Scarsdale Police Blotter: Broken Down Bus, Homeless Man and a Phantom Intruder
- Details
- Hits: 5596
Bus Breakdown: A school bus filled with kids broke down at the intersection of Mohican Trail and Mamaroneck Road at 3 pm on April 10. Police redirected traffic while the school bus was moved off the road and a second bus was called. The children were transferred to the second bus and a mechanic fixed the problem. The bus was returned to the yard.
Phantom Intruders: At midnight on Tuesday 4/9 a resident on Hutchinson Avenue reported that her home was entered while she was out. Several items, including her medication, some fruit, dog leashes and a snow shovel had been moved. There were no signs of forced entry but she believes that someone is entering her home and moving things around. Police assured her they would monitor the area.
Locked In: A Greenacres mom called police for help when here children were inadvertently locked in the car while it was parked on Meadow Road at 1:30 pm on 4/9. Someone from the Heathcote Gulf Station came to the house and was able to open the car. The children were unharmed.
Harassed: A Dickel Road man complained that for the past three weeks he has been receiving phone calls in the middle of the night. When he answers there is no one there but he can hear voices in the background. The phone carrier is unable to block or stop calls from the number on the caller i.d. The man made the report on April 8.
Tripped: A Black Birch Lane woman called police at 6 pm on April 10 to say that she had previously tripped on Village property and wanted to show police where she had fallen so that repairs could be made. She reported that at 5:30 pm on April 9 she stepped into a small pothole on Rock Creek Lane, fell and broke her wrist and twisted her ankle. A passerby drove her home and her husband took her to the doctor.
Identity Theft: On 4/10 a Meadow Road woman called police to report that someone had gotten access to her AMEX card number and made several purchases at Sears, including TV's and Blu-ray players valued at more than $1,000. A total of eight purchases were made during the first week of April. She contacted AMEX and cancelled her card. She came to the police station on the night of 4/10 to file the report.
Speeding Cab: A Heathcote Road woman called police on the night of April 11 when she saw a cab from Central Taxi driving "approximately 60 miler per hour" on Crane Road toward the village. Police were able to identify the cab and went to Central Taxi to speak to the driver. He denied speeding. Police gave him a verbal warning.
Unleashed Dogs: An Aspen Road woman reported a loose German Shepard running on Aspen Road at 75pm on April 12. Soon thereafter the owner caught the dog and brought it home. At 5:30 pm a Clarence Road woman reported a black dog running loose near her home. Police were not able to locate the dog. At 6 pm that night police received another call about a man walking a Huskie on Lockwood Road without a leash. Police were not able to locate the man.
Solicitor: On Ferncliff Road police got a call about a man who was ringing doorbells and soliciting at 8 pm on April 12. Police found Zachary Fowler of Croydon PA who said he was soliciting for construction work. Police told him that he could not solicit without a permit and issued him a summons.
Drunk in the Park: Scarsdale Police were called by Eastchester Police at 9:40 pm on April 12 to help with a youth party at Hyatt Field. Eastchester Police were taking one young person to the hospital and asked the Scarsdale Police to check the field. They found a bottle of Bacardi.
Uninvited Guests: Birchall Drive residents called police at 2:42 am on April 13 when a car drove up their driveway at a high speed and then left. Police searched for the car and checked the plate number but were unable to identify the driver or owner of the car.
Tenant Issue: A Dell Road landlord called police at noon on 4/13 when the tenant would not let her into the house with a contractor and insurance agent regarding some repairs. The tenant said her lease called for her to receive prior notification and said she could not let the landlord in at this time. The landlord made a date to get inside in the future.
Homeless: At 3:57 am police came upon Devin Quin on Garth Road. Quin said he was homeless and asked police if there were any local shelters for temporary lodging. Police contacted the Open Arms Shelter in White Plains who agreed to have him stay there. Police transported Quin to the shelter.
Summons: Police issued a summons to the driver of a tractortrailer from North Carolina on April 12. The driver was in Scarsdale to pick up some cars at the Nissan dealership in White Plains. Police stopped the man because the license plate was partially obscured and also noted that his log book was not up to date and the tractor battery cover was missing.
Lost: At 7 am on April 10 a Montrose Road man came to police to report a lost wallet containing his driver's license and personal papers.
Drunk Driver Arrested After Post Road Crash
- Details
- Hits: 7367
Police responded to an accident at 5 pm on Sunday 4/7 at the intersection of Popham Road and Post Road. A collision occurred when a 2012 BMW going eastbound on Popham Road "at a high rate of speed" ran the traffic light at the Post Road, lost control and ran into a Jeep Cherokee stopped at the light on the Post Road. When police arrived, the driver of the Jeep was upset and yelling, "He went through the light! He was driving like a maniac and drove right into me."
The driver of the speeding car was Vijay Venkataramani, age 32 of New Rochelle. Venkataramani said he left his license at home. Both cars were heavily damaged.
The driver was unsteady on his feet, had difficulty keeping his balance and smelled of alcohol. He admitted to drinking one glass of Scotch with his lunch at Chat but failed sobriety tests. He was uncooperative with police and warned repeatedly. He was arrested and taken to headquarters where he was found to have a BAC reading of .17%. In addition to being charged with a DWI, he was also charged with passing through a red light and driving at an unreasonable speed. His BMW was towed away. He was released on $200 bail and given a court date.
Oil Spill: A large fuel truck sprung a leak on the Post Road near Evon Court on April 3 between 10:30 am and 1 pm. According to the driver a seal had broken causing the oil to spill out onto the roadway. A second truck was called and 800 gallons of fuel were transferred to the second truck while absorbent material was poured onto the spilled fuel on the road to prevent it from moving. The fire department and a Hazmat team were also called in and closed the road while the spill was cleaned up.
Break-in? A caretaker for a home on Walworth Avenue said that he was checking the home while the owner was away and found a broken window pane
in a side door window on April 6. When police arrived, they found the home in complete disarray with paper and personal items strewn about. The caretaker confirmed that the home is kept this way. The caretaker did not know if anything was missing. Due to the state of the house, police called the Fire Inspector and Assistant Village Inspector to assess the safety of the house. The Fire Inspector found some issues with the home and contacted the homeowner who said she was out of the country and would return in April.
On 4/6 a Chesterfield Road residents reported that a $600 bracelet and $200 in cash were missing from her daughter's room. A handyman and a babysitter had been in the house recently.
Car Thefts: On April 1, a car owned by a Pleasantville woman was vandalized when it was parked in the lower lot at Scarsdale Middle School. The front passenger side window was broken and gym bag was taken from the front seat. Police found a pry mark near the broken window.
A Bell Road woman reported that sometime between 3/30 and 4/3 someone removed her purse from her car when it was parked unlocked in front of her house. On 4/2 she noticed that the car door had been left open and on 4/4 she realized the purse was missing with her checkbook, green card, passport and bank statements. She was not aware of any fraudulent activity on her bank account.
A Sprague Road man complained on 4/5 that on two consecutive nights someone let the air out of a tire of his car. On one night the car was parked in the driveway and on the second night it was in the street.
Identity Theft: On 4/1 a Wheelock Road man reported that two unauthorized purchases totaling $1,477.59 were made on his Citibank credit card between January 25 and April 1.
On 4/1 a Palmer Avenue man reported that AT&T advised him that a Bronx man named Kelvin Williams had attempted to purchase a new iPhone5 from Best Buy using the Scarsdale man's account and then to transfer the account to his name. Police advised him to call the credit card companies to cancel his accounts.
A Bradley Road man reported that he was unable to file his tax return because an imposter had already used his personal information to file his 2012 return. It was also discovered that two returns had been filed in his name in 2011. The IRS asked the man to file a police report before they would divulge the address of the person who had filed the false return. The man made the report on 4/3.
Family Matters: A couple in the midst of a divorce called police on the evening of April 2. The wife claimed that her husband's family would not leave the property. The husband's mother and sister had come by with food for him as he was recovering from a medical procedure. The wife claimed that her husband's family had screamed at her and called her names. Since no divorce agreement was in place, police told the mom and the sister that they could not stay and were trespassing.
Police responded to a report of a disagreement occurring at 9:30 am on 4/7 on White Road . A woman told police that she was having an argument with her husband and went outside to take a walk. Her husband and her father-in-law tried to convince her to come inside. She said that they had not hurt her and there was not violence or physical contact.
A Richbell Road woman called police on the morning of 4/2 to complain that her employee misplaced the homeowner's gloves. By the time police arrived the gloved were located.
An upset mom called police for help on the afternoon of 4/5 when she inadvertently locked herself out of the house with her 15 month old child inside. Police were able to get into the house via an interior door in the garage.
Harassed: The dispatcher for Central Taxi on East Parkway in Scarsdale reported that kids were harassing him and his employees and tying up his phone lines on April 4 between 3:50 and 4:30 pm. The kids had been doing this for the past few weeks. Police advised the man to call the Verizon unlawful call center.
On 4/4 a Walworth Avenue woman reported the receipt of threatening emails from a former employee. She was fearful for the well being of herself and her family.
The branch manager at Bank of America in the Golden Horseshoe Shopping Center called police around 1 pm on 4/5 when a customer requested help. The customer, Hilda Simons of White Plains, was approached by a man in the parking lot who offered to fix a dent in her car. She agreed, but when she returned, he asked for $380 which she refused to pay and called the police from the bank. By the time police arrived the man was gone.
Wandering: A Jefferson Road man called police on the afternoon of April 5 to say that a homeless man was sitting on a stoop of a house on the street. Police spoke to the homeless man who identified himself as John Ricks. He had all his belongings with him and said he lived in Queens but was here looking for work. He asked one of the residents if she had any odd jobs. He agreed to leave the property and walked toward the bus stop. At 6:20 that night Ricks was spotted at the intersection of Greenacres and Walworth Avenues. He told police he was looking for a bodega and did not need help.
Police found an elderly man in his pajamas wandering around the parking garage area of the Chateaux Apartments at 5:30 am on 4/6. He said he was "going for a walk." Police drove the man home and called his daughter.
Dogs: After receiving complaints about dogs running loose on Greenacres Field, police spoke to one dog owner and told her that he dog cannot run without a leash on the field at 8:30 am on 4/6. She readily complied and took the dog home.
After receiving a complaint that an unleashed dog jumped on a pedestrian and "attacked her," police gave the dog owner, a Meadow Road man, a summons on 4/1.
Refuse: A Rock Creek Lane man reported that someone had dumped asphalt and slate in front of his home at 11 am on 4/6.
A Car Break-in and Stolen Gift Cards from the Scarsdale Police
- Details
- Hits: 4189
Car break-in: A black Hyundai, parked in the lot at SHS, was vandalized on March 19th. A student parked the car in the lot at 9 am on 3/19 and when he returned at 3 pm he found that the window on the right passenger door was broken and an Apple iPod Touch was missing from the car.
Stolen Gift Cards: Four American Express gift cards, each valued at $100 each were stolen from a desk drawer at Meritage Properties on Overhill Road sometime between March 12 and March 18. The woman notified Amex who reported that all four gift cards had been used to make purchases in White Plains on March 13 and March 20.
Lost and Found:
Missing Keys: A Yonkers woman came to police headquarters to report that the keys to her Honda Civic and home had been taken while she was teaching a class at Scarsdale High School on the afternoon of March 18. The women subsequently reported that she found the keys.
Missing iPhone: A Britanny Close woman reported that she lost her iPhone 5, valued at $500, while she was en route to the Scarsdale Train Station on March 22. AT&T reported that the phone was used shortly after she lost it. When the woman called the number reported by AT&T it went to voice mail.
Missing boy: A concerned Edgewood mom notified police on March 18 when she could not find her 8 year-old son. The boy had taken the dog for a walk at three pm and she was concerned when he failed to return by 4 pm. Police canvassed the area – and during their search they got a call that the boy had been located at a friend's house.
Found dog: A brown Yorkie with no tags was found on Crawford Lane at 6:45 pm on 3/18. While police were searching for the owners a woman they questioned said she knew the dog's owner and will keep the dog until she could find them. Just after midnight Police got a call from a woman who lives on Saxon Woods Road to say her dog was missing. Police told her where they dog was being kept and to arrange to pick it up.
Identity Theft: An Elm Road woman reported fraudulent activity on her HSBC checking account. On 3/21 she found that withdrawals, amounting to $994.90 had been made from her account in the Netherlands.
Strange: Police were called about a suspicious man walking on Walworth Avenue at 5:30 pm on March 19. The man was talking to himself and acting strangely. Police located the man who said he lives in Mt. Vernon and that he planned to walk home. Police told him it was too far to walk and took him to the bus stop so that he could ride home.
Intruders? Police got two calls about unidentified men on homeowner's property on March 21. The first turned out to be a data collector for the tax revaluation and the second was employed by a pest control company and had been hired to spray the property.
Vandalism: On Kensington Road two outside light fixtures, valued at $200, were damaged overnight on 3/22-3/23/13. A mailbox from across the street was found lying on the ground and it appeared that the mailbox had been used to damage the light fixtures.
Incident at Fox Meadow School: At 4 pm on 3/22 the school secretary at Fox Meadow called police to say that three youths were trying to enter the school to use the bathroom after the school was closed. They were denied access by school staff, but kept trying doors to get in. A teacher said they kids gestured with their hands as if they were shooting guns, which is why they called the police. The kids were spoken to by the responding officer and admonished for their actions. They were reminded of the seriousness of that type of gesture around a school.
Feud: A woman from Black Birch Lane called police on Sunday 3/24 around three pm about a dispute she was having with her neighbors. Her neighbor claims that when the woman parks on the street in front of her house, it makes it difficult for him to get out of his driveway. Also, when both families park on the street it is hard for emergency vehicles to pass by. Police advised both families to park on the same side of the street and to ask the Village to post "no parking" signs on one side of the street.
Accident: Residents of Grand Park Avenue and Broadmoor Road collided at the intersection of Griffen Avenue and Broadmoor Road at 7:30 pm on March 24. The driver of one of the cars was injured and transported to White Plains hospital.
Arrest, Hate Crime, and a Homeless Man on the Loose
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- Hits: 4788
Arrest: Raland Wheeler, age 20 of New Rochelle surrendered to Scarsdale Police on the strength of a bench warrant on the afternoon of 3/27. He was wanted for driving without a license. However when he came to Village Court he again had no i.d., and said that he lost his driver's license and did not have any documention to verify his identity. The detective was able to obtain Wheeler's photo from the DMV photo system and authenticated his identity. Wheeler was taken to Village Court where Judge Galloway set cash bail at $400 and gave him a court date.
Hate Crime? The sign at Scarsdale Community Baptist Church on Popham Road was reported damaged pm Sunday March 31. An upside down cross, measuring 18 inches high by 6 inches wide, was spray painted on the sign. The incident was reported to the Investigations Section of the D.A. Biased Crimes Unit.
Missing? Two bronze "Meiji" vases were reported missing from the mantel of a home on Olmstead Road on 3/27. The vases were valued at $500 and the homeowner last saw them in early January. A detective was sent to the house to follow-up and did a walk through of the premises. He quickly spotted a pair of vases matching the homeowner's description on a shelf in the den. Case solved!
Where's Mom? A 24 year-old Innes Road woman called police on March 25 when she was unable to find her mother. The two had a dispute during dinner and the mother left the house. When she had not returned by 9 pm the daughter grew concerned. While police were at the house the mother was located at the Crowne Plaza where she said she would stay for the night
Trespassing: A Drake Road man called police at 7:20 on 3/27 when he saw someone stealing wood from his property. Police stopped the trespasser who said that he thought the property was abandoned and was taking the wood from the downed tree to chop up. When he was confronted he apologized to the homeowner and agreed not to return to the property.
Marital Woes: A Madison Road woman called police on the morning of 3/29 when her ex-husband showed up at the house and was removing items from the garage. The wife said they were in the middle of a divorce and there was no order regarding the house. The husband said an appraiser was coming to look at the house and he came by to clean up. Police told the man not to remove anything and advised both husband and wife to call their lawyers.
Downed Tree: A Lenox Place woman called police at 9:30 am on 3/29 when she saw a tree being taken down on Mamaroneck Avenue. Police spoke to the worker who did not have a permit to cut down the tree. Police issued the man a code violation. The homeowner from Mamaroneck Road countered by calling police later that day to say that her neighbor was taking pictures of her house and the trees that were being removed.
Rock through the window: Ike Okoli called police on the afternoon of 3/25 to say that he found a rock inside his bedroom and believes that his neighbor through the rock through his window. However, the rock did not damage the window as it was open. Okoli has ongoing problems with his neighbor.
Homeless Home shopper: Police received a report about a man asleep next to a shopping cart on Supply Field at 8 am on 3/26. They went to the field and recognized the man as James Williams a homeless man who lives in a shelter in White Plains. Police told Williams that all Scarsdale parks and fields are closed during the winter and loitering is prohibited. Williams agreed to leave the area. At 10:30 am, Williams was again spotted at Wynmor Park. He told police he was on his way to White Plains. Then at 1:40 pm on 3/26 police got another call about a man with a shopping cart sitting on lawns on Park Road. When police spoke to him again, Williams said he was on his way to White Plains but "wanted to see a property that he was looking to purchase." Police explained that Williams needed a real estate agent to look at a house or else he would be arrested for trespassing. Williams said he understood and headed over to Garden Road to walk to White Plains.
Notification: At midnight on 3/29 the Pima Arizona Sheriff's Department called Scarsdale Police for assistance in notifying the family of Spencer Repp about the death of their son in an accident that occurred earlier that evening. Scarsdale Police notified the family.
Locked Out: A Johnson Road woman called police at 11 am on 3/27 when her 2 year-old daughter locked her out of the house. Police were able to get into the house without damaging it.
Gas Leak: At 4:30 pm on 3/27 police received a call about a Honda Civic that was parked in the lower level of the Christie Place Garage leaking gasoline. Police deemed the car a hazard and called R&D Towing to take it to Ted Herman 's Auto Body. Police were unable to reach the car's owner to notify him. At 10:50 pm that night, police got a 911 call from the Christie Place garage when the owner of the car returned and found that his car was missing.
Another Bobcat? A Greenacres Avenue resident called police at 11 am on 3/29 to report a bobcat in the area. Police searched the 
area but were unable to locate it.
Police assisted an upset and possibly drunk woman on Scarsdale Avenue at 2:23 am on March 30. The woman was taken to the hospital and her mother was notified.
Lost and Found:
A Cooper Road woman reported that her iPhone 5, valued at $600 was missing after she left it briefly at Lange's on Christie Place on the morning of 3/25. When she realized it was missing she went back to Lange's but it was gone.
A Lockwood Road man lost his blue Nokia cell phone in Scarsdale Village on March 24.
An unidentified person found a wallet belonging to a Tarrytown woman on Garth Road on the morning of 3/31 and turned it over to police. Police contacted the owner via email and she came to pick up her wallet later that day.
Identity Theft: On 3/25 a Wynmor Road man reported that a credit card was opened in his name at US Bank without his authorization.
19 Year-Old Girl Charged with Stealing from the Scarsdale School District
- Details
- Hits: 6831
A 19 year-old girl from St. Albans New York was arrested for grand larceny and possession of forged instruments after she cashed fraudulent checks from the Scarsdale School District for $5,613. The defendant, Nashawn A. Wallace, is accused of cashing the district's checks at four Chase Banks in Queens on or about January 29, 2013. The duplicated checks were payable to Wallace and bore the signatures of two employees of the school district who's identities have not been revealed. On February 28, Wallace surrendered herself to Scarsdale Police and admitted to the offense in the presence of her attorney, Charles Tucker, Jr. She said she travelled to the Chase branches by taxi and submitted the fraudulent checks to be cashed. Based on her admissions, Wallace was charged and brought before Justice Galloway on March 13. She was arraigned, released on her own recognizance and given a court date of March 27.
Scarsdale School's Treasurer Jeff Martin discovered the missing funds while reconciling the school's account. He realized that the funds were withdrawn on 1/29/13 via the use of duplicated checks and reported the crime to police on 2/6.
According to Scarsdale Lt. Thomas Altizio, Wallace received the fraudulent checks from an individual whose identity is still under investigation."
Accidents: A 46 year-old Graham Road woman came to police headquarters on the morning of March 11 to report that her 2012 BMW had been sideswiped by a truck when she was driving on Burgess Road and damaged her driver's side mirror. While police were writing up the accident report they checked the woman's drivers license and registration and found that the registration had been suspended because the car was not insured. Police removed the license plates from the BMW and seized them, leaving the woman without wheels to drive home.
On the morning of 3/15 a Vernon Road woman had an accident in front of the fire station on Post Road in Scarsdale. She was driving south and accelerated to avoid a fire engine that was pulling out of the station. The driver of the fire truck blew his horn and in her mind, caused her to collide with a yellow pick-up truck. She complained that the horn caused the accident but left the station without filing a report.
Identity Theft: On 3/11 a Post Road man reported that someone had used his name and personal information to open a Verizon account sometime between August 2008 and May 2009. On 3/13 a man from Overhill Road reported that someone purchased two SIM cards valued at $260 at Verizon and charged them to his account.
Stolen or Lost? A student at Scarsdale High School reported that her iPhone 4S had been stolen from her backpack at school on the afternoon of March 14. Her mother used the Find My iPhone app and located the phone in Yonkers. Scarsdale Police drove to the Yonkers address where they believed the phone was located but no one answered the door at the house. However that night a custodian at the high school heard a cell phone alarm and found it next to a computer terminal in the library. The owner retrieved the phone – and also concluded that the GPS on the device, that showed it to be in Yonkers, was not accurate.
A 17 year-old boy from Heathcote Road reported that his wallet, cell phone and other items were missing on March 16. He had driven a 2012 Acura to school for baseball tryouts. When he left tryouts he went to his car and realized he had left his baseball glove on the field. He left some items in the car and retrieved the glove. However, when he returned to the car, the items were missing and some of his other belongings were on the ground. He had not locked the car but was only gone briefly.
A Jefferson Road man reported his 2008 BMW stolen from the Freightway Lot on the afternoon of March 13. Police searched the area and found it parked in the outdoor lot opposite Freightway.
At 3 am on 3/15, a Saxon Woods Road woman reported that she lost her wallet in the village sometime on the night of March 12. The red wallet contained her license, two gift cards, blank checks and a winning voucher worth $3,089 from a casino.
On 3/15 a woman from Chesterfield Road complained that a contractor had removed the gutters from her home without her permission. She signed a contract for new gutters with the company but had not given a deposit so she did not think the contract was valid. However, the contractor thought otherwise and removed the gutters and said that once removed the gutters were cut and bent. The homeowner asked from them to be returned none-the-less and said she had changed her mind about the contract.
Harassed: On 3/15, a 17 year-old Butler Road boy complained that he received a harassing message on Facebook on February 16. The message said, "If I was you I would be scared. Cause I'm comin for you. You're going to regret you were ever born." The boy said he knew the person who sent the message from middle school and that he had been picked on by the sender at that time. The sender now lives in NYC. Police advised the Scarsdale boy to block the sender from contacting him on Facebook.
A 41 year-old woman from Fairview Court also reported the receipt of harassing text messages. She received multiple messages on 3/13 and more on 3/14. She did not know who was sending the messages but the person was using her name. A friend tried to call back the number from where the texts originated but the number was not available.
A Sheldrake Road man reported that a neighbor was harassing his housekeeper. According to the housekeeper the man drives past her when she is walking the dog and makes deliberate attempts to bother her by driving fast toward her and then slowing down farther down the road. The woman's employer called his neighbor and found out that he does not like his dogs and was angry that he used a generator during the storm. The complainant also reported that the angry neighbor drove dangerously close to his children. The offender drives a late model blue BMW.
A Nelson Road woman called the police on the afternoon of March 12 when she was being pestered by a reporter. The Scarsdale woman had served on a jury and the reported wanted to speak to her. Police asked the reporter to leave the property and she complied.
Bad Sign: At 2 am on 3/12, a patrolmen noticed a sign for "Honey Do Men Gutter and Roofing Corp" posted at the intersection of Crane Road and East Parkway. Since the sign was posted in violation of village code it was removed and a summons was issue to the company.
Off the field: On the morning of 3/13 police were alerted that an unauthorized group was using Hyatt Field. Police went to the field and told the group of 20 people about the rules and regulations of the village. They agreed to leave and to obtain a permit in the future.
