Scarsdale Police Arrest Drunk Drivers
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Randolph Ramrup age 35 of the Bronx was caught driving 50 mph on the Post Road at 2:15 am on February 19. Police chased him and he initially resisted police but later pulled over onto the sidewalk at the intersection of Burgess and Post Roads. Police smelled alcohol on Ramrup’s breath and he claimed he had left his driver’s license at the bar. He failed the sobriety tests and was found to have an elevated BAC. Ramrup was placed under arrest and his car was parked in the high school lot. He was booked for speeding and driving while intoxicated and released.
The following night Ramrup came into headquarters to report that his wallet was taken from his car while it was parked in front of Scarsdale High School. He claimed that when he returned for the car the next day, his coach wallet, driver’s license, debit card and student id were missing, though it should be noted that the previous night Ramrup claimed he did not have his license.
At 4:30 am, police spotted a Honda on the Post Road with no rear plate light. They stopped the car on Fenimore Road and smelled alcohol on the driver’s breath. The man admitted that he had just left the Misky Bar in White Plains where he drank four beers. The man only had a Mexican driver’s license that identified him as Rene Gonzalez, age 26 of Dobbs Ferry Road, Scarsdale. Police conducted a DMV check and found that Gonzalez had been suspended five times by the DMV. Gonzales was arrested and booked for driving while intoxicated, driving without a license and for inadequate lights on his car. He was released on $400 cash bail.
Shortly after midnight on 2/20 police stopped a speeding driver on the Post Road. They found that the driver appeared drunk and the car smelled of marijuana. The man admitted to drinking a beer and smoking a joint before he left the bar. He failed sobriety tests and was placed under arrest. A search of his car revealed a bag of marijuana. Eric Stapen, age 32 of Popham Road, Scarsdale was arrested for driving while intoxicated, speeding, driving under the influence of drugs and possession of marijuana.
Minutes later, at 5 am, police stopped the driver of a speeding Acura at Post and Sherbrooke Roads and smelled alcohol on his breath. The driver identified himself as Gersson D. Jimenez of New Rochelle and admitted that he had just left the Cabo Bar in White Plains where had had consumed mixed drinks and beer. The man had no license and said that his license had been revoked. There was a half full bottle of beer on the console and a drunk passenger in the front seat. The driver was found to be inebriated and his car was impounded. He was arrested for speeding, driving without a license, driving while intoxicated, and carrying an open alcohol container in the car.
Slipped: An 84-year old Overlook Road man slipped on the ice in Scarsdale Village around noon on 12/18. He fell on Spencer Place and possibly broke some ribs. He was taken to Westchester Medical Center by SVAC. A 76 year-old woman from Inverness Road tripped on Spencer Place on the morning of 2/19, injuring her right hand and knee. She was also taken to White Plains Hospital by SVAC.
On the afternoon of 2/18 Ronald Walter, the property manager for the Wilgrin Parking lot on Palmer Avenue reported that a truck drove over a parking island and knocked down a tree. There were not witnesses.
Wind Damage: A large tree branch fell on two cars parked in the lot at the Scarsdale library on the afternoon of 2/19. A Toyota and a Mazda were trapped under the branch and the Highway Department had to cut the branch to free the cars. Though no damage was done to the Mazda, the roof, hood and fender of the Toyota were damaged.
At 3:20 am on 2/19, a large tree fell on Jefferson Road and knocked down the power line.
High winds caused a large tree branch to fall on a car travelling on Heathcote Road on the afternoon of 2/19. The branch broke the windshield of a car that belonged to George Telonis of Boulder Brook Road.
A water main broke at 4 am on 2/22 on Saxon Woods Road near the intersection of Black Birch Lane. Water pouring from the broken pipe froze on the road causing hazardous, icy conditions. Highway workers shut down the road and workers from the water department were summoned.
A Burglary, A Con Woman and A Dishonest Babysitter
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Burglary on Grand Park: a houseguest who was staying at 11 Grand Park Avenue returned to the house at 9 pm on February 15 and discovered that someone had entered the house through a rear basement door and pried open an interior door that leads to the first floor of the house. Many items were missing. As the owner is away, the guest provided a partial list of what was taken from the home, which included liquor, two laptop computers, two flat screen televisions and an iPod.
Con Artist: A woman who claimed to be Amanda M. King of California made two fraudulent withdrawals of $3,000 each from the Chase Bank on Palmer Avenue on February 15. The teller and assistant manager of the bank questioned the woman about what she was doing in Scarsdale and scrutinized her identification, but as she was able to give the correct account password and had knowledge of the last four transactions on the account, they gave her the funds.
However, later that day, the Scarsdale Chase Branch Manager got a call informing her that after leaving Scarsdale, the same woman then travelled to the Chase Bank on Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains and attempted to make another cash withdrawal. It turned out the California driver’s license number was fraudulent and that she was not Amanda King. She was actually Dorothy Hogue of the Bronx and she was arrested for identity theft, possession of forged instruments, forgery and grand larceny.
Served: Sahit Muja of Saxon Woods Road called police on the evening of February 15 to complain that a man was trying to get into his house. Police went to the home and spoke to the alleged intruder who identified himself as Thomas Roskin. Mr. Roskin explained that he was at the home to serve divorce papers to Mr. Muja. However, when police scanned Roskin’s driver’s license number they found that he was on federal probation for securities fraud. Police attempted to contact Roskin’s parole officer but were unable to get in touch with him. Despite Roskin’s status, he was found to be a legitimate process server and police let Muja know that Roskin was there to serve legal papers. Muja is well known in town due to the giant snow sculpture he recently built in his front yard.
Inside Job: A Popham Road man came to police on February 15 to report that $350 had been taken from an envelope in his bedroom. As he suspected that his babysitter was taking the cash, he replaced the money and monitored the draw with an in-home video camera. The tape showed the sitter taking another$20 and when he confronted her she admitted to stealing the money and promised to pay it back. On February 17, the man received a text message from the sitter that said that the baby’s car seat and a gift were outside the apartment. The man found the car seat, three pocketbooks and a letter promising to pay back the funds. The man wanted to document the incident with police.
Lisa Glaser of Pomona, NY reported that her credit card was stolen while she was at work at Harwood Court sometime after February 9th. Citicard notified her that fraudulent charges had been made on the card at Best Buy, the Getty station and Buy Buy Baby.
Arrest: Francisco Rivera, age 57, who had an outstanding bench warrant in Scarsdale was arrested in Yonkers at 1 am on 2/16. Yonkers police notified the Scarsdale Police who drove to Yonkers, transported Rivera to Scarsdale and booked him. He was released on $300 bail pending an appearance.
Threats: A Madison Road woman received a death threat via a text message on her phone on February 16. She made contact with the woman at the number from which the message was sent and the woman knew nothing about it. Police called the woman whose number was the origin of the threatening text. She said that Verizon told her she was the victim of “phone spoofing.”
A Brite Avenue woman called to report that her ex-husband had entered her home without her permission on the night of February 15. The man entered the home through the garage and put his children to bed.
Animals: On February 15 a Brookby Road woman reported that a neighborhood dog keeps going on her lawn. As she does not know whom the dog belongs to, she wanted to file a report.
A coyote was reported on the lawn of a Horseguard Lane home on the morning of 2/16 and another coyote was spotted on Harvest Drive at 7:24 am on 2/17.
Smokin’:On the morning of February 18, Fred Goldberg, the Assistant Principal of SHS called the police to report that students were outside smoking marijuana on Harcourt Road. By the time police arrived, the kids were gone.
Accidents: A 17 year-old boy lost control of his car when it hit an ice patch on the afternoon of February 14. The boy was driving west on Harcourt Road when the car went into a skid and hit a wire that supports a telephone post. Since the support wire was broken, Con Edison was notified.
A young woman from Larchmont ran her 2008 Jeep into a fence at 2 Broadmoor Road on the afternoon of February 15. She said she swerved to avoid a truck that was travelling north on Griffen Road. She was issued a summons for “failing to operate (the car) in a safe manner to avoid collision.”
In Memory of Boine T. Johnson
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Boine T. Johnson of Fairview Road in Scarsdale passed away at White Plains Hospital on Friday February 4th after a brief illness. Johnson, who was born in 1931 celebrated his 79th birthday in December. He served as Village Trustee and as Scarsdale’s Mayor from 1975-1977 and lived in town for over 50 years. He has remained very active in Village affairs as a Director of the Scarsdale Forum (TVCC).
According to the Theta Delta Chi Fraternity, Johnson graduated from Williams College in 1953, where he was a member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity and competed at national levels in lacrosse. After service in the Navy he graduated from Harvard Business School and later joined the faculty at HBS.
Boine joined the Town Club, which was the forerunner of the Scarsdale Forum in June 1963 and was the President of the Town Club in 1984. For many years he served as the TVCC representative on the Citizens Nominating Committee. He was the Treasurer of the Non-Partisan Party Campaign Committee and served on the CNC Procedure Committee. More recently, Boine served on the Scarsdale Forum’s Assessment Revaluation Committee and the Education Finance Committee where he helped to draft a recent report on Teacher’s Compensation. Forum member Robert Berg remarked; “Boine was a real committed Scarsdalian and a great resource to younger civic volunteers. I really enjoyed working with him. This is a major loss for Scarsdale.”
His wife has asked that donations in his memory be sent to either of the following organizations as each had a very special place in Boine’s heart:
Amateur Comedy Club Century Fund
150 East 36 Street
New York, NY 10016
Or:
Williams College
Alumni Fund Class of ‘53
75 Park Street
Williamstown, MA 01267
Please post your tributes to Boine Johnson below:
Status Update on Principal John Klemme
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John Klemme, Principal of Scarsdale High School has been out of school due to health issues. Many of you have inquired about his status and how the high school is handling his absence. We asked School Superintendant Michael McGill for an update, and here is the information he shared with us.
How long has Mr. Klemme been out? John has been on sick leave since just before the December holiday.
Is Mr. Klemme on disability? The principals' association contract and district policies provide for sick leave, which is normally used up before disability kicks in.
How is the school managing without him? In terms of how we're operating with only three positions for the short term: everyone — including department heads and district office personnel — can pick up some slack for a limited period of time. There's no way to put a hard and fast limit on what that "limited period" is — probably it's several months -- certainly not years. The longer the school goes on without the four positions, (principal plus three assistant principals) however, the more the jobs of those who are doing the backfilling will slip and/or we'll see slippage in the gains made possible by the new assistant principal position over the last two plus years. Predictably, we'll then be back to slower response times, less followup to problems, more kids falling through cracks, less pro-activity, fewer efforts to improve program -- like the 9th grade transition.
What does his prolonged absence tell us about the need for three assistant principals at Scarsdale High School? The third assistant principal position was added for several reasons. Among them: faculty and school leaders expressed concern about delays in followup on student behavior issues and leadership's inability to devote adequate followup and support for a range of other matters involving kids and families. Also, the existing leadership staff were so heavily focused on daily operations, they couldn't be adequately proactive in addressing longer term concerns or school improvement efforts.
The position has enabled school leaders to attend to student behavior issues more rapidly and in more depth, as well as to anticipate problems in the making. That's both improved effectiveness of service and to some degree reduced the incidence of difficulties. It's also given leadership more time and to address a whole range of related student-parent-teacher problems that don't involve discipline, technically speaking. Additionally, it's helped assure adequate support for special education services, which one of the assistants has to coordinate. The mandated requirements in this area have increased significantly over the past decade.
The time saved, plus time originally planned to increase proactivity, has resulted in the much improved ninth grade transition process, a leadership development program for current department chairs, a coherent school-wide focus on developing critical and creative thinking, appropriate support and followup for the Advanced Topics program, and most recently, effective leadership for a review of the behavioral code following the problems last fall — among many other efforts.
The issue isn't whether the school can run without this kind of support; for years it operated without the position and got along. Rather, it's whether the traditional level of service would meet today's student/parent/teacher expectations and needs, as well as state-mandated requirements. The people in leadership positions can only do what they can do in a day that ordinarily begins around 7 and ends somewhere around or after 5, with many nights out. If we take one of the positions away, the remaining people will still put in the time; they just won't be able to cover the same amount of ground.
When is Mr. Klemme expected to reach a decision about returning to work? I'm in communication with John about his situation, and we're working together to reach the best decisions about the future. Although I can't put a deadline on this process, I think we both agree that it would be best to reach a resolution in the nearer term, rather than letting matters slide on through the spring.
Storm Stops Scarsdale
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Arrest: On the afternoon of 2/6, police stopped the driver of a 2000 Ford on the Post Road at Huntington Avenue and found that the driver, Darwin William had a suspended license in New York for failure to pay fines. Williams was given a summons and his car was towed.
Police received a report of an erratic driver on Fenimore Road on 2/6. They located the driver, followed him for two miles and saw the man talking on his cell phone, and crossing into the opposite lane. Michael Hirson of Chase Road, Scarsdale was stopped and issued a summons for distracted driving.
Hit and Run: Scarsdale police were contacted by Greenburgh police in regards to a hit and run accident involving a Scarsdale resident on the night of 1/31. However, when police went to the man’s Secor Road home his wife told them that they were getting divorced and that she did not know his whereabouts.
Disputes: Bob Harrison had a dispute with Emerald Tree Company about trees they were removing from the Shaarei Tikvah parking lot on Fox Meadow Road. Omar from Emerald Tree called police on the morning of 1/31 to report that Harrison was taking photos of the tree crew and Harrison also called police to complain that the trees were being taken down though there were green leaves on the treetops. It turns out the tree company had been retained by the Village of Scarsdale to do the work and had a valid work permit. Police told Harrison to contact the Building Department if he had further complaints. Later that day, police also got a complaint from Shaarei Tikvah about Harrison’s interference.
A Crawford Lane woman called police on the evening of 2/1 when she got into a verbal dispute with her sister and things got out of control. By the time police arrived, the sister was leaving in a cab.
Misunderstanding: Police received a call from Child Protection Services about a possible case of child abuse involving a Greenacres boy. The boy had an eye injury but when his mother took him to the hospital it was determined that the boy was accidentally hit by a sneaker.
Vandalism: A Wakefield Road man found that the driver’s side door of his car had been scratched while it was parked on Oak Way on the afternoon of /131. On 2/3 a Richbell Road woman reported that her 2004 Cadillac was keyed sometime in January. There were scratches on the passenger side door, engine hood, roof and trunk.
Identity Theft: On 2/1 a Bradford Road man reported that someone charged about $600 in scientific equipment from Broadmin Scientific using the Scarsdale man’s credit card. The purchases were made between 1/25 and 2/1 and shipped to an address in Plano, Texas.
Storm trouble: Ice, snow and trees caused many to get stuck this week: A concerned neighbor called police to assist a Hampton Road woman who was stuck in her driveway due to the ice on the morning of 2/2. Police assisted the woman into her house.
Another driver called police to stop traffic on Walworth Avenue while he drove his vehicle down Greenacres Avenue at 8 am on 2/2. Due to the ice, he was afraid he would skid and hit oncoming traffic.
At 8:47 am on 2/2, police were called to the intersection of Sycamore and Boulder Brook Roads to help a woman who was stuck in her car with children. At 10:21 am a Tory Lane woman called police to help her carry her two young children into the house.
On the morning of February 3rd a Harcourt Road resident got her car stuck in her driveway as the Village had plowed three feet and ice to the end of her driveway. Police were able to get her car out and advised her to park at the high school until the snow could be moved.
Sycamore residents were unable to get into their house due to snow and ice on the evening of February 3rd. Police offered to help the elderly couple into the house but they declined and said they would stay in a hotel.
On the night of February 5th, two cars skidded into a snow bank on Garden Road and had to be pulled out by R& D towing. Neither car was damaged.
Several large trees and branches fell during the storm on the morning of February 2nd:
- At 9 am, a large tree branch fell and pulled utility wires down with it at 1187 Post Road. The windshield, hood, roof and passenger door of a car that was parked in the driveway was damaged as a result. Con Edison was called to help.
- At 9:18 a large branch fell on Graham Road and pulled down cable and phone wires.
- At 9:20 a tree fell at 54 Fayette Road.
- At 9:54 am a large tree branch was reported down on Ridgedale Road.
- At 10:36 am a tree branch and wires came down on Tunstall Road
Locked in: A driver on Christie Place got locked into his car when the car’s battery died on the evening of 2/3 and the door locks would not open. Police advised the man to unlock the car manually.
Raccoons: Police removed a dead raccoon from Weaver Street on the night of 1/31. On the afternoon of 2/5 a Brookby Road woman called to report a raccoon on her deck. Police were able to shoo it to a wooded area.
From Greenburgh:
Combative Con Ed Man at Caffe Azzurri: Just after midnight on 2/7, a customer at Caffe Azzurri on North Central Avenue refused to leave the restaurant. Richard Saglimbeni, a 39 year-old Con Edison meter reader from Hartsdale became combative and challenged the owner of the restaurant to a fight. The angry customer punched his hand through a window at the rear entrance to the restaurant and when police arrived they took him into custody. He was treated for cuts on his right hand and booked, held and charged with criminal mischief.
At T.J. Maxx on Central Avenue, a young woman from White Plains was caught stealing bras, panties and other clothing valued at $191 on the afternoon of February 5th. Store security stopped her and found the items in her purse. As she is underage, she was referred to the Youth Court Detective.
