Handyman Jailed After Allegedly Stealing $50,000 from Elderly Scarsdale Couple

James D. Perron, age 48 of Tinmouth, Vermont, was arrested for Grand Larceny for the theft of more than $50,000 from two Fox Meadow residents ages 80 and 93. Perron worked as a handyman and general contractor in Scarsdale and met the elderly couple when he did work for them. He turned himself over to police on May 21 in response to a felony arrest warrant and was brought before Judge Galloway who served an order of protection for the victims and sent Perron to the Westchester County Jail pending a court hearing on May 28.On May 28 Perron was arraigned before Scarsdale Justice John Galloway who sent the case to the Westchester County Superior Court for review before a Grand Jury. Perron has a prior record and retained his own attorney.

According to a Vermont newspaper, in 1989 Perron was convicted for rape and attempted-murder. The decision was overturned in 2001 and in 2002 he pleaded guilty to attempted murder in connection with the 14-year-old case. Perron's plea in 2002 was the second time he was convicted in the case, in which he choked and sexually assaulted a woman in a wooded area behind a bar in Hampton, Vermont in 1988. A jury found him guilty of attempted murder, rape and sodomy charges in 1989.

But the conviction was overturned in 2001 after he had served more than 13 years of a 25- to 50-year prison term. A mid-level appeals court found his lawyer inadequately represented him in 1989 because he claimed she did not tell him of a plea bargain offer.

Perron was re-indicted in April 2002 and the case was scheduled for trial on June 14, 2002. Instead of going to trial, Perron opted to plead guilty in a deal that made him eligible for parole immediately, but that also could keep him in prison another 10 years. In pleading guilty to attempted second-degree murder, Perron admitted choking the 21-year-old Rutland, Vermont woman behind a former Country Pleasure bar on Nov. 6, 1988. Police said the victim was left unconscious behind the bar after she was sexually assaulted. She managed to wake up and stumble into the bar for help. Perron had claimed the two only had consensual sex that night.

"This is the first time he's admitted he did anything wrong," said District Attorney Keven Kortright

Scam: A Tisdale Road woman has received several threats via phone by someone claiming to be Officer John Hudson from the IRS. Hudson told the woman that she must pay $3,596 or he would have her arrested by the Scarsdale Police. He asked her to send cash or to wire the money from CVS or Rite Aid. Though she assumed the calls were fraudulent, when she called back the phone number the call went to the Scarsdale PBA answering machine. When police called back the number the "agent" said he would send a fax to arrest the woman if she did not pay up. Police informed the woman that these were crank calls.

Identity Thefts:

A Gatehouse Road woman reported that someone had opened a "Bill Me Later" Paypal account in her name and made two purchases on the account on Wayfair.com. The woman reported the incident on May 20, 2014.

Three checks valued at $295 were stolen from a mailbox on Crawford Lane in Scarsdale on May 16th. The resident had placed the checks in the mailbox for pick-up by the mail carrier – but the checks were intercepted by someone else before the mail carrier arrived.

Someone used the personal information of a Woods Lane man to access his Chase Bank account online and to request a change in password and mailing address on 5/24. The bank advised the account owner that he needed to file a police report before they would release any further information.

The CFO of Zachys Wine and Liquor in Scarsdale reported that seven fraudulent checks, valued at more than $3,000, were written against their account between May 13 and May 23. The fraudulent checks appear to be connected to a scheme on Craigslist.

Missing:

An 87 year-old woman who suffers from dementia and speaks only Mandarin was found wandering on Palmer Avenue on the morning of 5/23. A jogger noticed the woman who was walking in traffic. Police arrived and were unable to communicate with the woman. They found someone who spoke Mandarin and volunteered to translate but she was unable to find out where the elderly woman lived. Police brought the woman to police headquarters and began to file a missing person's report when the woman's granddaughter, who lives on Palmer Avenue called police to say that her grandmother was missing. Police brought the woman home.

An iPad mini and a zip drive, valued at $400 were stolen from Scarsdale Synagogue on May 23rd. Employees of the temple reported that a young man stopped by and asked to use the bathroom and then sat down on a sofa near the office. An employee of the synagogue was keeping his eye on the equipment but got called into the office. When he returned, both the young man and the iPad were gone. Surveillance video shows the suspect entering the building and leaving with the iPad in his hand.

A Walworth Avenue man reported that he lost his iPhone 4S while taking the train home from NYC around midnight on May 21. Though the find my phone app showed the phone was in White Plains, police went to the address shown but the people at the house said they did not have the phone.

A silver Gary Fischer bike, valued at $600 was stolen from the bicycle rack on East Parkway at Christie Place on Friday morning 5/24. The owner locked the bike to the rack at 8 am and it was gone when he returned at noon.

A housekeeper at a home on Hickory Lane reported that $300 was removed from a dresser drawer in her bedroom sometime between March 27 and April 1.

Found:

A Sign for "Honey Do Men Gutters and Roofing" was found posted on the Post Road on May 24. The sign was removed and the company was given a summons.

A lost dog was found on Brewster Road, near Farley Road at 10:30 am on May 19. The dog was turned over to police and send to the New Rochelle Humane Society. The dog had a collar but not tags.

Violations:

On 5/23, Adam Umanoff, age 27 of Ossining was stopped by police for driving with a suspended registration due to parking violations. The plates were removed from his car and it was towed.

Disputes:

Police were called about an agitated woman having an argument on the phone at the Scarsdale Train Station on Depot Place. The woman said she had a fast heart rate and had a panic attack earlier in the day. Police spoke to her social worker who said the woman was not a danger to herself. She refused medical treatment.

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