Fire at Heathcote School, Missing People, Downed Trees and More!

Scarsdale:
Fire at the Heathcote School: A fire alarm went off shortly after 5 PM on Thursday 1/28 at the school and the custodian informed the Fire Department that there was a stove fire. The custodian turned off the power to the electric stove and firemen extinguished the burning item that turned out to be a large black plastic container that had been left on top of the stove. The stove was ruined and sections of the kitchen walls and ceiling were blackened with soot.

Downed Trees and Wires: Due to high winds on the afternoon of Monday 1/25 a large tree branch fell on Greenacres Avenue, a tree fell at the Post Road and Farley Road, taking down wires and causing a road closure. A large evergreen snapped in half on Olmstead Road. Wires were down at Gorham and Post Roads and a cable service line fell on Richelieu Road. On Continental Road, the Fire Department was called when the primary Con Edison line fell and caused a fire. A tree branch fell from 202 Brewster Road onto a car parked at 204 Brewster Road.

A Death: Ramona Igual was found dead at the home of her daughter Zaida Jacoby on Gorham Road on the evening of January 28th. The 93 year-old woman had been in good health and when her daughter returned from work she found her mother unresponsive.

Missing Violins: An Old Lyme Road resident reported the theft of two violins from the Quaker Ridge School, each valued at $400 and owned by Ardsley Instrument Music Service. One was stolen from his daughter’s classroom cubby on 1/13 and the other was taken from the music room on 1/20,

Missing Woman and Children: Scarsdale Police assisted Dobbs Ferry Police with a search for a missing woman with two children ages 11 and 7 on 1/31. The Dobbs Ferry woman has a history of psychiatric problems and was missing with the children for two days. As she sometimes visits Quaker House on Popham Road Scarsdale Police were asked to look for her. They determined that she had been at Post Road and Murray Hill Roads on 1/27 and reported that she was last seen in Scarsdale on 1/28.

Missing Property Marker: A Richbell Road woman called police to report that a steel pipe used to mark her property line was missing and that it might be buried underneath some curbing installed at a new home next door. Police advised her to contact the Village Building Department and her attorney.

Ice Skating: A woman reported skaters on the Duck Pond on the afternoon of 1/31, as she was concerned for their safety. Police found two adults skating with a child. Since the pond is shallow and was frozen solid on one side they felt they were safe.

Suspicious Shoppers at LF: An employee at LF on Boniface Circle called police to report three women had been in the store with open shopping bags. They left quickly without making any purchases and drove away in a white BMW SUV. The store employee felt that the shoppers looked suspicious and in light of this incident and shoplifting in prior weeks Police agreed to give extra attention to the store.

Identity Theft: A Walworth Avenue woman reported $4,400 in charges made on her Bloomindales account at the Garden City store. She has not used the account since March 2009. The Fraud Department at the store told her that someone had given her name and asked a store employee to look up the account number and charge the goods.

A Hampton Road woman reported that someone opened a Best Buy credit card in her name and charged $1,557.32 on the account.

Accidents: Due to ice on the road on the morning of 1/28, a Cartesan Road woman, driving on Butler Road, slid off the road into the landscaping at 6-8 Hickory Lane. The car had to be towed off the property. That same morning two cars driving in opposite directions on Kent Road sideswiped one another due to snow and ice.

Also that morning, a car on the Hutchinson River Parkway near Weaver Street slid off the parkway into an embankment and a small pond. A passer-by helped the uninjured driver out of the car and SVAC, the County Police and the Scarsdale Fire Department arrived. The Fire Department used a chain saw to clear the area behind the car so that a tow truck could pull the car out of the pond and up the embankment.

Traffic Violation: An erratic driver was stopped by police on the Post Road on1/27 when his car drifted to the left, barely missing another car, drove north on the Post Road on the yellow line and then crossed the line into southbound traffic. The driver was issued a summons.

Locked Out: A Tompkins Road woman was locked out of her house on the morning of 1/28. A firefighter cut his hand while trying to open her garage with knife and was unable to get in. He suggested that the woman call a locksmith.

Greenburgh:
Lee Wha at the New Star Market at 760 South Central Avenue called police at 1 am on 1/26 to report a possible break-in. A screen had pried away from a rear window and portion of the window was broken. A small chair had been placed beneath the window and may have been used by someone attempting to get access to the window to break-in. However the owner did not notice anything missing from the store.

Road rage on Central Avenue: On Wednesday morning 1/27 two drivers got into a dispute when Albert Marku of the Bronx noticed that he was being tailgated by a black Honda, driven by Mark Rasulo of Yonkers. Marku tried braking but the Honda continued to pursue him so Marku threw coffee out the window and eventually stopped, got out of his car and approached Rasulo. Marku also called 911 to report that an aggressive driver was following him. Greenburgh Police directed him to call Yonkers Police to mediate.

Navigation devices were stolen out of two cars parked at a Roxbury Road home sometime between 1/7 and 1/28. The owner reports that the cars were left unlocked in the driveway.

Found: On the afternoon of 1/30 a black Toyota Camry was found parked in front of 196 East Hartsdale Avenue with the keys in the ignition and the radio on. Police were unable to contact the owner so they took the keys back to Police Headquarters.