Police Seek Help Identifying Armed Robbers Holding Up Brighton Convenience Stores

Boston Police at D-14 station seek the public's assistance identifying two individuals who appear to have committed at least five of eight armed robberies of Brighton convenience stores during the past month.

The five incidents have occurred at: Quality Market, 140 North Beacon Street (hit twice); Tedeschi's, 241 Market Street (hit twice); and Brooks Variety Store, 32 Brooks Street.

People with information contact D-14 detectives at (617)343-4256 or submit anonymous tips at the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at (800)494-TIPS or text the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

A camera truck from WHDH (channel 7) was seen outside the Tedeschi's in the late afternoon, presumably for a live shot on tonight's newscasts.

OMG: Boston Police Cite Bicyclist for Improper Lighting

I am always amazed when the police in any town or city in eastern Massachusetts cite a pedestrian for jaywalking or crossing illegally, an automobile driver for opening a door into traffic, or a bicyclist for failure to stop for a stop sign or red traffic light. These infractions just seem never to be enforced, although they should be.

Which is why I offer a tip of the hat to the Boston Police, working out of Jamaica Plain's E-13 station, for citing a bicyclist for "Riding a Bicycle without Proper Lighting."

State law requires a red light on the rear of the bicycle and a white one on the front whenever in use at a time more than 30 minutes past sunset (until 30 minutes before sunrise). They also require some kind of reflectors, although these can often be provided by the cyclist's attire.

Why did the police ticket this particular bicyclist? It has something to do with riding erratically at 2 am and unlawful possession of a firearm that had its identifying numbers obliterated. I guess that's the threshold for a citation about unlawful bicycle operation.


Image of Red Bike Reflector by sillygwailo provided through a Creative Commons license.

WTF: Police Cite Oak Square 7-Eleven For Not Selling Alcohol

Boston Police recently appear to have been conducting license checks on a number of Allston-Brighton businesses.

The Allston-Brighton TAB reports on one citation that, on the face of it, appears mind-numbingly backwards:

The 7-Eleven convenience store at 584 Washington St. in Brighton was found to be a holder of an active 2009 retail malt and wine license, but the premise was found to have discontinued the sale of alcohol, so it received a violation for non-use of a license.

The 7-Eleven in Oak Square just got cited for not selling booze? Come on.

If they aren't using their license, then the city should just take it back. The neighborhood obviously won't miss the loss of that one license.

Yeah, I know, it's possible that the point of the police's citation might be to create a paper trail in order to take away the license. Yeah, sure. But don't cite them in a way that encourages a 7-Eleven to sell booze. Just talk to them and get an agreement to send the license somewhere else...


Image of Beer kegs by slworking2 provided through a Creative Commons license.

Armed Robbery at Cleveland Circle Store 24

Boston Police are seeking public assistance in identifying armed robbery suspects who held up the Store 24 on Beacon Street at Cleveland Circle early Tuesday morning:

The store employee described one of the suspects as a Hispanic male, about 5’8”, weighing 170lbs, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a black t-shirt and a dew rag; the other as a black male, about 5’10”, weighing 250lbs, wearing a black hat and a black jacket.

Surveillance photos of the two suspects can be found here.

A-B Violent Crimes Down 11.5% Compared to Last Year

Last Sunday morning saw a wild melee near the Kells in Allston Village that lead to two arrests, confiscation of a hidden handgun, and an injured police officer.

Despite last weekend's mayhem, the latest statistics from the Boston Police Department show that violent crimes in 2009 year-to-date are down 11.5% compared to the same period last year.

Statistics released by the BPD for the D-14 service area show that the combined number of incidents of homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, and vehicle theft are down from 1,275 incidents in 2008 (January 1 - September 7) to 1,128 incidents for the same period in 2009, a decrease of 11.5%.

Only the categories of robbery and assault saw an increase in D-14 over the previous year.

Back at last weekend's the Allston Village melee, the police report describes the officer as succeeding in disarming one perp while being surrounded and attacked by the large group of thugs:

Upon arrival, police said they observed Paulo Santos, 20, of 80 Hancock St. in Dorchester, allegedly place a firearm into his pants and pull his shirt over it. The officer drew his weapon and ordered Santos to keep his hands away from his weapon.

However, at this time, the large group surrounded the officer and began punching and kicking him, but the officer was still able to retrieve the gun from Santos.

Captain Mancini, to whom do we submit a nomination for a medal?



Note: The Boston Police Department modified some of their district boundaries between 2008 to 2009 -- which can affect crime statistics for individual districts, although D-14's boundaries were unchanged.

Image of BPD cruiser by velkr0 provided through a Creative Commons license.

When Will A-B Liquor Stores Get a Clue?

Last fall, the Boston Police Department's D-14 station announced to area business owners and residents that they were about to conduct a sting operation to catch liquor sales to underage purchasers.

Despite warning after warning that the sting operation was on its way, can you guess what happened? The sting operation still nailed a bunch of liquor stores -- and a couple of college students -- with underage purchase of alcohol.

The Allston-Brighton TAB reported that six Allston liquor stores in November 2008 sold alcohol to an undercover officer ("cadet") without requesting ID, and two Boston College students were issued criminal complaints for underage purchasing of alcohol on the same day as the sting operation.

Boston Police just issued a warning about a new sting operation that they will be carrying out in Allston-Brighton soon. Will local stores -- and underage college students -- heed the warning this time? Don't hold your breath.


Image of trunk full of beer by DrPantzo provided through a Creative Commons license.

Stupid Dorchester Criminals Get Lost In Brighton

The Allston-Brighton TAB describes an alleged methadone drug transaction busted by the cops last Sunday evening:

Methadone exchange ends in arrest

Christopher Connolly, 42, of 28 Harbor View St., Dorchester, and Scott Simonelli, 37, of 7 Pleasant St., Dorchester, were arrested Oct. 26 around 6:30 p.m. after officers saw what they believed to be a drug exchange near the intersection of Washington and Cambridge streets... Officers stopped the Nissan and arrested both suspects, charging them with distribution of a class B substance.

A couple of guys from Dorchester caught selling drugs in Brighton. What's so weird about that?

The Boston Police D-14 station is located at the intersection of Cambridge and Washington Streets in Brighton. You would think that all of the police vehicles parked on the street and in the adjacent lot would have tipped the guys off.

Maybe those Dorchester pushers ought to go back to their part of town where they know the lay of the land better.


Image of Boston Police motorcycles by GregMacKay, provided through a Creative Commons license.

Summit Avenue Hydrant Thieves: Learn Your Trade From MIT Hackers

The Boston Police Department caught a few guys on Summit Avenue in Brighton trying to steal a fire hydrant:

When officers arrived, officers observed the hydrant, as well as, three males who matched the description of the suspects. When officers questioned the suspects, the suspects admitted to taking the hydrant. According to the suspects, they found the hydrant lying in the middle of the sidewalk and they were simply moving it.

Yes, those guys were hosed.

Aside from the obvious difficulty of carrying something that heavy, the would-be thieves might try next time to follow the lead of some MIT students in Cambridge a couple of decades ago in an oft-repeated (and somewhat urban-legend-ish) story about their hack.

Those MIT students bought a barber shop pole (or, in some stories, paid a barber to borrow one for a day) and carried it all over town -- arising suspicion all day from the police. The cops chased them down again and again, but then the students would produce the receipt and the cops would let them go. When the cops got tired of these games, an APB on police radio was issued to ignore any kids carrying a barber shop pole around town. The students then proceeded to steal all the barber shop poles in town and dump them on the police chief's front lawn.

Lesson: buy one fire hydrant and carry it all over town first. Once the police tire from questioning you repeatedly, then you can steal all the hydrants you want. That is, if you're arms haven't fallen off first.


Image of red fire hydrant by quite peculiar provided through a Creative Commons license.

A Sign That You're Busted

Early Thursday morning two guys were allegedly stealing street signs in the vicinity of Strathmore Road and Lothian Road in Brighton.

When the police arrived, the two guys were holding street signs and one had a wrench in his pocket. When the guy said that they didn't have to hand over the wrench to the police, the cops arrested them and took the wrench away.

Oh, and the police used the wrench to re-attach one of two removed signs.


Image of signs by Birger Hoppe provided through a Creative Commons license.

Media Circus On the Way to the Bike Lanes Press Conference...

On my way to Mayor Thomas Menino's press conference about the new Commonwealth Avenue bike lanes, I passed by Boston Police's Brighton station D-14... and saw lots of TV trucks stationed outside along with media types milling about.

Huh?

There were lots of police vehicles around -- including many motorcycles -- and the parking lot alongside the station was partially blocked off. I could hear at least one helicopter overhead.

Since it was less than half an hour before the bike lane event, I assumed that Mayor Menino was visiting station D-14 first, particularly since today is the official day of the National Night Out celebration. I thought: No biggie. Don't stop to take a photo of the circus. Just pedal on.

I was wrong on pretty much all counts.

The D-14 media swarm was surrounding Clark Rockefeller (aka "???") who kidnapped his daughter a week-and-a-half ago and was caught Saturday in Baltimore, Maryland. After landing at Logan Airport, he was brought to D-14 station. The Boston Globe has the details:

After landing at Logan at 9:45 a.m., [Clark] Rockefeller was taken to the Boston Police station in Brighton. Television news helicopters hovered overhead as he arrived in a motorcade that included two cruisers and a motorcycle escort. Rockefeller sat in the back seat with a scruffy beard and stared straight ahead as motorcycle police pushed photographers away from the car.

Rockefeller's defense attorney, Stephen Hrones, met with his client for 30 minutes today and described him as calm and collected to reporters waiting for his arraignment later this afternoon in Boston Municipal Court. When asked about the kidnapping charge, the attorney said that his client had every right to be with his daughter.

Rockefeller was brought to Brighton for booking and processing because the D-4 station normally having jurisdiction over the location of the kidnapping -- Marlborough Street in the Back Bay -- is undergoing renovations, according to Jake Wark, Director of Public Affairs at the Suffolk County District Attorney's office. Brighton's D-14 station completed its own renovations earlier this year, and hence was ready for fingerprinting and all that. After his entourage visited beautiful Brighton, Rockefeller returned downtown to the Boston Municipal Court for his afternoon arraignment.

I have been mostly avoiding the Rockefeller kidnapping story in the past week-and-a-half, thinking of it as yet another story over-hyped by the media. It's easy to imagine why, since the seven-year-old daughter is so photogenic. Little did I know that the story would bring the media circus and helicopter spectacle out to Brighton Center.

Party at D-14 Station

Party. D-14 police station.

No, I don't mean where you end up if you have a loud party.

The police officers at Allston-Brighton station D-14 are hosting a community party at their renovated station as part of the National Night Out celebrations:

Boston Police National Night Out Celebrations
Police Districts to Host “Open House”

As part of the Neighborhood Crime Watch Unit’s National Night Out celebration, each of the 11 Boston Police Districts will be hosting neighborhood celebrations. These events provide an opportunity for community members and police personnel to mingle, exchange ideas and form new relationships. Attendees will enjoy complimentary food, family friendly entertainment and activities.

Saturday, July 26th
Boston Police District D-14 (Allston-Brighton) 10:00 am - 2:00 pm at 301 Washington Street.

Come and see the station's new handicapped-access ramp out front. Chew the fat about who had the worst office in the trailers during the renovations. Enjoy the landscaping out front. Watch the emergency room construction across the street at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center.

And please: no more theater jokes.

Apparent Homicide Near Oak Square; Suspect to be Charged With Murder

Boston Police report an apparent homicide in Brighton at 73 Nonantum Street, just up the hill from Oak Square:

About 2:31 pm today, officers from District D-14 (Allston and Brighton) responded to 73 Nonantum St. to investigate a report of a deceased individual inside that location.

On arrival, officers were directed to a specific apartment. Inside that apartment, officers located the body of a 56 year-old white female, believed to be the victim of an apparent homicide suffering from multiple stab wounds. The suspect of that homicide, who was still on scene, was placed under arrest and transported to the district station for booking.

The suspect has been identified as Louis A. Marquez, 26, of Brighton. He has been booked and charged with Murder and will be arraigned at Brighton District Court tomorrow, Wednesday, June 11, 2008.

Preliminary investigation indicates that the victim and suspect were acquainted with each other. This incident remains under investigation and the suspect’s apartment has been frozen pending the issuance of a search warrant.

The Boston Globe has reported that the suspect is blind. Booking photo from WBZ. (UPDATE: full Boston Globe story. Boston Herald story.)

BPD crime statistics for January 1 - June 1, 2008 indicate 25 homicides in the City of Boston and none since then; this apparent homicide thus marks the 26th for the year. As of June 1, there had been one more homicide in the city this year than at the same time last year.


UPDATE (Wednesday morning): House on Nonantum Street still taped off, two police cruisers parked there, presumably gathering evidence. Several news crews at Brighton Municipal Courthouse, presumably for his arraignment and "live at noon" coverage.

Boston Police Experimenting With Community Online Organizing In Jamaica Plain

The Boston Police Department's Neighborhood Crime Watch Unit has initiated an experiment in online community organizing in Jamaica Plain in an effort to "build community and reduce crime by connecting neighbors to each other and to community and police resources."

It's called the "E-13/Jamaica Plain Neighbors Network," and the idea appears to be to add an online tool for crime watches to use. Crime watches are usually bottom-up organizations -- put together at the grass roots level by concerned residents, who then establish a relationship with the local police force.

This new social network appears to be a proactive step by the BPD to provide a "social network" environment for "neighborhood cluster groups" to organize themselves.

It will be interesting to watch this experiment to see how well it works -- and if it should be replicated in other neighborhoods. It may not, however, be a useful tool for the poorest neighborhoods, or, more specifically, those neighborhoods with the poorest access to computer resources.

Crime Fell 14% in Allston-Brighton in 2007

The Boston Police Department has released preliminary year-end crime statistics for the 2007 calendar year as compared to 2006. (The fourth quarter of 2007 data are preliminary and subject to change.)

Overall crime in Allston-Brighton district D-14 in 2007 is down nearly 14% when compared to 2006.

Crime dropped in every tabulated category (homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft) except for one, larceny, which rose just over 3%. All these trends were similar both in Allston-Brighton D-14 and city-wide in Boston.


Boston Police Department
Preliminary 2006 vs. 2007 Crime Data Comparison
District D-14 (Allston-Brighton)

	2006	2007	Percent Change
Homicide	2	0	-100%
Rape and Attempted	31	22	-21%
Robbery and Attempted	117	83	-29%
Aggravated Assault	194	181	-7%
Burglary and Attempted	696	418	-40%
Larceny and Attempted	1341	1385	+3%
Vehicle Theft and Attempted	263	191	-27%
Totals	2644	2280	-14%

Update: Brighton Rite-Aid Roof Collapse

Contrary to the Allston-Brighton TAB's blog post, Market Street is not fully open to traffic. As I noted this morning, only northbound traffic is currently allowed on Market Street; southbound traffic is still, as of 4 pm, being detoured east-west on Arlington Street.

There is an electronic sign at Market Street and Faneuil Street announcing a detour via Faneuil Street and Parsons Street. Virtually no cars seem to be following that detour, causing a big slowdown on southbound Market Street approaching St. Columbkille's church. Follow the signs!

Southbound MBTA #86 buses are turning left (east) at Arlington Street, and then (presumably) right onto Cambridge Street followed by left onto Chestnut Hill Avenue. I saw one #86 bus southbound across from the Veronica Smith Senior Center, so they appear to be turning left from Washington Street onto Chestnut Hill Avenue.

Needless to say, traffic within 4-6 blocks of Brighton Center is awful in virtually every direction. Take alternate routes.


Future of the Building

Steve MacDonald, Public Information Officer for the Boston Fire Department, confirmed that no people in nearby buildings have been evacuated as a result of the partial building collapse of the Rite-Aid Pharmacy.

I saw construction workers off-loading large concrete blocks from a flatbed truck at the site. MacDonald said that these blocks will be used as part of shoring up the exterior walls of the building. That work is going on tonight, and may continue throughout the day tomorrow (Tuesday).

Once the exterior walls are supported, MacDonal said that full vehicular traffic can then resume on Market Street.

Traffic was being kept some distance away from the building because of the nature of the buckling of the walls and roof. If they north or south walls caved inwards, according to MacDonald, then the eastern wall facing Market Street could cave outwards -- spraying glass and bricks onto the sidewalk and part of the street itself.

Continued assessment of the structural integrity of the building will be made by inspectors from Boston's Inspectional Services Department and the property owner. Boston Police will continue to in charge of the traffic management around the area.


Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

I saw WHDH-TV (channel 7) and WCVB-TV (channel 5) trucks near to the Rite-Aid store at 4 pm, so they are probably planning on live-on-the-scene reports tonight.

No WBZ-TV truck was anywhere I could see. They are probably hanging out over at 181 Brighton Avenue in Allston trying to figure out how the store got rebuilt within 24 hours. As of this morning when they updated their online story, WBZ still had the wrong address for the store on their website. Cached version on google as of 5:24 pm (meaning that around 8 hours earlier, or 9:24 am, WBZ still had 181 Brighton Avenue listed on their website):



WBZ has now updated today's story with the correct address. Hopefully they told their team in the field.

Brighton Rite-Aid Pharmacy Roof Collapses; Market Street Shutdown Through Monday Morning

Part of the roof of the (Brooks) Rite-Aid Pharmacy at 399 Market Street (in Brighton) collapsed this evening under the weight of all the wet snow.

WBZ-TV erroneously reports it occurring at the 181 Brighton Avenue location in Allston, while Boston Police report it occurring at the Market Street location in Brighton. The officer answering at D-14 station confirmed it was the Market Street location. WCVB-TV has the correct location.

The sole customer in the store was injured and taken to St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. The four employees present in the store at the time presumably were not injured.

The roof and walls of the building appear in danger of further collapse.

The Boston Police are shutting down the street in front of the 399 Market Street store tonight and through tomorrow morning. They advise travellers Monday morning to avoid that part of Market Street (one block north of Brighton Center) for their commute.

No word on how the MBTA bus #86 will be re-routed tomorrow, because it travels along Market Street at this location.

As can be seen in the (file) satellite image below, the store is quite close to two buildings: a house along Surrey Street to the west, and the Boston Carpenters Apprenticeship and Training at 385 Market Street (to the NW). Boston Police media relations knew of no evacuations, but directed inquires to the Boston Fire Department public information office -- who weren't answering their phones late on a Sunday night. [My clueless mistake! After hours BFD media inquiries should be going to their dispatch number, not the PIO office number.]


Satellite View (via Google Maps):



Street View (via Google Maps):

BPD D-14 Officers Nab Debit Card Thiefs

In what sounds like an episode of a TV crime investigation show (sans murder), detectives in the Boston Police Department D-14 station have caught two people who, allegedly, stole an 82-year-old woman's ATM/debit card at the AJ Wright store and then proceeded to clean out her bank account. One of the accused is a cashier in the store, and didn't return the card at the end of the checkout. Detectives seemed to have amassed extensive video surveillance evidence:

Around 10:30am on Friday, the victim alerted officers at the front desk of District 14 that her ATM credit card had been stolen and all her savings spent. This was particularly disturbing to officers because the victim is 82 years old and legally blind and had to be assisted by a friend to come to the station.

A district detective was notified regarding this incident and later met with the victim and her friend. The victim reported that her ATM credit card had been used at two different locations nearly depleting all the funds that she had in the bank. Officers subsequently learned of a theft of a credit card that had been captured on close circuit TV by Loss Prevention at the AJ Wright Store located at 60 Everett St. in Brighton and responded there to view the video. There, officers viewed a video of the victim making a purchase and suspect, Smith failing to return her card to her and later passing it off to suspect, King. Officers then responded to the locations that the victim’s card had been used and saw video of suspect, King making purchases using victim’s ATM card.

Based on the information attained, officers then returned to AJ Wright store and in cooperation with store Loss Prevention personnel found out what time suspect, Smith was getting out of work, and also learned that suspect, King usually picked her up. At approximately 10:40pm, officers placed both suspects under arrest when for the above noted charges when suspect arrived at the store to pick up suspect, Smith.

Upon arrest, at no time did the suspects give the peace sign and state, "I'm from Compton." (Follow link to bottom of page...)

One of the suspects allegedly bought groceries, then a pair of sneakers -- and then the sneakers were stolen from him.


EDIT (12/4/07): The Boston Globe ran the story on the front of their City/Region section. Arniya Smith, he AJ Wright employee -- former employee now -- who allegedly lifted the debit card apparently has several outstanding warrants and is being held on $10,000 bail. No word on why TJX, who owns AJ Wright, would hire someone with outstanding warrants and then put the person at the register.

Student Death on Allston's Glenville Avenue

The mainstream media has been covering this story, hence I'll just provide a summary and links here.

Early Saturday morning, November 17th, there was a large fight at 14 Glenville Avenue in Allston, MA 02134. Police officers responded and found a 21-year-old photography major at the Art Institute of Boston, Shawn Dow, lying in a back alley. He later died. He apparently fell off of the roof of the building. The coroner later determined that he died from the fall itself, but no police or coroner statement has been made about what caused him to fall off the roof (accidental or intentional); this last element of the story is yet to be resolved.

BPDnews 11/17/07: death investigation
Boston Globe 11/18/07: police interviews indicate faller from building and brawl inside building were separate incidents
BPDnews 11/18/07: deceased identified as Shawn Dow, 21, of Peabody
Blog comment from "pierce" 11/18/07: Dow had "footprints all over his chest" (note: unconfirmed report, taken from a now-removed, second-hand EMT report of a not-fully-specified fatal party fight. EMT report probably removed for legal reasons.)
Boston Herald 11/18/07: broken bottles litter building's stairwell, bannister poles missing
Boston Globe 11/19/07: story on Dow, friends, and family
Boston Herald 11/19/07: Dow's mother suspects foul play causing Dow's fall, since police photo of Dow's face, she says, looks like "someone hit him"
BPDnews 11/19/07: death is not listed as a "homicide" as of this date
Allston-Brighton TAB 11/19/07: Conway Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home in Peabody is handling funeral arrangements; Art Institute planning a memorial service
Salem News 11/19/07: interviews with family, friends in Peabody area
BPDnews 11/19/07: cause of death consistent with a fall, as opposed to injuries sustained as the result of assault; interviewed 20+ witnesses which don't place Dow at the scene of the brawl
boston.com report on the same 11/19/07
BU's Daily Free Press 11/20/07: anonymous witness says that Dow had severe injuries to his face, despite being found near-dead on his back after falling from the roof. Brawl reported to have included breaking bottles over people's heads.
Salem News 11/20/07: "Witnesses quoted in some media reports said Dow had been beaten in a fight."
Allston-Brighton TAB 11/20/07: details on the wake, funeral, and burial of Dow

Boston Police "Citizens Alert" 11/20/07: "On Nov. 17^th 2007 the Boston Police responded to a large fight at 14 Glenville Avenue where a party was being held and found a male lying on the asphalt in the rear alley of 14 Glenville Ave. Autopsy reports indicate that this male sustained injuries consistent with falling off the roof. Anyone with any information relative to this incident is advised to call the Boston Police @ 617-343-4256 and speak to the Detectives."

Boston Police are looking for tips in the investigation: Crime Stoppers at 1-800-494-TIPS where anonymous tips can be placed.


On an unrelated note: three young men were arrested on gun charges in the area of Tremont Street and West Newston Street on Friday night, November 16th.

Another unrelated note: the two Brighton bank robberies on Friday, November 16th, were accompanied by two others in the Boston area. Some of the suspects have physical features that do not match each other. Since this year has seen 118 bank robberies in Massachusetts thus far, it is unusual to see four on the same day.

Robberies at Two Citizens Banks in Brighton

Two robberies, one armed, occurred Friday morning at different Citizens Bank branches in Brighton.  The armed robbery was at the bank next to Whole Foods at 35 Washington Street, while the second robbery (where no weapon was shown) was at the bank in Brighton Center at 414 Washington Street.

BPDnews, the Allston-Brighton TAB, and the Boston Globe have short stories up already.  Neither robber has been apprehended yet.

Halloween Taser Incident at Jackson Mann School

The Daily Free Press, the student newspaper of Boston University, conveyed a police report on an incident of a student with a taser at an elementary school in Allston.  Sgt. Bill Fogarty of the Community Service Office of the Boston Police Department District D-14 Station confirmed that the incident occurred in the Jackson Mann School, 40 Armington, Street, Allston.

The report in The Daily Free Press reads:

"Don't tase me, bro"

Just after noon Oct. 31, police responded to a call for assistance from the Boston Fire Department at an elementary school in Allston.

When police arrived, the BFD and school administrators told them a student had set a fire in the cafeteria. The student told police he had been eating lunch with friends when a bottle of rubber cement caught fire at their table.

Upon investigation, police determined the student had been playing with an electroshock weapon and had ignited the rubber cement. The student claimed he did not have a taser.

Further questioning determined the student had stashed the taser in the men's bathroom when the school was evacuated.

The school principal spoke with the parents of the students involved and will determine disciplinary measures.