Tuesday, May 07th

An off-duty Westchester County Police officer was charged with driving while intoxicated early in the morning of 12/27 when he ran into another car driven by an on-duty Scarsdale police officer. The off duty officer, identified as Jospeh Kraus of Gramatan Avenue Mount Vernon, was driving a blue chevy pick up truck when he ran into the Scarsdale officer’s cruiser at the corner of Popham Road and East Parkway at 1:37 am on Saturday. He apparently ran through a red light at the intersection. He refused to take a breathalizer test but was observably drunk and charged with DWI and his car was impounded.

The Scarsdale officer, Jessica Knatz was hit on the drivers side door and sustained facial and back injuries. She had to be extracted from her car by the Scarsdale Fire Department and was taken to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla by the Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Knatz, has been with the Scarsdale Police Force for 2 1/2 years and previously worked for four years in Manhattan. Commenting for the Scarsdale Police Force, Lt. Bryant Clark said that they hoped for a "quick return to health" for Officer Knatz.

The Scarsdale Forum (Town and Village Club Education Forum) is holding
 its second annual Members' Holiday Party January 9th from 7 to 10 p.m. at St. James the Less.  Resident brew-master Bruce Wells will have eleven beers and a hard cider on tap.  In addition, there will be lots of great food, some donated from Langes Deli, and some by forum members, plus a special dish made with beer.  There will be light music from a variety of eras at different times during the evening.

  Among the beers on tap will be a beer made with 100% organic hops grown right here in Scarsdale. Continuing in the local tradition, the hard cider is made from cider sold at our Farmers' Market.

Three tasting sessions will be held during the evening, featuring very pale ales, American ales and bold malt beers. 

Featured Beers:

Upstate Cream Ale

German Pilsner Lager

VIP Scarsdale Hopped Pale Ale

Scarsdale Farmers' Market Hard Cider

California Common Ale

California Red Ale

American Brown Ale

American India Pale Ale

Belgium Strong Ale

Biere De Garde

London Stout

Chocolate Raspberry Porter

A silent auction will be held - and among the items for purchase are a one hour weekly American History lesson for a high school junior from Forum Member and former chair of the SHS History Department, Eric Rothschild.  Also on the list are home portraits, landscape design service, a Sony Reader and gift certificates from many village retailers.

The party is open to all members of the Scarsdale Forum. If you are not a member, or you let your membership lapse, you can join or renew at the door.  The Forum has an introductory rate for new members of $35 for individuals, or $50 for a families.  People can also join or renew online at http://www.ScarsdaleForum.com.  The web site takes credit cards through Paypal. Due to limited space, please RSVP to office@scarsdaleforum.com or by phone to 723-2829.

Scarsdale Forum Annual Party
St. James the Less
January 9, 2010 from 7-10 p.m.
R.S.V.P. to office@scarsdaleforum.com or call 723-2829

From the Greenburgh Police: Missing Mom: A Sprain Valley Road man called Greenburgh Police on December 13th to report that his mother was missing. She was traveling from Pakistan to Newark on 12/12 via London. She phoned him when she landed at Heathrow and was scheduled to take a Virgin Atlantic flight from the U.K. to the U.S. He went to Newark airport to pick her up and found that she was not on the flight and that her boarding pass had never been scanned to board the flight to the U.S. He contacted the police in London who filed a report and recommended that he file a report here as well. After filing both reports he learned that she had been detailed at Heathrow but later the Heathrow police contacted the Greenburgh police and said that the woman was not in their custody. She is now listed as a "Missing Person."

Arrest: A young adult was arrested for possession of an illegal substance when her car was stopped for speeding on Ardsley Road on the night of December 11th. The 19-year old woman is a Chappaqua resident who was driving a car that carried three male passengers from Hastings.When her gray Honda was stopped, police found an unopened case of beer as well as six clonazepam tablets in a clear plastic bag. The driver was arrested, booked and released and the two underage passengers were charged with unlawful possession of alcohol.

Fraud: A Bronx man was arrested for fraud at the Citibank at 845 Central Avenue on December 8th. Bank employees called the police and officers were able to intercept the suspect in the parking lot. The man, identified as Steven Hankins, age 54 of the Bronx, had completed a withdrawal slip in the amount of $3,500 and supplied a fraudulent driver’s license in the name of Howard Tatz of Massachusetts. When he went to the teller to make the withdrawal, she suspected fraud and summoned her branch manager. The man was placed under arrest and the Boston police verified that the license was fraudulent.

From the Scarsdale Police:

Stolen Bike: A commuter came to the police station on December 4th to report that his $800 bike had been stolen from the bike rack at Depot Place where he locked it. He left it there when he went to work on Friday 12/4.  When he returned, the bike was gone and he later found his helmet in the area.

Damaged Decorations: On Saturday night December 12th, Christmas decorations on the lawn of an Edgewood home were knocked over and pulled out of the ground. One of the inflatables had also been punctured. The residents remember hearing noise outside around 2 a.m.

Missing Violin: A Beechwood Road resident reported that a violin, valued at $600 had been taken out of her car, sometime between 11/28 and 11/30.

Fraud: A fraudulent Citi Health Card was opened in the name of a Mamaroneck Road resident and $3,960 was charged to it. The resident became aware of the card when he received a call from a collection agency seeking payment.

Traveling Trees: A Hampton Road resident found two large planters containing trees at the end of her walkway on the morning of December 13th. It turns out the trees belonged to one of her neighbors and neither resident knew how the trees traveled down the street.  In addition, another Hampton Road neighbor had an egg thrown at the rear window of his car that same night.

Angry Mom: A Sherbrooke Park man came into police headquarters on December 10th to report that his wife, from whom he is currently getting divorced, had damaged the house they live in. The home belongs to his mother and while he was out with his children his wife damaged cabinets, countertops, furniture and a bedroom closet. He wished to document the incident.

Confused: A woman who suffers from dementia called police repeatedly on December 10th to assert that her son, who cares for her was acting crazy, that he raised his voice and that people were removing furniture from the house. Ultimately the son requested assistance from the police when his mother was complaining of pain and he was having trouble controlling her.  SVAC arrived to transport her to White Plains Hospital.

Child Found: A child was found at 7-11 on Garth Road at 7:20 a.m. on December 9th. By the time the police arrived, the child’s mother had arrived to pick him up.

Child Lost: The security officer at Scarsdale Synagogue called police on 12/9 around 6 pm to say that a 12 year-old boy wearing a Yankees hat was missing.  Police arrived at the synagogue and learned that the boy had a miscommunication with his mother and had walked home to Greenacres.

Downed Tree: A large tree fell across Saxon Woods Road on the morning of 12/9. The highway department arrived and removed it.

Feuding Couple: An Edgewood couple got into a feud during a party they attended on River Road on the night of December 11th.  The wife left the party and returned home without informing her husband.  When the husband failed to return home with the children, the wife got worried that he was driving while intoxicated and called the police at 1:05 a.m. on 12/12.  Police checked the home on River Road, the man’s ex-wife’s house and finally his mother’s house, where they found his car parked outside. They rang the bell and spoke to the husband who said that he was staying there overnight until things cooled down. Police let the wife know that everyone was safe.

Theft: On the morning of 12/13 a Graham Road resident called police to say that money and jewelry had been taken from her home. She declined to file a report, saying that she wants to speak to detectives before doing so.

Another Scarsdale Mom is in the public eye this week. The Daily News reports that Teresa Tambunting has been charged with lifting gold from her employer over a period of six years.Prosecuters claim that she stole over 500 pounds of gold from Jacmel Jewelery in Long Island City where she worked as a vault manager.  She hid the goods in the lining of her purse and stored it in barrels in the basement of her Fox Meadow home.  Company officials grew suspicious last January when a company audit revealed that $12 million in inventory was missing.

A mother of three, Ms. Tambunting was arraigned Wednesday 4/29 in Queens Criminal Court on grand larceny charges and released on $100,000 bail.

A Scarsdale man, who got out of a town car on the Hutchinson River Parkway, shortly after midnight on Thursday December 11th was killed when he ran into oncoming traffic.

The man was identified as Walter Braun, age 42 of Stratton Road.  He was traveling to Scarsdale  in a Lincoln Town Car with Hoin Chun, age 39 of Cliffside Park, N.J. Chun and Braun had been drinking in Manhattan and hired the car to take them to Braun’s Stratton Road home.  According to the driver of the town car, the two got into a fight in the backseat, and the driver pulled the car over just south of Webster Avenue in New Rochelle.

Mr. Braun jumped out of the car, and his friend also got out to try to get him back into the car.  Before he could do so, Braun was hit by a Jeep in the middle lane of the parkway. Police do not know the nature of the fight  between the two passengers, however Mr. Chun was found with cocaine, and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony.

At 3:24 am, Westchester County Police contacted the Scarsdale police to ask them to go to the Stratton Road home and advise Ms. Pia Braun of the death of her husband.  Police went to the home, informed Ms. Braun and waited with her until family arrived. The Brauns had only moved to Scarsdale recently and were renting the house on Stratton Road.

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