Crime

Paroled murderer from Kingston accused of sexual abuse

Lissa Harris — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:55:44 +0000

A Kingston man who was arrested on Monday and charged with the sexual abuse of two girls -- one 5, one 7 -- has a long history with the law.

39-year-old Christopher Saitch, who is charged with two counts of felony sexual abuse and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, is a convicted murderer who was released on parole last year after nearly 15 years in prison, the Times Herald-Record reports:

Saitch pled guilty in June 1997 to taking part in the execution-style killing of Errol Parchment in Rosendale. He was released from the Livingston Correctional Facility in May 2012 and put on parole.

According to a statement from New York State troopers, police say the abuse occurred in a home in the town of Ulster, where Saitch was alone with the children. The case has been referred to A.D.A. Elizabeth Culmone of the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Bureau. Read more

Margaretville man charged with Woodstock burglaries

Lissa Harris — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:35:09 +0000

A Margaretville man is facing burglary charges for allegedly breaking into two Woodstock businesses and stealing property.

On Wednesday, May 15, state police arrested 25-year-old Joshua Nava, who is charged with burglary in the third degree. Police did not name the businesses, but said the burglaries occurred on Sunday, May 12. The stolen property was recovered, police said.

Nava was arraigned in the Town of Woodstock Court and released on his own recognizance. Town of Woodstock police officers assisted with the investigation.

Man arrested after burglary and car chase in Shandaken

Lissa Harris — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:42:47 +0000

A burglary at the American Legion Post 950 in Shandaken and a car chase down Route 28 on Saturday ended with the arrest of a Dutchess County man, police say.

On Saturday, Shandaken police and New York State troopers responded to a burglar alarm at the American Legion hall at 1045 Old Route 28, and found that the hall had been burglarized.

According to a New York State Police statement, after arriving on the scene, police broadcast a description of a suspicious vehicle to responding officers. State troopers saw a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle on Route 28, and attempted to stop it. Driver Daniel P. Touhy fled eastbound on Route 28, pursued by troopers, and was taken into custody in Kingston.

Touhy, a 45-year-old resident of Lagrangeville, is charged with possession of stolen property in the third degree, unlawfully fleeing a police officer in the third degree, driving while intoxicated, and several traffic offenses. He was arraigned in Town of Hurley Court and remanded to the Ulster County Jail without bail. Read more

For more news and information, go to this town's page:

Shandaken

Two Schoharie men busted after Pete Lopez's house is burgled

Lissa Harris — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:45:23 +0000

Two 20-year-old Schoharie men have been arrested in an investigation into two burglaries in the town, one of which targeted a house owned by New York State Assemblyman Pete Lopez.

State police arrested Connor Casabonne and Bryan Lemoine, both residents of Schoharie, on Friday, May 3. Both are charged with two counts of burglary in the second degree.

Police say the arrests followed a pair of recent burglaries -- one reported April 27, in the town of Schoharie, and one reported April 29, at Lopez's house in the village of Schoharie. In both burglaries, cash and jewelry were stolen. Some of the stolen property has been recovered, police say.

As a longtime resident and prominent local politician, Lopez is a well-known figure in the small town. According to a statement from New York State Police, the burglars may not have known whose house they were pilfering from:

Both residences were randomly selected and entered during the daytime. Read more

Police seek Kortright home invader

Lissa Harris — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:07:01 +0000

A masked man forced his way into a house on Stone Fort Road in Kortright in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday morning, assaulted its elderly residents, and stole cash before fleeing on foot, police say.

According to a release from the New York State Police, the man broke into the house around 2am, when the occupants were asleep. Police say he assaulted the victims -- ages 80 and 81 -- by striking them with a long gun.

State police are looking for information about any cars that were parked on State Route 23 or Stone Fort Road in the early morning on Thursday, April 25. Anyone with information about the case should contact the New York State Police Oneonta Bureau of Criminal Investigation at 607-432-3211.

Catskill men arrested for Durham burglary

Lissa Harris — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:56:43 +0000

Two Catskill men who allegedly forced their way into a private home in Durham on Sunday have been arrested and charged with burglary.

After an investigation, New York State Police arrested 27-year-old Victor Iamunno and 26-year-old Angel Agosto and charged both with burglary in the first degree, according to an NYSP statement. Iamunno is also charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, and Agosto is charged with petit larceny.

Police say that during the break-in, the two physically assaulted the homeowner and took cash and other personal property.

Iamunno and Agosto were arraigned in the Town of Durham Court before Justice Raymond Kennedy, and remanded to the Greene County Jail without bail. Both are scheduled to reappear on Thursday, April 25 at 3pm in the Town of Durham Court.

Ulster County's most wanted

Lissa Harris — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:10:30 +0000

Over the weekend, the Ulster County Sheriff's Office released an updated list of their top ten most wanted fugitives from justice.

The ten men on the list are wanted for a wide variety of alleged offenses: assault, larceny, welfare fraud, failing to register as a sex offender, failure to pay child support, and in one case, felony DWI.

Topping the list is 30-year-old Jahson Marryshow, who was indicted by an Ulster County grand jury in 2010 on felony charges of robbery, arson and grand larceny, for allegedly robbing the Bank of America in Woodstock and setting fire to a barn.

One man on the list, 26-year-old Frankie Joseph, is currently incarcerated in the Lakeview Correctional Facility, a minimum-security prison in Chautauqua County. An officer at the Ulster County Sheriff's Office told the Watershed Post that Ulster County had only recently learned of Joseph's whereabouts.

The list:

1. Jahson A. Marryshow, 30, wanted for Robbery 1st (Bank of America, Woodstock), last known address of 26 Witchtree Road, Woodstock Read more

Sullivan County cops find huge cache of burgled goods

Lissa Harris — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:44:30 +0000

A tip on a burglary investigation has led Sullivan County police to a "treasure trove" of stolen items from multiple burglaries, the Times Herald-Record reports.

On Thursday, sheriff's deputies arrested 59-year-old Abdool Persaud of Monticello, after a search of his Pine Street home turned up stolen guns, ATVs, tools, jewelry, prescription drugs and marijuana. Police believe they've made a major arrest, the paper reports:

"We've got a treasure trove of stolen goods," Undersheriff Eric Chaboty said. "This guy is probably one of the largest, if not the largest, fence in Sullivan County."

Greene County man arrested for string of burglaries

Lissa Harris — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 23:38:48 +0000

A Climax man has been arrested after an investigation into a string of home burglaries that spanned three counties.

State police say that the suspect, 24-year-old Robert J. Giordano, was found on Friday driving a stolen vehicle on County Route 22 in the town of Durham and arrested. At the time of his arrest, police say, Giordano had numerous stolen items in his possession, including firearms, jewelry and electronics.

Police say they have connected Giordano to a "burglary spree" that stretched across Greene, Albany and Schoharie Counties.

Giordano faces charges of first-degree criminal possession of a weapon, three counts of second-degree burglary, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, possession of burglar's tools, and second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia. Additional charges are expected, police say.

Giordano was arraigned before Town of Catskill Justice William Wooton and remanded to the Greene County Jail in lieu of $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond. Read more

Man arrested for air pistol shooting in Narrowsburg

Lissa Harris — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:05:56 +0000

A man was arrested after allegedly shooting another man in the face with an air pistol on 5th Street in Narrowsburg on Sunday evening, police say.

Narrowsburg resident Eric Hector, 48, is charged with assault in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.

Police say the assault occurred around 10:30pm on Sunday. According to a New York State Police account of the arrest, the two men were arguing when Hector drew the air pistol and shot the other man in the face. A pellet lodged below the victim's right eye. The victim then tried to run away and was struck with several more pellets, police say. He was treated at the Catskill Regional Medical Center and released.

Hector was arraigned in the Town of Tusten Justice Court and remanded to the Sullivan County Jail in lieu of $5000 cash bail.

Heroin and pot bust on Route 32 in Saugerties

Lissa Harris — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 19:13:54 +0000

The area around Vinnie's Farm Market on Route 32 in Saugerties just got a little safer, cops say.

An investigation into ongoing complaints of heroin sales near the fruit stand has yielded an arrest. On Tuesday, the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team executed a search warrant at the Route 32 home of 29-year-old John Tyler Kuhn, just down the street from the Saugerties farmstand, after an undercover officer purchased heroin from Kuhn.

The search at Kuhn's house turned up 190 bags of heroin, an indoor marijuana grow operation, packaged marijuana, drug packaging materials and electronic scales. Police are also holding $5000 in cash and a 2003 Mercedes Benz, which are pending seizure.

Kuhn faces charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, criminal possession of marijuana in the second degree, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, and two counts of criminally using drug paraphernalia in the second degree. Read more

Two women arrested after bizarre rampage at Gabrielle's Restaurant

Lissa Harris — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:21:54 +0000

From a glance at the New York State Police blotter, the arrest of two Stamford women on Monday evening on minor charges, after a "disturbance" at a local restaurant, doesn't look too unusual.

But a local man who witnessed the incident described a bizarre and harrowing scene: An unhinged woman throwing plates and mugs at staff, tearing up money and throwing it in the air, and striking out and "hissing like a demon" at staff and patrons who tried to subdue her.

The man -- who asked not to be identified -- told the Watershed Post that he was just about to leave Gabrielle's Restaurant in Stamford, after a quiet Monday evening dinner with his husband, another couple and their baby, when all hell broke loose.

"The waitress came out to give us our receipt and she was shaking,'" he said. "She just started crying, and [the mother of the baby] hugged her. She said, 'There's a woman over there throwing plates and striking at me, it's crazy.'" Read more

Off-duty trooper arrested for domestic assault in Highland

Lissa Harris — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:56:01 +0000

An off-duty New York State Police trooper has been arrested after allegedly breaking his girlfriend's nose during a domestic dispute in her Highland home on Friday, April 5.

The victim reported the incident to state police on Saturday.

Investigator Louis Morales, a 53-year-old Highland resident, surrendered at the Highland station and was charged with third-degree assault, according to a press release from the New York State Police. Morales was issued a ticket to appear in Town of Lloyd Court on Tuesday.

Morales has been suspended pending the outcome of the case.

Police hope to return burgled loot to rightful owners

Lissa Harris — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:54:41 +0000

Above: A Flickr slideshow of photos of items recovered from burglaries committed by Corey Hunt, a Schoharie man currently serving 3 to 9 years in prison for burglary. Photos by New York State Police Troop G.

State police in Princetown are looking for the rightful owners of a collection of loot from their evidence locker -- all traced back to a series of home burglaries committed in the summers of 2011 and 2012 by Corey Hunt, a 27-year-old Schoharie resident who is currently serving 3 to 9 years in state prison for burglary.

The objects seized are a motley collection: jewelry, coins, a Winnie-the-Pooh piggy bank, a Yankees wall clock, a guitar, and more.

Police say they do not know which objects came from which of Hunt's burglaries, which ranged across several counties.

All of the items are available for inspection and claim at the State Police Barracks in Princetown. People wishing to claim items should call the Bureau of Criminal Investigation at 518-630-1712 for an appointment. Read more

For man charged with drunkenly mowing down Ulster Park teen, history repeats itself

Lissa Harris — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:25:38 +0000

When Paul DeGraff Jr. got behind the wheel of his GMC Sierra pickup truck last Thursday night, police say, he had a blood alcohol level of over 0.18 percent.

That night, police say, DeGraff cut a trail of wreckage across Salem Street in Port Ewen that took the life of 18-year-old Derek Wood, who was walking along the shoulder of Salem Street when DeGraff's truck jumped a guardrail and ran him down.

DeGraff now faces vehicular manslaughter and DWI charges in Wood's death. Incredibly, it's not the first time DeGraff has faced prison time for manslaughter: In 1994, DeGraff was sentenced to six years for manslaughter in the shooting death of his girlfriend Debra Scism, a sentence he served two years of. Read more