Edgartown police are investigating a string of home break-ins in the downtown area over the past week.

Det. Craig Edwards said there were four break-ins on School street and South Summer street, two at the same house. The first was on June 12, when a piece of jewelry and several bottles of prescription medication had been stolen from a home on School street. The homeowners were out and the door was unlocked, police said.

An Oak Bluffs business owner was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and battery last week following a four-day jury trial in Edgartown district court.

Saurabh Chhibber, 29, was sentenced to two and a half years in state prison. He is the owner of Island Authentic, a T-shirt and souvenir shop on Circuit avenue.

Edgartown police last week arrested an 18-year-old man at the Kelley House after he reportedly assaulted two officers.

Nicholas Franklin of Edgartown was charged with assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest. Det. Jonathon Searle and officer David Rossi both received scrapes and scratches from Mr. Franklin after they responded to the call.

By JIM HICKEY

West Tisbury police are investigating a nighttime theft of a large amount of cash from Heather Gardens Nursery on State Road that occurred last Sunday. Police believe the thief is someone with knowledge of the business.

Oak Bluffs police and emergency management personnel were dispatched to a possible boater in distress near the Little Bridge Monday afternoon, but instead found a man scalloping in a small, unregistered wooden skiff.

Instead of being rescued he was issued a ticket for operating an unregistered motor vessel.

Police were first alerted to a possible boater in trouble in Nantucket Sound off the breakwater around 3 p.m. Oak Bluffs Lieut. Timothy Williamson, officers David Berube and Jeffrey LaBell, and emergency management coordinator Peter Martell responded.

A memorial service for Tom Osmers at the Chilmark Community Center on Saturday ended with the arrest of well-known Menemsha fisherman Karsten D. Larsen, amid allegations that he groped a 15-year-old girl and punched a teenage boy.

Mr. Larsen, 43, of Flanders Lane, Menemsha, was charged with three counts of threat to commit a crime, two charges of assault and battery and one count of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over. During his arraignment on Monday a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf, and he was released on $1,000 bail.