A Lightning Strike in Scarsdale and Shattered Glass at Loehmann's

Lightning struck a Ridgecrest East home on Monday morning 5/21 and blew out a sprinkler control box causing light smoke in the basement. The homeowner called police when she heard a bang inside the house. The sprinkler control box was knocked off the wall by the strike. Fire Captain Saviano of the Scarsdale Fire Department said firefighters went to a few homes in the area due to calls from concerned residents but other than tripped circuit breakers it was a “non event.”

Shattered: Greenburgh Police responded to a burglar alarm at Loehmann's on Tarrytown Road at 1:40 am on 5/21 and found the front glass windows shattered. Police searched the area and found a man walking near the Wine Warehouse in the same shopping center. When they stopped him they found that he had kicked in one of the windows and then rammed a shopping cart through the front doors. He was identified as Stephen Donnell Muehling (pictured at right) age 28 of St. Louis and was arrested for criminal mischief.

Damage to the store was estimated at more than $1,500.

Drunk drivers: An investigation by the Scarsdale Police led to the arrest of David M. Hill of New Rochelle on 5/16 for leaving the scene of an accident and driving with a suspended license. Hill is accused of running into the car of a Scarsdale woman shortly after midnight on 5/12 on East Parkway and fleeing the scene. Based on information from the victim, police were able to identify Hill’s car and his identity. Hill had previously been arrested for drunk driving and failure to answer a summons.

Just after midnight on 5/18 a similar incident occurred. Police came upon Franco Caputi of the Bronx on Garth Road who said he was stopped at a red light at the intersection of Popham and Garth Roads when he was rear-ended by another car. Police went to the scene of the accident and interviewed both drivers. They found that the man who had rear-ended Caputi was drunk. The inebriated man identified himself as James N. Maxwell of Garth Road and admitted to drinking beer earlier in the evening at the Brazen Fox in White Plains. When he failed sobriety tests he was taken to headquarters and booked for aggravated DWI with a BAC level of .18 or more. He was released on $250 to his brother and given a court appearance date.

A Volvo parked at a Bradley Road home was entered overnight on 5/15 and $50 was taken from the glove compartment. The owner believes it was left unlocked as there was no damage to the car.

On the afternoon of 5/18, the rear window of a car parked on Ogden Road was shattered. The damage may have been caused by a ball thrown by kids playing in the area.

Vandalism: A lamp post at a Tisdale Road home was damaged overnight from 5/14-5/15. This was the second time the lamp post was vandalized. The homeowner also reported that she found graffiti painted in red on a large tree in the backyard and on an outdoor wall. She believes this occurred sometime between 5/14 and 5/17.

Sometime between 5/14 and 5/16, a new wooden fence at a Taunton Road home was kicked numerous times and damaged. Police found footprints near the damaged fence which was dislodged.

A 2010 Toyota was scratched with a sharp object while it was parked in the Christie Place garage on the afternoon of May 18. The car belongs to a Rego Park man.

Bike Theft: A Northrock Mountain Bike that belonged to a Scarsdale man and was valued at $320 was stolen from the bike rack on East Parkway sometime between 7 am and 7:30 pm on 5/14.

Identity Theft: On 5/18, the caretaker for a 45-year-old Secor Road man reported that the victim received two letters indicating identity theft. One was from Discover Car noting a declined credit card and the other was a change of a address for the man’s life insurance policy to a Brooklyn address. The credit bureau and insurance company were alerted.

Unwanted visitor: A Brewster Road woman called police when a man came to the back door of her house at 8:20 on the morning of 5/14 and began to enter her house. She confronted him and he claimed to be a plumber who was told to come in the back door. However, he had the wrong address.

Ruth Frankel of Richbell Road called police on the morning of 5/15 to complain that her neighbor was having trees planted on the property line that will eventually grow over her property. She was advised to call the Building Department who explained that they do not deal with landscaping issues and informed her that this was a civil matter.

Police received a complaint about the volume of the music coming from Saxon Woods Grill on the night of 5/17. They spoke to personnel at the Grill who agreed to turn it down.

Lit up: Police got a call about a man lighting paper on fire and waving to cars at the corner of Popham and Tisdale Roads on the afternoon of 5/18. When police arrived they found a New Rochelle man who said that he was trying to light a cigarette and it became engulfed in flames. He also said he was lost so police drove him home.

Greenburgh:

An aggressive man tried to enter a Fort Hill Road home on the afternoon of 5/14. He knocked on the door and insisted that the housekeeper let him in, claiming that his elderly father was across the street and needed help. When she refused to let him in, he got into a red SUV and drove away. When police arrived, they found that another neighbor had the same experience when the man came to the door of a Spencer Court home and asked for money.

Playing Hooky: An employee of Best Buy on Central Avenue called police at 1 pm on 5/15 to report that a child had been playing video games in the store for hours. Police approached the juvenile who admitted he had skipped school. His sister came to take him home.

A set of golf clubs was stolen from the trunk of a Toyota 4Runner parked on Burns Street in Hartsdale overnight from 5/15 to 5/16. The clubs were valued at $5,000.

A 24-speed bike valued at $550 was stolen from the Hartsdale Station on 5/17. The bike belonged to a Walworth Avenue man from Scarsdale.

Missing: A 19-year-old woman who lives at a residential home on Old Army Road was reported missing by the director of the facility on 5/18.