Brookline's Strangest Crime in 2010

In the six months since we started sifting through arrest reports and dispatch logs for Brookline Patch, we've come across some of the strangest and most disturbing crimes we've ever seen in our career covering Brookline. Was it something about 2010 that brought out the strangest elements of our town, or have we just forgotten the strangeness of years past? We're not sure, but here are just a few of the crime stories that stick out in our minds from the last six months, for better or worse:

Angry Off-Roading at Olmsted Park: We see a lot of road rage incident in the dispatch logs, but nothing like this. Back in August, a driver upset with a bicyclist he had exchanged words with decided to express his anger by  as he rode through Olmsted Park. Robert Nicosia, 66, reportedly sped over flower beds and around trees in pursuit of the bicyclist, who got away after Nicosia was finally stopped by police driving the wrong way on Pond Avenue.

The Case of the Disappearing Cop: Also in August, Brookline Patch received word that a Brookline cop who had been on medical leave had  and not contacted his family. What's worse, police told us, Officer Thomas Shea had access to a weapon and was experiencing money troubles. Immediately after we reported on the disappearance, we began hearing reports that Shea had been sighted, first in  and then in . Finally, almost a month after he went missing, Shea  and the manhunt was called off. He officials resigned from the Brookline Police Department in early November.

The Fake Firefighter: Even with everything else going on this year, this was one of the most disturbing things we've encountered in the arrest reports. On Dec. 1, police reported stopped a Brockton man in a red van , complete with flashing headlights, police scanner and firefighter license plates. Police say Richard Brignolo, 62, was also carrying a badge in his wallet and had previously claimed he was a former Quincy firefighter. Problem is, Brignolo has never worked for the Quincy Fire Department. Brookline police arrested him on weapons charges after finding a switchblade and stun gun in the fake fire vehicle. This would be disturbing in isolation, but it actually appears to be part of a trend of people posing as public safety or municipal officials around Brookline. Last week, police warned of someone  to make a traffic stop on Hammond Street, and officers recently arrested a woman who allegedly  in an effort to get inside people's homes. And police recently received  about someone calling residents and claiming to be a representative of the Brookline Office of Veterans Affairs.

Where's the Fire? Speaking of firefighters, here's a real Brookline firefighter with a real problem. Dean Inchierca, a 28-year-old who has been with the Brookline Fire Department for six years, was placed on administrative leave last month after he was reportedly caught . Police say Inchierca may have been going as fast as 90 mph on a stretch of Route 9 with a speed limit of 35 mph and had glassy eyes and a "moderate" smell of alcohol when he was stopped. Inchierca reportedly denied he'd been drinking but refused to take an blood alcohol test. He's due back in court on Jan. 3.

The Prodigious Child Pornographer: What started out as a Peeping Tom arrest back in August has grown into a massive child pornography investigation. Brookline Patch  on Aug. 13 when police arrested 47-year-old Christopher Higgins of Brighton and accused him of secretly filming people in the nude. Officials were initially tight-lipped about the investigation, but we soon learned that Higgins was carrying , complete with names and addresses of students, when he was arrested. And he eventually racked up 42 counts on various charges related to . After the case was transferred from Brookline to Norfolk Superior Court, officials revealed that officers had recovered a computer hard drive from Higgins that held thousands of images and video, many of them showing Brookline women and children bathing and changing in their homes. Several photos reportedly show Higgins wearing a 15-year-old girl's underwear and pajamas inside her bedroom. He is due back in court later this month.

Traffic Light Attack: File this under "F" for "freak accident." In early September, a Brookline crossing guard was taken to the hospital after he was struck by a  at the corner of Harvard and School streets. According to police, the man was driving by on his motorcycle when he noticed a truck clip the light as it tried to round the corner and was trying to help the driver when the light pole came crashing down and struck him on the shoulder. He was taken to the hospital but was released later that day.

Brookline Bares it All: Let's face it, 2010 was a big year for public nudity. There were so many incidents, in fact, that we couldn't choose just one. Here's a partial list of flashers and naked guys we've heard about it the last six months:

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Peeping and Peeking: Though not as common as flashers, Peeping Toms also made frequent appearances in this year's police logs. Here are a few: