Thieves Hit Two More Scarsdale Homes and a Downtown Jeweler

Thieves continued to prey on Scarsdale this week, hitting another home in Greenacres as well as a Heathcote home. This week’s burglaries follow similar incidents on Windmill Road on 9/25, Greenacres Avenue on 9/29, and River Road on 10/12. In all cases the thieves entered the homes through the back or side of the house and proceeded directly to the master bedrooms in search of jewelry. According to Thomas Altizio of the Scarsdale Police, “All of the burglaries are active investigations and our Detectives have been pursuing leads across Westchester and Rockland Counties, and into New York City. We believe some of the burglaries that occurred in Scarsdale are related to perpetrators who have struck in Greenburgh and White Plains and we are working together with those agencies and sharing information regarding possible suspects. Burglaries have increased across the local region and we encourage residents to utilize alarm and security systems and make sure their homes are secured. One of the best things residents can do is look out for one another. Homeowners should stay alert to activities in their neighborhood, keep an eye on their neighbors homes and most importantly call the Police Department when they observe suspicious persons or activity in the area so it can be checked out by a Patrol Officer.”

In addition, this week a downtown jewelry store was robbed. Here are the details:

Two diamond rings, one valued at $6,000 and the other at $9,000, were stolen from Sam Lehr Jewelry on Harwood Court on the afternoon of October 22. According to the owner, a clean-shaven, bald, black man came to the store around 1 pm and asked to see two rings. After he considered them for a while he said he was going to leave and asked for the name of a place to have lunch. Ten minutes later he re-entered the store and asked to see the rings again. This time, with the rings in his hand, he fled the store on foot and went through the underpass onto Popham Road. Police had a description of the man’s car but were unable to find him. A surveillance video is available from the store and will be reviewed by police.

Burglaries:  Wheelock Road residents returned home around 11 pm on the night of October 21 and found that their home had been entered and robbed. It appeared that burglars had used a rock to break a sliding glass door and enter the house. Once inside they rummaged through the dining room and master bedroom. In the bedroom, they threw clothes on the floor and emptied the contents of a jewelry box. The residents reported that a large amount of jewelry and watches were missing and possibly the silverware as well. They will provide a complete list to the police.

On October 22, a similar incident occurred on Eton Road. The homeowners returned to the house at 10:30 pm and found that a glass back door was broken. There were pry marks on the door and the glass had been pushed in. The master bedroom and master bathroom were tossed and jewelry was stolen. Though the alarm was on, the motion detector was off as the family has a dog so the alarm was not activated. The owners will supply a full list of the missing jewelry to the police.

Custody: A father from Stormville, NY came to Scarsdale Police headquarters on the evening of October 17th with a court order allowing him to take his 16 year-old son from his mother’s home on Mamaroneck Avenue. In compliance with the court order, the mother brought the boy to headquarters to turn him over to his father until November 29, 2011.

Fraud: A White Road man got a call from American Express on October 5 telling him that someone had opened a credit card account to be billed to his address. On October 6th he received the credit card in the mail and on October 7th, Amex called again to say that $6,179 had been billed to the unauthorized card account.

On 10/20 Tunstall Road residents reported that someone had printed fraudulent Chase checks using their account number and business name. Six checks, totaling $8,832, were chased at six different Chase branches, two in Jamaica and Corona Queens. Copies of the checks were sent to the residents who noted that their signature was forged on the checks. Chase made good on the funds.

A Brite Avenue woman reported that she had received a Western Union package with a survey and U.S. Postal money orders with instructions to cash them on 10/21. Police contacted Western Union who found that these were falsified documents.

Sprague Road residents found that someone had used their name and social security numbers to file a fraudulent tax return and get a refund to boot! The imposters also had a refund check mailed to them. However it has not been cashed. When the Scarsdale residents tried to file their legitimate return it was rejected twice. The IRS is investigating. The report was filed with the Scarsdale Police on 10/12.

Missing: A 38 year-old resident of Search for Change on the Post Road was reported missing on 10/20, but later found to be in the custody of the White Plains police, where she had been arrested for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance. The woman was sent to the County jail, the missing person alarm was cancelled and the woman’s mother was called.

A Rectory Lane woman reported that a 6 year-old boy was missing from the Girl Scout House on Wayside Lane at 10:30 am on 10/22. By the time police arrived, the boy was found.

Seasoned: June Sandberg of Popham Road reported that someone had poured salad dressing on her car when it was parked in the church lot behind 45 Popham Road overnight on 10/17 – 10/18.

Kids: Police received a report of kids congregating in George Field Park at 10:15 on the night of 10/21. By the time Police arrived the kids were gone.

Accidents: An 11 year-old Scarsdale boy riding his bike on Griffen Avenue was hit by a Larchmont woman driving a 2010 SUV at 5:20 on 10/17. According to the driver, the boy rode into the roadway without looking. In an attempt to avoid the cyclist, the car hit a curb. SVAC was called but medical attention was refused.

A 23 year-old man from Tory Lane hit a fire hydrant while driving on Mamaroneck Road on the night of 10/18. The hydrant was damaged. The driver claimed he fell asleep at the wheel.

At 3:48 am on 10/22 George Nader of Eastchester was driving his 2010 Mercedes southbound on the Post Road when the car crossed into the northbound lane, went over the curb on the opposite side of the street and clipped a tree at 956 Post Road. The car flipped over. Nader had a bloody nose but was otherwise uninjured and refused medical attention.