Drunk Driver Collides with Westchester County Police Cruiser on the BRP

At 4 am on July 18, a Westchester County Policeman driving north on the Bronx River Parkway near Claremont Road collided with a BMW, driven by a drunk man driving in the wrong direction on the parkway. There were no serious injuries but both drivers were taken to the hospital and the accident caused the Bronx River Parkway to close for hours. According to the Journal News, the driver of the BMW was identified as Nelson Escobar, age 47 of New Rochelle. He was charged with second degree vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and traffic infractions.

A highly intoxicated White Plains woman became threatening when she was taken by cab to the Fenway Golf Club on the night of 7/12. Terri Popiel, age 55 of White Plains, had been drinking with Rafael Contreras, an employee of Fenway at O’Conner’s Bar on the night of July 12th. The two took a cab back to the club where Contreras resides. The cab was driven by Saif Manik, age 42, also of White Plains. When it was time for Poppiel to exit the cab she took out two small utility knives and brandished them at Contreras. Contreras caught her hands, pushed her back into the cab and then left -- and the driver called the White Plains Police. When police arrived they found Popiel sitting on the ground handcuffed by White Plains Police. Since she was drunk and incoherent, SVAC took her to White Plains Hospital.

Police found Contreras unharmed, inside the club. He also appeared to be drunk and showed police the clothing he was wearing at the time of the incident. It appeared that he had urinated on himself. He also showed police a bite on his left bicep that he had received from Ms. Popiel. He did not know why she had bitten him, but it was a superficial wound and he refused medical attention. Contreras did not want to file charges against Popiel and did not wish to make a statement.

Chase: Two suspects who had been in an accident on the Hutchinson River Parkway on the morning of July 13th abandoned their car and fled on foot along Weaver Street. The man and woman were reported to be running along Weaver in the direction of the Quaker Ridge School. Police found the woman in front of 24 Meadow Road and handcuffed her and put her into the police cruiser. The male suspect proved to be more difficult to capture and police pursued him on foot from Bradford Road to Griffen Avenue. While the man was running from police, he tried to go over a fence at 83 Griffen and damaged five of the vertical fence posts. He was finally caught by a canine unit from the Harrison Police Department with assistance from Scarsdale and Westchester County Police. The man was identified as Akeem Jamaal Fleming, age 27 of the Bronx. After he was booked by the Westchester County Police, he was turned over to the Scarsdale Police where he was charged with criminal mischief for damaging the fence at 83 Griffen Avenue.

Assault: Two female residents at Search for Change at 1241 Post Road in Scarsdale got into an altercation on the evening of July 12th, resulting in the arrest of Brandie Conner, age 20, for menacing and assault. Conner accused her roommate, Thea Perrone, of telling the staff that Conner was a prostitute. In the fight that followed, Conner punched Perrone and then grabbed a kitchen knife and raised it above her head as she approached Perrone. A staff member ran in, told Conner to drop the knife and she cooperated. Perrone ended up with a small cut on the side of her face and redness and swelling on the right side of her face. Perrone said she was “scared for her life,” and said she thought Conner was “coming at me to kill me.” Conner was arrested and the Westchester County Assistant District Attorney recommended that bail be set at $5,000. During the arraignment, Connor twice said, “I pulled a knife on the bitch.” Conner was sent to Westchester County Jail, and the judge issued a temporary order of protection for Perrone.

Threats: On 7/11, a Dolma Road man filed a report about a threat on his life from a business associate. The Scarsdale man was unhappy with operations at a business in which he is an investor. He told his colleague that he wanted to take back the funds he invested in the company. In response, another business associate told the Scarsdale man that the colleague threatened to kill the Scarsdale man if he continued to try to get his money out.

Mad man: At CVS on Popham Road an angry ex-employee of the CVS in Bronxville entered the store at 10 am on 7/12 and threatened and cursed at the store manager. The manager got the man to leave the store, but he continued to curse and yell as he walked toward Garth Road.

Unhappy Customer: On 7/14 at the Bank of America on Christie Place, the manager reported that a customer, Faith Liberman, age 82 of New Rochelle, was upset about her CD Money market account and became loud and disruptive.

Harassed: A 79 year-old Spier Road woman reported receiving multiple phone calls from a man who claimed that she had won $100,000 and instructed her to go to Walmart and pay a $300 fee to claim the funds. Though the woman asked him to stop calling, he called repeatedly and cursed at her before hanging up. While police were at her home, the phone rang, police answered and a man with a Jamaican accent called the policeman a “batty boy” and threatened to shoot him with a gun. The caller I.D. showed that one of the calls came from a Jamaican phone number and the others were from “out of area.” Police told the woman to call Verizon to see if they could block the calls or provide her with a new phone number.

Visitor? A Brite Avenue woman returned home at 6 pm on July 13th to a damaged screen on a rear window. The window had been left open. She also found that items on the kitchen counter had been knocked over and that a loaf of bread had small holes in the bag. She discovered a yellow liquid on the counter top and police concluded that a small animal, possibly a squirrel, tore through the screen and got into the kitchen.

Found: On the evening of July 13, a woman from Old Lyme Road called police to report that she found a pair of lime green shorts and a Gucci belt in her yard, with a bag of cocaine, shorts, and a Visa debit card in the pockets.

Car break-ins: A Fairview Road woman reported that someone had broken the driver’s side front window of her Toyota SUV overnight on 7-14-7/15. A GPS device and iPod touch were stolen. That same night, a Honda parked on Fairview Road was also vandalized. The passenger side front window was broken and a GPS device was stolen.

Mischief: The brother of the groundskeeper at the Girl Scout House on Wayside Lane reported that overnight on 7/14- 7/15 someone destroyed the fencing around the barbeque pavilion. That same night an arrest was made for possession of marijuana near the Girl Scout House. Also, at the tennis hut at the high school tennis courts, a window next to the front door was kicked in sometime on July 16.

On the morning of July 11, police discovered that the street sign at the intersection of Drake and Jefferson Roads had been removed from the pole and thrown into a wooded area.

A Bell Road man reported that he found a real estate sign on his front walk and that his house was egged on July 16. This was the third time this month that mischief had occurred at his home. A neighbor on Bell Road also reported that his car was egged on the night of July 14th. And at 4 am on July 17th, a Greendale Road woman reported that her house was egged by someone driving around in a sedan. In addition, a Brewster Road home was egged on 7/17.

A New Rochelle man, driving on Weaver Street on the morning of July 15, heard something hit his windshield. When he checked he found two small cracks in the glass and did not know if the damage was caused by rocks or a BB gun.

Graffiti was found sprayed on a large rock and a tree at Davis Park on July 17th.

Fire on Brayton Road: At 10 pm on 7/16, a Brayton Road man called to report a fire in the attic. A halogen light bulb ignited a comforter in an upstairs closet. The fire was put out with a fire extinguisher, but fire trucks and emergency vehicles were dispatched to the scene. Since the house was very smoky, the residents had to wait outside. Firemen set up a large fan at the door to draw smoke out of the house.

Deer: A Rye man hit a deer in front of 11 Mamaroneck Road when he was driving westbound on Mamaroneck Road at 10 pm on July 17th. Police were not able to locate the deer and no one was injured.

On 7/11, an Overhill Road woman reported unauthorized charges on her American Express card at Forever 21, Charlotte Russ, Donimos Pizza, LaBella Restaurant and Sprint Wireless. The account has now been closed.