WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williamstown Police have received five reports of cars being broken into on Candlewood Drive.

Residents reported that electronic equipment and other items were stolen from their vehicles during the overnight of Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. All of the vehicles were unlocked at the time of the thefts.

Police are advising all residents and visitors to remove valuable items from their vehicles and lock their doors. "Although not a regular occurrence, these incidents are not unfamiliar to Williamstown," said Sgt. Scott McGowan.

Locking car doors may serve as a deterrent to a person who would rather not gain attention by smashing a window and creating a loud noise, which would alert a resident.

Any suspicious activities should be reported to the Williamstown Police immediately by calling 413-458-5733 or 911.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Police are investigating the death of a 39-year-old city man.  

Police say the body of Adelino A. Cerveira of 150 Wahconah St. was discovered by a Berkshire Medical Center employee about 6 a.m. Sunday outside on the ground near the Charles Street parking garage. Investigators believe Cerveira fell from the second floor of the parking deck, the older of the hospital's two multidecker parking garages.

An autopsy was conducted Monday at BMC by Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Abbott. Preliminary results indicate that Cerveira died of multiple traumatic injuries.  

The investigation is continuing, but investigators do not suspect foul play. A statement from the district attorney's office did not indicate whether police believe Cerveira fell or jumped. The Berkshire Eagle reported that a man jumped from a BMC parking deck in 2006.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — David B. Harris of North Adams was arraigned on Wednesday in Berkshire Superior Court on single counts of possession of child pornography and dissemination of child pornography.

He had not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf before Judge Daniel Ford. He was released on $2,500 bail.

The 66-year-old former headmaster was arrested July 18, 2010, after police executed a search warrant at his Marion Avenue home. Police say they found USB drives with pornographic materials and a laptop with links to pornographic sites involving young boys. He is alleged to have disseminated child pornography on Jan. 24, 2010, and to be in possession of the materials on July 18. 

State police detectives assigned to the district attorney's office had been conducting a two months-long investigation, with assistance from both the Massachusetts and New York Internet Crimes Against Children task forces, as well as state police with the Middlesex district attorney's office and with the New York attorney general's office.

The Middlesex and New York police were involved because Harris was head of school for the Cambridge Montessori School, a private school for children from preschool to ninth grade, in Cambridge until his arrest and a trustee of one New York private school and former headmaster of another. He spent a decade as headmaster at Pine Cobble School in Williamstown until leaving in 2000.
 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams Police Department is warning North Berkshire residents that a couple of home-improvement scammers are on the loose.

Police say two people posing as roofing contractors are telling homeowners that they've done work on their homes before. They gain access purportedly to check the house for any visible water leaks in the ceiling. One gets into the house with the owner, makes sure no one else is home, then asks the homeowner to walk around the exterior to survey for any roof damage

While the owner is occupied, the second scammer searches the house for cash and valuables.
 
Police report one victim to this scam in the North Adams area. The suspect who approached the victim used the name of Billy Wood. When he left the house, he got into the passenger side of a silver pickup truck with tinted windows driven by a second suspect.

Anyone with information about the scammers or who may have been approached by individuals offering a simiar story, is urged to contact their local police agency. Business numbers for county police departments can be found on the righthand side of the Blotter.

RICHMOND, Mass. — A 28-year-old man was struck and killed by a train in Richmond late Tuesday afternoon. The man's name had not yet been released pending notification of kin.

According to an eyewitness, it appeared that the man jumped in front of the moving train.    

State police detectives assigned to the district attorney's office, in charge of the investigation, say the CSX freight train struck the man about 4 p.m. in the vicinity of Town Beach Road. Dr. Benjamin Glick, a local state medical examiner, pronounced the man dead at the scene.  

State police investigators were assisted at the scene by state troopers from the Lee barracks, members of the Pittsfield Police Department and the Richmond Volunteer Fire Department.  

Update: Police on Wednesday afternoon released the man's name. He was Nicholas Van Alstine of Amesbury. He was strucked and killed by a CSX freight train. According to eyewitnesses, it appeared that Van Alstine jumped in front of the moving train, and investigators are treating his death as a suicide.