Crossing Guard Helps Catch Suspect: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Monday, May 24. Four more days 'til Friday and that three-day weekend. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• A Brookline crossing guard helped track down a man accused of indecent assault and attempted robbery at a Boston hospital May 20.
• Burlington detected elevated toxic chemicals in its drinking water and is considering new alternatives to provide water to residents.
• A Plymouth man won a court fight against the town and can continue to display his "Biden Is Not My President" sign on his property.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

A Brookline crossing guard helped track down a man accused of indecent assault and attempted robbery at a Boston hospital May 20.

The crossing guard, whose name was redacted from the police report, told police she was at her traffic post on Boylston Street at Reservoir Road May 20 when a man wearing bright red sneakers and holding a long cigarette.

That night, while she was watching the news, an image of the same man flashed on the TV in connection with an indecent assault. She said she told her husband and then contacted Brookline and Boston police to let them know.

Read the rest of the story.

Nearby News

• Chelmsford Police Officer Helps Rescue Swimmers At Freeman Lake
• Found Bunny: Newton Police On Lookout To Find Owner
• Waltham's Mary T. Early Footbridge Closed For Repairs
• Newton's Carroll Center for the Blind Awarded $500K Grant
• Brookline Drinking Water OK, As Toxic Levels Rise Elsewhere

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Monday's Other Top Stories

Toxins in town's water: Burlington detected elevated toxic chemicals in its drinking water and is considering new alternatives to provide water to residents. The Department of Public Works said in a letter recent testing of the Vinebrook and Mill Pond treatment plants showed the presence of the man-made chemical known as PFAS is higher than what a new state standard allows. The DPW is now considering ways to reduce the amount of PFAS, which are linked to certain health risks. Meanwhile, communities like Waltham, Newton and Brookline that get their water from the MWRA, say the drinking water is OK, but they're keeping an eye on things.

AG Healey Has Not Prosecuted Campaign Finance Cases: In the six years she has been Massachusetts Attorney General, Maura Healey has not taken legal action in any of the 13 cases where evidence of campaign finance law violations were turned over by the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

Eat fresh: Patch's 2021 Massachusetts Farmers Market Guide

Picture This

Coffee chucker: Woburn Police are asking for help identifying a Dunkin' Donuts customer who they say threw iced coffee on a Dunkin' Donuts employee.

They Said It

"Everybody has the right to freedom of speech," told CBS Boston. "That's what this case was about. Everybody has the right whether it's left, right, middle."

• Joe Casieri, of Plymouth, who won a court fight against the town and can continue to display his "Biden Is Not My President" sign on his property.

In Case You Missed It

"Please Stand By": Coronavirus canceled Boston Calling in 2020 and 2021, but a cryptic tweet asking fans to "Please Stand By" and an announcement scheduled for Wednesday are giving fans hope it could return sooner.

By The Numbers

$1 million: The prize on a scratch ticket Lea Rose Fiega discarded. The owners of the Massachusetts store where Fiega bought the ticket returned it to her.