leslie.castillo@waylandpost.org
Ironically, it would not be the owl who flew away with this camera, but rather a thief posing as a Facebook Marketplace customer. After this incident, the only Faceboo k Marketplace theft in Wayland that has taken place in recent history, police reminded residents to utilize the town’s Public Safety building parking lot or lobby to purchase or sell something via Facebook Marketplace.
Wayland’s designated e-commerce spot was set up in 2015. It has a camera that faces the entire parking lot.
“This location is under 24-hour video surveillance and provides direct access to the building lobby, offering an added level of safety for both buyers and sellers. Using this space helps deter theft and ensures a secure environment when meeting someone you may not know,” a message posted on the Wayland Police Department’s Facebook page on April 1. “We strongly encourage all residents to take advantage of this resource when completing online transactions.”
The Wayland Facebook Marketplace theft occurred on March 23 at approximately 5:50 p.m. when Sawe met a potential buyer for his camera in the Dunkin parking lot on 15 E. Plain St. Within moments of handling and examining the camera, the “buyer” ran out of the parking lot and away with the camera. Sawe says the thief parked close to the Cochituate Ball field.
At the time he was not able to get the camera back. But this story had a picture-perfect ending. After informing the police and many local pawn shops in the surrounding towns of the theft, the camera was finally traced back to the serial number and was found at a local pawn shop. On April 27 Sawe was able to go to the police station and retrieve his Sony A1 camera.
Sawe said that he shared his experience on social media and shortly thereafter another photographer from Framingham contacted him and said that the same thing had happened to him. The two sellers believed it was the same thief who stole both cameras.
Sawe also said that cameras are popular items for thieves to target since they do not contain a GPS tracking component.
“One pet peeve of many photographers and a suggestion to the camera companies, is to add a simple security mechanism to cameras,” Sawe said. “Cameras have come a long way in technology and depending on the pro camera you buy, they are very expensive and hence could be an attractive target for thieves. If cameras had security features like iPhones perhaps they would be less likely targets as thieves would not be able to sell them.”
Detective Tyler Reeves, who was investigating the incident, said that despite this theft crime is down in Wayland. He added that most crimes fall into the area of property crimes such as larceny, motor vehicle breaking and entering, and property damage.
Reeves offers the following suggestions for residents to “screen” potential sellers and buyers:
Review the individual’s profile before going to the meet. Check to see if there is limited information, friends or photos. If there is limited or no information on the profile, a single or no photo, and few to no friends listed then these are signs that it might be used for illegal activity
Arrange to meet at the local police department
If the individual attempts to change the location to a different location, they should cease communication
They should bring someone else with them to the exchange and make this clear to the buyer
“The feeling of getting violated is something that won’t go away even if financial loss does over time,” Sawe said.
He also said that at the time he had wondered if the camera could have been possibly sold to another photographer instead of a thief. Now that the camera has been returned, he intends to keep it.
Reeves reminds residents that if anyone has a question as to the location, they may contact him at 508-358-4721.
