Police News

Brewster man charged with

Mahopac Falls FD EMTs aid a Dutchess County woman injured in a three-vehicle chain reaction crash on Route 6N last Thursday afternoon. felony DWI in Kent

A Brewster man is facing a period of incarceration in a state penitentiary following his arrest for felony DWI in the Town of Kent.

Kent Police arrested Edward Sheppard, 48, last week after Officer Ray Beauchesne received a radio transmission at 10pm to be on the lookout for a vehicle being driven erratically on Route 311 in Lake Carmel.

Lt. Alex DiVernieri said that a few minutes later, he observed a vehicle matching the suspect’s car turn onto Terry Hill Road and stop on Valhalla Road, where the driver was questioned.

The officer reported Sheppard to have slurred speech, watery and bloodshot eyes, and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath.

Sheppard was charged with DWI, and when Beauchesne checked with the New York State DNV database and discovered a previous DWI conviction within the past 10 years, the charge was elevated to a felony.

Sheppard was also arrested for aggravated DWI since his blood alcohol level measured at .18 percent, or more than twice the legal limit for intoxication, as well as felony aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle because his driver’s license had been revoked as a result of the previous DWI conviction.

Sheppard was arraigned by Kent Justice Joseph Esposito and was remanded to the Putnam Correctional Facility in lieu of $20,000 bail pending future court action.

District Attorney Adam Levy said the felony DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation charges were Class E felonies carrying potential four-year state prison terms if found guilty. Four Putnam residents arrested

by Yorktown Police

Four residents of Putnam County face hearings in Yorktown Town Court next month following their arrests by Yorktown Police.

Cops charged Catherine Rossano, 46, of Mahopac, with criminal possession of stolen property after officers were dispatched to Sears at the Jefferson Valley Mall on a larceny complaint.

Sgt. Joseph Delulio said during the investigation police discovered that the Mahopac woman was in the alleged possession of $380 worth of assorted merchandise stolen from Macy’s at the JV Mall.

Rossano was arraigned on the charges and was released without bail pending a Dec. 12 hearing.

William Davis, 73, of Lake Carmel, was charged with criminal contempt for allegedly violating a court order of protection involving a resident of Mohegan Lake that prohibited him from having any contact with the woman.

Davis was also arraigned by Judge William Gerstenzang and was released without bail pending next month’s court appearance.

Police arrested Matthew Stebbins, 25, of Mahopac, on charges of aggravated unlicensed operation after stopping a vehicle on Underhill Avenue in Yorktown Heights at 9:30am last week that Sgt. TJ Gentner said was being operated without a registration sticker affixed to the windshield. The sergeant said a computer check with the New York State DMV database revealed Stebbin’s license had been suspended for an insurance lapse. Police also summoned the motorist for operating a vehicle without a valid registration sticker affixed. Stebbins posted $100 bail and was released pending a Dec. 15 hearing.

An 18-year-old Mahopac youth was charged with larceny last week after he allegedly took a wireless FM auto transmitter from the K-Mart located on Downing Drive in Yorktown without paying for the merchandise. The teen, who was not identified by police because of his age, was processed at police headquarters and was released to the custody of his parents pending a Dec. 8 hearing.

15-year-old ATV rider lucky

to be alive

A 15-year-old Mahopac boy has a lot to be thankful for this week following a brush with death while riding his ATV.

Carmel Police said the unidentified youth lost control of the speeding vehicle last Thursday afternoon on Agor Lane in Mahopac Falls and slammed into a tree.

Police Officer Brian Shay told the COURIER he was patrolling in the area and observed an ATV being driven recklessly at an “extremely high rate of speed.”

The officer said by the time he turned his patrol car around in an attempt to locate the youth, he received a radio transmission reporting a “serious personal injury ATV crash on Agor Lane.”

The officer found the youth suffering from numerous injuries, including an open knee wound. EMTs from the Mahopac Falls FD Rescue Squad responded, along with a TransCare paramedic. The youth was rushed by ambulance to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where he was treated in the emergency room and according to Officer Shay “after receiving numerous stitches, he was released.”

Because the youth was under age, he was not charged, however, his parents were arrested on charges of permitting an underage youth to operate an ATV, as well as permitting the operation of an ATV on a public highway.

Both summonses are returnable in Carmel Justice Court next month. Vanity plate identifies Carmel

assault suspect

A New York State vanity license plate has helped police in Connecticut track down a man wanted for fracturing the skull of a Carmel man with a baseball bat last summer.

Danbury Police reported the arrest last Thursday of Fisnik Gashi, 20, of the Bronx, who was charged with first degree assault for allegedly beating the unidentified 19-year-old Putnam youth outside the Icon Night Club on Main Street in the early morning hours of August 1.

Police said Gashi was apprehended because witnesses said the silver Mercedes sports car he was driving that morning bore his name on the license plate.

Danbury authorities worked with detectives from the NYPD and obtained a mug shot of Gashi from a previous arrest. The suspect was identified by the Carmel youth and an eyewitness to the vicious assault.

New York City Police picked up Gashi last week at Kennedy Airport. He waived extradition and was arraigned in Danbury Superior Court before being remanded to the Bridgeport Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 bail. Gashi is due back in court next week and faces up to 15 years in state prison if found guilty.

A Danbury Police spokesman would not identify the victim, saying only the youth continues to undergo rehabilitation for his head injury.

Mahopac mom driving with kids in her car gets probation following

DWI arrest

A Mahopac woman charged last summer with driving drunk with five teenagers in her car will not be serving a day in jail following an agreement reached in Carmel Town Court.

Carmel Police arrested Susan Rogge, 46, on July 11, after the Putnam 911 Dispatch Center received a call at 10:30pm from the woman’s 13-year-old daughter, who was riding in the rear of the vehicle and asked for help, charging her mother was intoxicated and had driven off the road.

An investigation determined that Rogge had driven to the Mahopac Fire Department Carnival on Route 6 at Croton Falls Road to pick up her daughter and the teen’s four friends and was headed home when the car drove off the road and crashed. No one was injured.

Rogge was charged with not only DWI but also with aggravated driving while intoxicated, since the woman’s blood alcohol level exceeded .18 percent, or more than twice the legal limit for intoxication. Police also charged the woman with five counts of reckless endangerment and five counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

District Attorney Adam Levy agreed to drop the charges in exchange for a guilty plea to the DWI offense.

Carmel Town Justice Thomas Jacobellis admonished the woman and placed her on three years’ probation, warning: “If I see you in this courtroom again, you will go to state prison.”

Rogge voluntarily sought substance abuse treatment after the arrest, and, according to the court, is continuing with her treatment at an undisclosed alcohol treatment facility in Putnam County.

Rogge had faced up to a year in the county jail had she been found guilty of the charges against her. Chain reaction crash sends

Dutchess woman to PHC

A three-vehicle chain reaction crash sent a Dutchess County woman to Putnam Hospital Center.

Last Thursday’s mishap occurred on Route 6N in Mahopac Falls, when Carmel Police said that while stopping for a school bus that was discharging children, a vehicle slammed into a second car which was pushed into the third auto.

Susan Magee, 65, of Wappingers Falls, who was behind the wheel of the middle vehicle, suffered back and neck trauma and was taken by Mahopac Falls FD Rescue Squad personnel to the hospital.

Lt. Brian Karst said the investigation was continuing, with possible summons pending.

Police identified the drivers of the other vehicles involved in the crash as Alvin Mazzocut, 72, of Mahopac, and Joseph Croce, 54, of Mahopac.

Both men complained of bumps and bruises but told police they would contact their own physicians.