Scarsdale Police: A Stolen Car, an Ungrateful Solicitor and more Break-ins
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A 2012 Acura was stolen out of a Catherine Road driveway shortly after midnight on 12/8. It was raining hard that night and the homeowner heard the car’s engine start and saw it being pulled out of his driveway. The car had been unlocked at the time and the key was inside the car. The car has keyless technology and can be started without placing a key in the ignition. The car is valued at $40,000. Two days later, at 2:40 pm on 12/10, White Plains police found the car in White Plains and contacted Scarsdale Police who told the owner to pick it up.
A Brite Avenue home was vandalized around 4:30 pm on 12/9. The homeowner was upstairs and heard voices in her backyard. A short time later she head a loud crash in her living room. She went downstairs to investigate and saw that two sliding glass doors to her living room had been broken. There was a rock on the living room floor which appeared to have been thrown through the glass.
Also on 12/9, a Secor Road woman returned home at 5:19 pm and found a back window open. Thieves had entered the home, tossed the bedrooms and attic and stolen jewelry. The back window had been unlocked and though the house is alarmed, it was not on at the time. Earlier in the day an exterminator had been at the house.
Around 8 pm on 12/10, a Hampton Road man returned home and found that someone had thrown a brick through his living room window. Two leaded windows were broken, and a brick, a large stone and broken glass were found on the living room floor. It appeared that the brick we taken from the house next door.
Fooled: A benevolent Fox Meadow resident was duped by a solicitor on December 8th. A young man from the New York Youth Club appeared at a Brite Avenue door on the night of December 8th soliciting for donations. The homeowner invited the young man inside for a hot beverage and dinner. He gave the young man a $10 donation from his wife’s wallet and put the wallet back in her purse. After dinner the solicitor excused himself to use the bathroom and the homeowner noticed that his wife’s purse was open and that her wallet was gone. He confronted the solicitor who denied taking the wallet and left the house.
The homeowner called police who found the wallet in an umbrella stand in the bathroom . Two $20 bills were missing. Police then patrolled the area and found the youth. They took him back to the house and the resident positively identified him as the young man who was in his home. The youth’s supervisor came to collect him and returned the funds.
At 9:30 that night, police got a call from a Popham Road home regarding a solicitor from the NY Youth Club in front of their home. It should also be noted, that the NY Youth Club was soliciting in Edgemont and Hartsdale last week and there were several reports to the police regarding their conduct.
On 12/5, Overlook Road residents realized that more items were missing since they originally reported a larceny in November. Stolen were a $5,000 pair of diamond studs and another pair of moonstone earrings, valued at $1,470.
On 12/9, a Mamaroneck Road woman reported that someone took her Dell laptop from her home without her permission. Though there were no signs of forced entry to her home, a sliding rear door may have been left unlocked.
Pedestrians Hit: A driver from Hawthorne hit a 14 year-old girl who was walking across Crane Road on the morning of 12/5. The girl claimed she looked both ways before crossing – but the driver says the girl failed to look east and was struck. The girl refused medical attention and was not taken to the hospital.
In addition, a Plymouth, Mass woman, driving on Church Lane struck a Garth Road woman who was crossing the street. SVAC was called but the pedestrian refused medical attention.
Crash: There was a head-on collision on Garden Road at 9:15 am on Saturday morning. Ann Marie Trabucco, age 51 from White Plains was driving south on Garden Road in an Audi and ran head on into 81 year-old Roger Seti of Hartsdale, who was driving a Chrysler Concorde north on Garden Road. The impact of the collision flipped the Audi over –and it rolled back over onto the wheels. Seti was trapped inside his car and police used the jaws of life to remove him from the car. Air bags were deployed in both vehicles and Garden Road was closed until 4 pm, while the Westchester County Police Accident Investigation Unit conducted an investigation. Both drivers claimed that the other driver crossed the yellow line into their lane and one driver was seriously injured.
Locked Out: On the afternoon of 12/5, a woman from Brewster, NY got locked out of her car when it was parked on Sage Terrace. She had locked the keys inside the car. Police told her to call AAA.
Web Surfing: On the night of 12/5, an Overhill Road dentist accessed his computer system at his home and noticed that someone was online in his office. The dentist went back to his office and found an employee of the cleaning service using the office computer to view pornographic websites. He confronted the offender who works for One Solution Service and the man admitted to using the computer. The dentist called police to file a report but did not wish to press charges.
Identity Thefts: A Murray Hill Road man reported that an unauthorized person used his 75 year-old mother’s identity to withdraw $1,000 from her bank account on 12/7.
A Madison Road woman reported that five checks, valued at $490 were forged and cashed from her account. The woman lost one signed check and someone used it to create four forged copies.
Fights: Police were called to Bell Road on the afternoon of 12/8 regarding a report of assault. The victim claimed that he had a dispute about money with someone he previously knews. The incident is under investigation.
An Innes Road man came to police headquarters at noon on 12/11 to report a verbal confrontation with a woman in the Balducci’s parking lot. He said that the woman has been calling him and wife over the past year and wants her to stop. He asked police to call the woman and she agreed to leave them alone.
Egged: A Beechwood Lane home was egged on the night of 12/8. Also, at 5:30 pm on 12/9 a Brewster Road man returned home from work and found that the front of his house had been egged. He thought some kids in the neighborhood might be responsible.
Injured deer: At 7 pm on 12/9 police got several calls about an injured deer on Mamaroneck Road near Crossway. Police found the deer and determined that both of the deer’s front legs were broken. They decided that the deer needed to be shot, cleared the road and killed it.
Dezba Asset Recovery repossessed a 2006 Mazda from 11 Hutchinson Avenue at 6:36 am on 12/10.
Family Matters: A divorced father asked police for assistance on the afternoon of 12/10 with gaining access to his four children. He came to Scarsdale to pick up his kids, however his ex-wife was out of the country and relatives were caring for the children. He was concerned that the relatives would not permit him to take the children out. The grandmother told police that the man had a suspended driver’s license. Police found that both the man’s license and registration were suspended and told him that he could not drive. Police took the man’s license plates from the car and the man called a taxi to transport him and the children to his home in Mt. Vernon.
Mulch Much?
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There are exciting developments afoot in the “greening” of Scarsdale. The Scarsdale Village Trustees are currently working a new recommendation to encourage residents to mulch their leaves --rather than rake them to the curb for pick-up. On Monday night December 5, the Village Sustainability Committee met with residents and trustees to review new methodology for mulching in place.
Mulched leaves are a low cost way to naturally fertilize the lawn and landscape beds. The mulch improves the soil and acts as free fertilizer. Even better, mulching obviates the need to cart away leaves to recycling centers, saving manpower and fuel. Ten municipalities in Westchester have already joined a consortium in Westchester that is working to identify best practices for leaf mulching. In Irvington where a resolution to encourage mulching was passed, the mayor and town councilmen were so enthusiastic about the initiative that they all pledged to mulch themselves.
To get started, Scarsdale Village will test the new procedure in DeLima and Chase Parks in the fall, 2012 – where the Department of Public Works will shred, rather than blow the leaves. To get out the word, the Village plans a public education program with notices in the Village newsletter and brochures and handouts. In addition, a demonstration day, lead by the Cornell Cooperative Extension is planned for Sustainability Day, May 8th, 2012, in Scarsdale.
According to proponents of mulching, it is relatively easy to do. Using a lawnmower or a leaf shredder, the leaves can be shredded and left on the lawn to work their way into the soil. Watch this one-minute video to see how simple it can be to mulch leaves into the lawn, rather than blowing and collecting them.
Todd Wolleman, a Scarsdale resident and member of the Friends of the Scarsdale Parks conveyed his enthusiasm for this new initiative:
I just attended the Conservation Advisory Council meeting regarding leaf mulching and composting at Village Hall yesterday evening I am excited about the future for sustainability in our village. The notion that we are a park in a village is a precious thought. Our renewable resources consist of water, soil and energy. Let’s talk about our soil. We live in a glacial plan that consists primarily of clay. This clay has been amended by leaf droppings since the ice has receded about 10,000 years ago. I am continually amazed by the geological evidence of our recent history. The glacial outcroppings are everywhere in Scarsdale. The Post Road is a perfect example of the glacial plan where the hills were once carved by the glaciers.
What you may ask does this have to do with leaf mulching? Our clay soil needs to be amended by our leaves. We do not need to have our leaves carted off by the village staff to the County dump. The leaves need to be mulched or composted by village citizens. I have leaf mulched and composted for years and found it to be easy and rewarding. The Cornell Cooperative Extension service will be part of Scarsdale Sustainability Day, hosting a seminar on instructing your lawn maintenance professional in how to mulch your property. Saturday, May 5th, at the Scarsdale Middle School. A local campaign that will emulate Irvington’s successful effort in composting awareness will echo in Scarsdale. I intend to be amongst the first Scarsdale residents to display the badge of mulching awareness on my property and encourage my fellow village residents to inquire about sustainable efforts so that we have an environment that is transferable to our children in the offing.--Todd Wolleman, Cornell Agriculture NY Metro District Alumni Director
Crossing the Line?
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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All appeared to have gone well with the Citizen Nominating Committee election on Tuesday November 15th. Participation was good, absentee ballots were mailed – not hand delivered -- and there were no poll watchers on site. Everyone involved breathed a sigh of relief that voting abuses and partisan politics were a thing of the past – and the consensus was that faith had been restored in the Non-Partisan system.
However, a letter from Bill Doescher in the Scarsdale Inquirer revealed that all was not as it should be. According to Doescher whose wife Linda Blair ran for the CNC, two residents had used the email lists of their respective neighborhood associations to endorse selected candidates. In these emails they endorsed candidates without consulting the current leadership of their neighborhood associations. Ironically a sitting member of the Procedure Committee sent out one of the emails, despite the fact that as a Procedure Committee member he had a duty to recruit candidates and insure a fair election.
Possibly as a result of these emails the endorsed candidates, Anita Mann of the Overhill Neighborhood Association and Salvatore Rao of the Old Scarsdale Neighborhood Association, beat the two Fox Meadow Neighborhood Association candidates, Linda Blair and Ted Tyberg. It is not clear what the Overhill and Old Scarsdale residents believed was at stake – or if their candidates have specific agendas.
Historically, the neighborhood associations have played an important role in the election by cooperating with the Procedure Committee to recruit candidates to run for the CNC and ensure that there are ample names on the ballot. I know from firsthand experience that the Greenacres Neighborhood Association has acted in a non-partisan fashion to support the system and to encourage widespread resident involvement in the process.
One could argue that there is no rule against campaigning via email, and no specific rule against neighborhood association candidate endorsements. But clearly endorsing candidates from one neighborhood over another and utilizing neighborhood association email lists to politic could serve to undermine the process. Down the line, it may prove to be even more difficult to get people to run for the CNC if they know that their own neighborhood association could swing the race.
This most recent transgression warrants discussion when the Procedure Committee and the League of Women Voters review the 2011 election.
Your comments?
Westchester League Calls For Mandate Relief, Reval and Flood Mitigation Funds
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The Westchester County League of Women Voters, lead by Scarsdale’s Sharon Lindsay has issued the following statement on the proposed Westchester County Budget. The League of Women Voters of Westchester thanks the Board of Legislators (BOL) for this opportunity to present its views on the proposed budget. A copy of this statement will also be given to the County Executive.
The League appreciates efforts made thus far to make budget information more accessible to the public through the County and BOL websites and to bring greater transparency to the Board of Acquisition and Contract, a matter of long-term concern to the League. The on-line Media Center, where the public can view both live and on-demand video of the public Budget and Appropriations Committee meetings with Commissioners, is very helpful. However, we ask that the BOL hold public budget discussions to allow more scrutiny of its own budget.
The League recognizes that the budget process is dynamic; our statement is based on the information available to us when we developed our positions by consensus on November 28, 2011. In this context, we offer the following comments and suggestions.
There is much to like in this budget proposal… much that is not likable but necessary… and much yet to be addressed.
First, what we like.
We applaud holding the county tax levy flat. This is an appropriate measure in light of our residents’ and businesses’ current economic stress.
The League particularly commends the County for not invading the undesignated fund balance. This sound financial policy should help preserve our AAA Bond rating. The ability to borrow, at low cost, could finance much needed infrastructure projects.
Next, what is not likeable, but necessary.
The proposed layoff of 210 County employees, while regrettable, is a consequence of the failure to negotiate new contracts, especially involving shared costs of health benefits. It appears to us this leaves the County with no other alternative.
We understand the program and agency cuts were made to achieve the flat tax goal. But there is the assumption built into the budget that as the County steps back, the cuts will be replaced by Federal and State support, other non-County-government service providers, and private (personal or business) contributions. The League is concerned that the County remain aware that many of these programs and agencies provide services and aid to our residents most in need. Therefore, the League recommends that the County establish a system to carefully monitor and analyze the impacts of these cuts throughout the next year. “Safety nets” for the most in need must continue, even if not paid for by the County.
Finally, we believe there are three major problems not addressed in the proposed budget.
The first, obvious and unrelenting unfunded State mandates. The League recommends that the County develop a strategy and assume a leadership role in lobbying for mandate reform, even if it requires additional resources, and focus on mandate relief in its 2012 County Legislative Agenda for the State.
The second area we urge you to address is county-wide reassessment (“reval”). No matter how much you decrease property taxes, if they are unfairly assessed meaningful tax relief has not been accomplished. There is no allocation in the budget to support “reval”, which is widely acknowledged to be long overdue. The Collaborative Assessment Commission, created by BOL resolution, recommended that the County provide support to local municipalities for reassessment. Those recommendations, supported by the League, have seemingly been ignored in this budget. We are cognizant of the need to restrict expenditures, but the County has presumably budgeted in 2012 for at least the $12 million it expended this year on tax certiorari proceedings and must recognize that each local municipality bears similar substantial costs. If the County is serious about tackling taxation in Westchester, we urge you support and encourage reassessment efforts.
The third, and we believe most important omission in the proposed budget, is flood mitigation. It has been almost five years since the 2007 100-year storm, where the six major watersheds in the County flooded and caused not only disruption of public and emergency services, but also caused substantial property damage for our residents. This is a local, a County, and a regional issue. Floodwaters do not respect municipal boundaries. By not continuing to appropriate funds to support mitigation programs, by not coordinating and bringing pressure to bear on State and federal authorities to deal with this problem, the County is abandoning an appropriate leadership role. Once again, we are aware of the need to conservatively spend County revenues but, in a climate of historically low interest rates and given the County’s AAA rating and low debt, the funds necessary to accomplish this could be raised by debt issuance and appropriately so, since flood mitigation projects will convey benefits to our residents over decades to come
The League of Women Voters of Westchester thanks Mr. Lawrence Soule, Budget Director, for his availability and the information he provided to us and to the public at the League-sponsored informational meeting on the budget. We also thank the Board of Legislators and the County Executive for their consideration of our concerns and suggestions.
What Are Your Children Planning To Do This Summer? Need Some Ideas?
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Representatives from 60 programs are expected to participate in the annual Summer Activities Fair at Scarsdale High School on Wednesday night November 30, 2011 from 7:30-9:30. This annual fair, now in it’s ninth year allows you and your kids to meet representatives from a wide variety of summer programs: including pre-college enrichment, sports, music, theater, travel, community service, language immersion, outdoor adventure, environmental studies, travel in U.S.A. and abroad, leadership and more...
Speak with students who have participated, see videos, pick up brochures and get lots of great information! Parents and students of all ages are welcome to attend. Bring your friends!
The event is held in the Scarsdale High School Cafeteria. Park at the back of the school and come in through the entrance on Brewster Road. Sponsored by the Scarsdale High School PTA, admission to the Summer Activities Fair is free.
