Police Log: Trapped Cat & Beer Necessity

Monday, Nov. 25

10:14 a.m. – A Middle Road resident told police his wife got a call from a man who said he was an IRS agent based in Texas and he said she and her husband owed $1,498 from their 2012 return. The resident said the caller said the IRS wanted to assist the couple with the payment but they needed to make a $500 payment immediately. The caller then gave the phone to a man he said was his supervisor, who reiterated that the couple needed to pay $500 right away. The resident did a search of the (801) phone number used by the caller and found it belonged to a landline in Utah. He also called his accountant, who told him they did not owe any money to the IRS.

10:02 p.m. – An employee of St. Luke's Church notified police after discovering a stranger playing the pipe organ. The stranger, who had a Massachusetts driver's license, said he had a key to the church given to him by the St. Luke's organist. He said he hadn't played the organ since spring. The police advised the man to re-establish contact with the organist before trying to enter the church at night to play the organ.

Tuesday, Nov. 26

9:21 a.m. – Police were called to Route 4 southbound near Division Street on a report of a hunter in the woods there. They spoke with a Warwick man carrying a .50-caliber muzzleloader who said he had hunted there in the past but didn't know who owned the land and didn't have permission to hunt there. Police told him to leave the area since shooting there wasn't allowed.

Wednesday, Nov. 27

11 a.m. – Police were called after a cat got stuck in the engine of a car on King Street. The cat was stuck in the car's fan belt and appeared to be uninjured. The owner of the car gave permission for the fan belt to be cut. Once the cat was freed, it ran under a nearby shed and would not be coaxed out. 

1:34 p.m. – Police were called to the parking lot for Thorpe's Liquors on Main Street because a truck was parked in a handicapped space illegally. The truck was running. When the driver came out of the liquor store, he said he'd parked there because it was an emergency because his passenger had to buy beer. Routine checks showed the truck's registration was suspended so police had the truck towed from the scene.