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Police Report
Philipstown - Seven people were involved in a two-car automobile accident in the Town of Philipstown on Sunday, July 14, 2002. A Rockland County couple and five persons from Dutchess County went to the hospital following the Sunday evening crash at the Intersection of U.S. Route 9 and State Route 301.
According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, at about 6:15 pm on July 14th, the Sheriff’s Office received a report of an automobile accident with personal injuries at the intersection of Routes 9 and 301 in Philipstown. Deputy Sheriff Johnathan M. Bradley handled the call.
A preliminary investigation revealed that Mr. Jose R. Santiago, Jr., age 23, of Beacon, was traveling northbound on Route 9 in a 1994 Mazda and failed to stop at a red light at the Intersection with Route 301. Mr. Santiago’s car struck a 2001 Volvo driven by Mr. James W. Flax, age 54, of New City, New York, as it was traveling westbound on Route 301 through the intersection.
Mr. Santiago’s car was occupied by four passengers. With Mr. Flax in his car was his wife. As a result of the accident, one passenger was trapped in the Mazda. The North Highlands Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene to extricate him and the Stat Flight helicopter airlifted him to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. Ambulances from Philipstown and Garrison transported all of the other victims to the Hudson Valley Hospital Center for treatment of injuries or for evaluation. ALS paramedics also assisted at the scene.
Deputy Bradley cited Mr. Santiago for failing to stop at a red light, for failing to yield at an intersection and for unsafe speed. Mr. Santiago will answer the charges on July 31st in the Town of Philipstown Justice Court.
Garrison - Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith reports the arrest of a Garrison woman on theft charges. Ms. Barbara A. Spence, age 59, of Garrison, was arrested on July 16, 2002 and charged with a June larceny at the Garrison Union Free School. Ms. Spence, an employee of the school district, is accused of stealing money from the desk of her boss, the school principal.
The arrest culminated a two-month investigation into a reported spate of thefts that occurred at the school. In those incidents, cash was reportedly stolen from classrooms and administrative offices during school hours.
Sheriff’s Office Investigators Gary G. Watkins and Robert W. Ferris handled the investigation of the thefts. They charged Ms. Spence with one theft that reportedly occurred on the morning of June 18th. Investigators allege that Ms. Spence stole a small sum of cash from the principal’s desk in his office at the Garrison School on that day.
Ms. Spence, a long-time employee at the school, was arrested on July 16th at the Sheriff’s Office Substation in Philipstown. After being processed, she was released on her own recognize to await an August 14th appearance in the Town of Philipstown Justice Court. She is charged with one count of Petit Larceny, a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail or a fine of $1,000, or both.
The investigation into the other reported thefts at the school is continuing.
Putnam Valley - Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith reports that two persons were injured in an automobile accident in Putnam Valley on July 16, 2002. The accident occurred on Church Road in the town and involved a motorcycle and a county-owned vehicle.
At about 12:10 pm on Tuesday, July 16th, the Sheriff’s Office received a telephone call reporting that a car and a motorcycle had collided on Church Road in the Town of Putnam Valley. Deputy Sheriff James J. Stasiak responded to the call.
According to a preliminary report, Ms. Linda K. Puoplo, age 40, an employee of the Putnam County Youth Bureau, was operating a county-owned 2002 Chevrolet sedan in an eastbound direction on Church Road. Another Youth Bureau employee, Ms. Diane M. Moore, was a passenger in the car. Mr. Matthew D. Miller, age 21, of Cortlandt Manor, New York, was operating a 2002 Suzuki motorcycle and traveling behind the car.
Ms. Puoplo told the deputy that she slowed down as she saw an oncoming westbound tractor trailer hauling a wide load. As she did so, Mr. Miller’s motorcycle drove into the rear-end of the car.
Ms. Puoplo was not injured. Mr. Miller suffered minor cuts in the crash and he refused medical attention at the scene. Ms. Moore, the car passenger, complained of pain in her head and neck. The Putnam Valley Volunteer Ambulance Carps transported Ms. Moore to the Hudson valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt for evaluation. No tickets were issued at the scene.
Philipstown - A Dutchess County woman was arrested by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department for allegedly passed a bad check to a business in the Town of Philipstown. Ms. Michelle S. Baker, age 23, of Poughkeepsie, was arrested on July 17, 2002 and charged with Issuing a Bad Check.
Ms. Baker is accused of passing a check for $1,000 to a business located on U.S. Route 9 in the Town of Philipstown back on September 22, 2001. The check was drawn on an account without sufficient funds and was dishonored for payment. Ms. Baker subsequently failed to make proper restitution for the bad check to the business.
The recipient of the check notified the Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff’s Investigator Gary G. Watkins was assigned to the case. Ms. Baker was arrested on July 17th and charged with Issuing a Bad Check, a class B misdemeanor. The offense is punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of $1,000, an order of restitution or any combination of those sanctions.
After being processed at the Sheriff’s Office Substation in Philipstown, Ms. Baker was released on her own recognizance. She will answer the charge in the Town of Philipstown Justice Court on August 14th.
Philipstown - Putnam County Sheriff Donald S. Smith reports the arrest of an Orange County man on marihuana possession charges in the Town of Philipstown. Mr. Cory D. Cook, age 19, of Fort Montgomery, New York, was arrested on July 18, 2002 near the Garrison train station.
At about 5:40 pm on July 18th, Deputy Sheriff Jeffrey A. Devolve was patrolling the Garrison section of Philipstown when he saw two men acting suspiciously in the Garrison train station parking lot. When the deputy approached the pair, he found one of them, Mr. Cook, in possession of a quantity of marihuana contained in a plastic bag and a glass jar.
Deputy Devolve arrested Mr. Cook and charged him with Unlawful Possession of Marihuana, a penal law violation punishable by up to fifteen days in jail or a fine of up to $250, or both. Mr. Cook was released on his own recognizance with an appearance ticket returnable on July 31st in the Town of Philipstown Justice Court.
Kent - Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith reports that a male driver of a motorcycle and his female passenger were injured in an accident on Route 301 in the Town of Kent on Sunday, July 14, 2002. The victims were transported to area hospitals after the Sunday morning mishap.
According to the Sheriff’s Department, at about 11:15 am on July 14th, Sheriff’s Sergeant Paul A. Boscia was patrolling on State Route 301 in the Town of Kent when he came upon the scene of a motorcycle accident just east of the Taconic State Parkway. The sergeant found a male driver and a female passenger there with injuries.
According to witnesses, Mr. George Abraham, age 31, of Bel Air, Maryland, was operating a 2001 Kawasaki motorcycle eastbound on Route 301 when he swerved to avoid an oncoming westbound car that crossed into the eastbound lane. When Mr. Abraham swerved, however, he lost control of the motorcycle, which tipped over on its side and skidded along the roadway.
Mr. Abraham and his passenger, Ms. Tina Link, age 28, were thrown from the fallen motorcycle. They tumbled and slid some 70 feet on the pavement, suffering multiple abrasions and friction burns against the hard surface.
The Carmel volunteer Ambulance Corps transported Mr. Abraham to the Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel for medical attention. The Kent Volunteer Ambulance Corps took Ms. Link to the Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt for treatment, while the Kent Volunteer Fire Department assisted the Sheriff’s Office at the scene. No tickets were issued.
Garrison -A City of Beacon resident was arrested on July 17th for falsely reporting that her automobile had been stolen in Putnam County. According to the Sheriff’s Department, Ms. Michelle Davidson, age 30, of Beacon, was arrested and charged with Falsely Reporting an incident in the Third Degree. She allegedly made the false report after learning that an acquaintance had used her car in the commission of a burglary In Connecticut.
The Department reports that on the evening of June 9, 2002, Ms. Davidson called the Sheriff’s Office and reported that her 1988 Jeep Cherokee Sport had been stolen that day in Garrison. She told sheriff’s deputies that she did not know who had taken the vehicle.
The Sheriff’s Office immediately entered the Jeep as a stolen vehicle in the nationwide crime information computer database. Upon doing so, the Sheriff’s Office received a call from police in New Haven, Connecticut, who said that the vehicle was used in the course of a burglary in that city just a few hours earlier. In that case, a New Haven resident reportedly arrived home and interrupted a break-in of his residence by burglars. As the burglars fled, they left behind Ms. Davidson’s Jeep in the driveway of the home.
Sheriff’s Office Investigator Gary G. Watkins handled Ms. Davidson’s stolen vehicle complaint. Upon investigation, he determined that one of the suspects in the Connecticut burglary was allegedly a male acquaintance of Ms. Davidson. The man reportedly communicated with her after the burglary, said that he was in some kind of trouble in connection with his use of her Jeep and told her that she should report the Jeep as stolen. Ms. Davidson allegedly did so.
Investigator Watkins arrested Ms. Davidson at the Sheriff’s Office Substation in Philipstown. She is charged with Falsely Reporting an Incident in the Third Degree, a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000 or both such imprisonment and fine. After being booked, she was released on her own recognizance pending court appearance. It is not known whether Connecticut authorities have made any arrests in the New Haven burglary case.
Putnam Valley - A Mahopac man escaped serious injury on July 19th when his car overturned on Wood Street in Putnam Valley. Mr. Paul P. Collins, age 59, of Mahopac, suffered only minor scratches in the one-car accident.
Mr. Collins was reportedly driving a 2000 Chevrolet Impala sedan in a northbound direction on Wood Street in Putnam Valley at about 7:50 am on July 19th. Mr. Collins told a sheriff’s deputy that he swerved to avoid debris in the roadway and lost control of the car. The automobile left the pavement and struck a tree stump on the northbound shoulder of the roadway. The collision caused the car to overturn once before it came to rest on its roof in the roadway.
Deputy Sheriff Robert A. Hudson responded to the accident scene, along with the Putnam Valley Fire Department, Putnam Valley Volunteer Ambulance Corps and an ALS paramedic. Mr. Collins refused medical treatment for what appeared to be only minor scratches. No tickets were issued.
Southeast - Putnam County Sheriff Smith reports the arrest of a Connecticut man for possessing marihuana and for driving a car while his licensed was suspended. Mr. Rodney T. Vines, age 33, of Naugatuck, Connecticut, was arrested on July 14, 2002 and charged with Criminal Possession of Marihuana in the Fifth Degree, Unlawful Possession of Marihuana and Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle in the Third Degree.
The police report that at about 3:10 am on July 14th, undercover members of the Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Enforcement Unit saw a car pull into a parking lot located on U.S. Route 6 in the Town of Southeast. As the officers were watching, they saw the lone male driver exit the car and walk across the parking lot while allegedly smoking a marihuana cigar, commonly known as a "blunt." The officers approached the man, whom they identified as Mr. Vines, and placed him under arrest. Subsequently, authorities allegedly found that Mr. Vines had an additional quantity of marihuana in his possession. Further investigation also revealed that his privilege to drive a car in New York had been suspended by the DMV for prior traffic violations.
Mr. Vines was released on $100 desk bail pending an August 21st appearance in Court. The charges against him carry possible jail sentences totaling more than six months and fines of more than $1,000.
Southeast - The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Enforcement Unit arrested two New Jersey men on July 14, 2002 on a variety of charges. Undercover narcotics officers arrested Mr. Jordan S. Becker, age 18, and Mr. Brian B. Balson, age 20, both of Manalapan, New Jersey, early Sunday morning in the Town of Southeast.
At about 3 am on July 14th, narcotics unit members noticed the two men acting suspiciously inside a car parked in a lot along U.S. Route 6 in the Town of Southeast. When officers approached the car, they saw a marihuana cigar, commonly referred to as a "blunt," on the seat of the car between the two men.
Authorities charged both men with Unlawful Possession of Marihuana. Officers subsequently found Mr. Balson to be in possession of identification documents belonging to another person, someone over the age of 21, which Mr. Balson was allegedly using to enter bars and to purchase alcoholic beverages. As a result, he was charged with Criminal Impersonation in the Second Degree.
As officers were taking the pair into custody, the defendants started screaming and yelling obscenities while in the parking lot. Consequently, officers charged both men with Disorderly Conduct.
The defendants were processed at the Sheriff’s Office and released on their own recognizance pending August 21st appearances in the Town of Southeast Justice Court. The marihuana and disorderly conduct charges are violations punishable by up to fifteen days in jail or fines of up to $250, or by both such incarceration and fines. The criminal impersonation charge is a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum of one year in jail or a fine of $1,000, or by both.
Brewster - Two Brewster men were arrested on July 15th on trespass charges in the Town of Southeast, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department reports. Mr. Michael P. Miller, age 19, of Brewster, and Mr. John A. Seda, age 18, of Brewster, were charged after they allegedly drove a pickup truck and an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) off-road on private property.
At about 8:21 pm on July 15th, the Sheriff’s Office received numerous telephone calls from residents on Dingle Ridge and Nichols Road in Brewster complaining about trespassers operating ATVs on private property in that vicinity. Deputy Sheriff John R. Alfano checked the area and located Messrs. Miller and Seda in a pickup truck on private property there. In the bed of the pickup was an ATV that Mr. Miller had allegedly been driving on private lands without the owners’ permission.
Deputy Alfano cited both men for Trespass, a penal law violation punishable by up to fifteen days in jail or a fine of up to $250, or both. In addition, the deputy issued traffic tickets to Mr. Miller for driving the pickup truck without having proper registration, insurance or a safety inspection. Both men were released on their own recognizance.
Patterson - Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith reports the arrest of a Patterson man on charges that he menaced neighbors with a chain saw on July 16, 2002. According to the police report, Mr. Thomas J. Moynahan, age 40, of Patterson, is accused of using the chainsaw to cut a window screen and then accosting the neighbors with the saw in their apartment. The altercation reportedly stemmed from a dispute over noise.
At about 11:10 pm on July 16th, the Sheriff’s Office received an E-911 telephone call from the Byron residence on Route 22 in Patterson. The caller reported that a downstairs neighbor, Mr. Moynahan, had just damaged the Byron apartment and menaced three occupants inside the apartment with a chainsaw.
Deputy Sheriff Vincent M. Dalo responded to the apartment. The occupants there told the deputy that a downstairs neighbor, Mr. Moynahan, had used a chainsaw to cut a hole in a window screen of the Byron apartment and then entered through the front door.
Mr. Moynahan allegedly brandished the chainsaw, which was running at full throttle, high above his shoulder while expressing his displeasure about what he described as the occupants’ noisiness. Mr. Moynahan reportedly asked the victims how they liked the noise of the saw. One of the occupants told the deputy that she feared that Mr. Moynahan was going to use the saw against them. No injuries were reported.
Mr. Moynahan departed from the scene prior to Deputy Dalo’s arrival. The deputy located him a short time later at the state police barracks in Brewster, where he appeared seeking to file a noise complaint against his neighbors. Deputy Dalo placed Mr. Moynahan under arrest upon his neighbor’s complaint.
Mr. Moynahan faces a charge of Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree, a class A misdemeanor, for the alleged damage to the neighbor’s window screen. He was also charged with Criminal Trespass in the Third Degree, a class B misdemeanor, for his alleged unlawful entry into the neighbor’s apartment. A count of Menacing, a class A misdemeanor, was also filed based upon the reported threat made with the chainsaw against the occupants of the apartment.
Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to one year in jail or a fine of $1,000, or both. Class B misdemeanors are punishable by a maximum of six months in jail or a fine of $500, or both.
After being processed, Mr. Moynahan was released on his own recognizance.
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