Police Enforce Social Distancing and Restrictions on Construction: Two Deaths Reported

It appears that many construction companies attempted to get around the ban on construction by claiming their work sites were unsafe to leave as is. See below:

Non-essential or essential activity?

Police informed construction workers at a Mamaroneck Road job site that they could only perform essential work March 30. The workers said they were performing roof work for waterproofing safety reasons and would finish within 24 hours.

Construction workers at a Brown Road site said they were only performing work to make the site safe March 30.

Construction work at a Lenox Place house was permitted to continue because the general contractor confirmed that the house was going to be used as a home-based medical office March 30. On March 31, police returned to the site and informed workers to make the site safe, since all non-essential work would be suspended, as per Governor Cuomo’s executive orders, the next day. On April 1, police again found workers on the site. They said they were unaware of the executive orders and had shown up to receive a delivery. They vacated the site after police instructed them to leave.

Construction workers were told to cease work at a Hickory Lane house March 30. Workers told police the house would be unsafe to leave as is. They said they would stop work once the house was safe.

Construction workers were told to cease work at an Olmsted Road house March 30. Workers told police the house would be unsafe to leave as is. They said they would stop work once the house was safe. Police cautioned them to use social distancing while finishing up the necessary work.

A toilet was reported to be out of order in an East Parkway location March 30. A Maintenance employee temporarily fixed the toilet but said a broken valve needed to be replaced.

Police informed construction workers at a Morris Lane job site that they could only perform essential work March 31. The workers said they were performing roof work for waterproofing safety reasons. Police confirmed this with Village Hall. Village Hall also said that all work needed to be completed by the next day.Readers have noted many discarded gloves littering our streets. Please pick up your refuse!

On April 2, a Parkfield Road tenant reported his landlord was sending over a plumber to fix a leak in the house without his permission. The tenant said he did not want anyone in the house due to social distancing precautions related to the current pandemic. Police called the landlord and said she was not allowed to enter the house or send a tradesman to the house without the tenant’s permission. She said she would call her lawyer and attempt to get a court order to make the repair.

After a resident complained about two people blasting music from a parked car on Valley Road, near Red Maple Swamp, April 3, police spoke to the driver and passenger. They said they were out talking and listening to music. Police advised them to comply with Governor Cuomo’s orders and shelter in place at home, as their activity was not essential. The driver and passenger complied with police instruction and left the scene.

Police were also very busy chasing residents away from the fields, tracks and playgrounds:

Social distancing

Police used a patrol car’s public address system to clear approximately 12 people from the Scarsdale High School track and inform them that school grounds were closed March 30. Later that day, police returned to the track and dispersed three more people from the closed grounds.

Police received reports of parents and children using playgrounds April 1. Police patrolled the playgrounds for enforcement, but the alleged offenders were already gone.

Police used a patrol car’s public address system to clear people from the Scarsdale High School track and a basketball court on Wayside Lane and to inform them that school grounds were closed April 1.

Police used a patrol car’s public address system to clear people from the Scarsdale High School track and to inform them that school grounds were closed April 2.

Police were called to investigate a possible gathering on the fourth floor of an Overhill Road building April 3. Police checked the building and found only three people working there, and each was in a different office, this adhering to social distancing orders.

Police used a patrol car’s public address system to clear people from the Scarsdale High School track and to inform them that school grounds were closed April 3.

After a caller complained about a “massive crowd” inside an East Parkway essential store, police patrolled the store and determined that social distancing restrictions were being followed.

On April 4, police twice dispersed kids from the basketball courts and fields at Greenacres School on Huntington Avenue, informing them that all parks, fields, playgrounds and school grounds were closed.

Less than 10 members of Westchester Reform Temple gathered in the parking lot of the temple to let their children ride bicycles April 5. The adults were practicing social distancing, but they agreed to disperse and leave the scene.

Police dispersed a group of skateboarders from High School grounds April 5. They reportedly did not appear to be practicing social distancing.

Police told a group of kids that Edgewood School grounds – and all parks, fields, playgrounds and sports courts – were closed and dispersed them April 5.

Deaths

An 87-year-old female resident of a Saxon Woods Road assisted living facility died at home April 1.

At 7:45 a.m., April 4, an Overlook Road resident reported her 93-year-old husband passed away at home.

Attempted car break-in

Around 9:20 p.m., a Greendale Road resident reported a man was attempting to break into his parked cars. The resident saw the man exit a parked a dark-colored BMW in the street and walk up his driveway. There, the man attempted to open the doors of two parked cars. Both cars were locked, and a motion sensor light illuminated. The man then walked back to his car and fled the scene. The suspect was described as a white man wearing a dark hoodie with fur on it.

Scam

On April 2, a Brookfield Lane resident reported receiving text messages from an unknown person in which the person attempted to solicit money from the resident. The resident only wanted police to document the incident.

Abandoned car

A Meadow Road resident noticed an unknown Honda CRV, without any license plates and with side damage, parked in her driveway April 1. Police called a tow company to remove the car and attempted to identify the owner from expired registration documents and track down a possible phone number from the police department in charge of the jurisdiction in which the car had been registered. Police called the number but did not reach anyone. Police also contacted neighboring jurisdictions to see if the car had been reported stolen, but there were no reports.

Trespassers

On April 1, two residents reported unknown individuals holding flashlights on their properties. The reports were made by residents who lived on Meadow Road and Penn Boulevard around 9 p.m. and 9:20 p.m.

On April 2, an Old Lyme Road resident told police someone opened a gate to his property and possibly attempted to gain access to his locked house, triggering an alarm activation April 1. No one was observed on the property.

On April 2, a Herkimer Road resident showed police video surveillance that captured an unknown car stopping on the street near the resident’s driveway, followed by an unknown man exiting the car and walking toward the resident’s house during the evening of April 1. At that moment the video cut off. There was no damage or signs of force to the house. Patrol forwarded the video to detectives for investigation.

A Dobbs Terrace resident reported three kids were on her lawn without her permission April 2. Police went to the scene and learned a kid had fallen off his bike and left the bike there while he tended to his injuries. While police were still on scene, the kids returned and picked up his bike.

An Old Lyme Road resident reported seeing a “suspicious” white man wearing a black jacket, hat and sunglasses walking around the neighborhood and “looking into windows” April 2. The resident said he sees the man on an almost daily basis. Police will increase monitoring of the area.

At 10 p.m., April 4, a Walworth Avenue woman reported seeing a person loitering around her parked car at the end of her driveway. When she went out to move her car, she called out to the person, and the person ran across her lawn and ducked behind a bush. Police arrived on scene and observed the person in the street. He appeared to have poor coordination and slurred speech. Patrol assisted the person by calling the person’s mother who arrived by taxi to pick up the person. They both returned to White Plains.

Nap

A man lying down on the sidewalk near the intersection of Post Road and Boulevard told police he was taking a nap at 2 p.m., April 5. After conversing with police, the man got up and left the area.

Cars and roadways
Police determined that two mattresses placed at the curb on Post Road were there for sanitation pickup April 1.

A plumber working in a Post Road house advised police that a sewage backup was
coming from the street April 4. The highway department was informed for response.

Animal

Police contacted New Rochelle Humane Society to pick up a loose bulldog found near the intersection of Crossway and Mamaroneck Road April 5.

A woman walking her dog and a second caller reported a possibly deceased cat near the intersection of Fenimore Road and Ridgecrest East April 5. Police notified the highway department.

A Fox Meadow Road resident found a loose bulldog on the street and secured the dog in his garage April 5. Police called New Rochelle Humane Society for pickup.

Lost and found

A woman found a wallet containing a driver’s license, five credit cards and miscellaneous papers at the high school track April 1. She gave it to police who contacted the owner for pickup. The owner said nothing was missing from the wallet.

Firefighters

According to Fire Chief James Seymour, firefighters responded to 17 incidents in the Village during the reporting period. He shared the following details.

On March 31, firefighters shut down a malfunctioning oil-fired boiler in a Berkeley Road house using an emergency shut-off switch. They detected elevated levels of carbon monoxide inside the house and ventilated it. They advised the homeowner to repair the boiler before using it again.

On April 4, oven smoke was reported inside a Cushman Road house. During investigation, the homeowners reported arcing from the oven’s heating element.

Firefighters observed a broken heating element and no fire. They advised the homeowners to refrain from using the oven until it could be properly repaired.

On April 5, firefighters were called to a Saxon Woods Road house experiencing elevated levels of carbon monoxide. They discovered the source was a faulty boiler in the basement. Firefighters shut down the boiler and advised the homeowner to contact a repair service.

On April 5, firefighters used a dry chemical extinguisher to extinguish a small fire burning on top of the engine block on the passenger side of a car parked in the parking lot across from Fire Department Headquarters on Tompkins Road. Investigation determined the fire was caused by a buildup of leaves and brush, possibly even used an animal’s nest, under the hood. The driver of the car said he noticed the car had started to smoke and pulled into the parking lot near the fire station.

This report covering police and fire department activity from March 30 – April 5 has been compiled from official information.

This police report is sponsored by Scarsdale Security who does more than just security. Contact them about remote video for your home or business. Call 914-722-2200 or visit their website.