, who lives with them.


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.