Bank Robber Caught on Central Avenue

Bank Robber Nabbed: Quick work by the Greenburgh and White Plains Police lead to the capture of a man who robbed the TD Bank at 495 Central Avenue on the morning of July 4th just minutes after the heist. Despite the holiday the branch was open, and a homeless man entered the bank around 8:30 am and made threatening gestures and then passed a note demanding money to one of the tellers. The teller handed over some cash which the man put into a white plastic bag. He fled on foot into the parking lot of the nearby Central Motel. Police then saw him climb over a chain link fence, onto a retaining wall and then south on Central Avenue through the parking lot of Omni Fitness. Police stopped him there and also recovered his hat and the bag of cash.

White Plains Police brought a TD Bank employee to the scene and he positively identified the suspect who said, “Is this a Federal charge? How much time do you think I’ll do? The suspect identified himself as Eric Hoffstead, age 40 and homeless.

Police recovered $3,720 in cash along with a TD explosive dye pack and the note the man passed to the teller. A dye pack is a radio-controlled incendiary device used by some banks to preemptively foil a bank robbery by causing stolen cash to be permanently marked with red dye shortly after a robbery. In most cases, a dye pack is placed in a hollowed-out space within a stack of banknotes, usually $10 or $20 bills. This stack of bills looks and feels similar to a real one and are difficult to detect by a criminal handling the stack.

Taking a dip: At 3 am on 6/27, three youths were reported to be swimming in a pool at a Central Avenue apartment complex. Their ages were 16, 17 and 21 and police caught them as they were leaving the pool. They were released to their parents and the super of the building did not wish to press charges.

Feud: Neighbors on Elizabeth Street came to blows on the morning of June 28th. The ongoing dispute surrounds the construction of a large new house on a steep slope adjacent to an existing home on Elizabeth Street near Camp Hillard. The homeowner of the existing home was surprised to learn that the man who purchased the empty lot next to her house also laid claim to the bottom of her driveway. He is using the driveway to stage the construction of the new house, and it is unclear where the true property line lies. On Tuesday, the resident was taking a video of the construction work being done by the new owner, Micha Marom of Baldwin. Marom dumped dirt from an excavator onto her head and she narrowly missed being struck by a rock. The entire incident was filmed and will be filed with the police report.

Spierer Sighting? At 7 PM on June 29 Jim McHugh of Purdys, New York reported that he saw a girl that looked like Lauren Spierer dazed and confused at the back of the Sunoco Station at 17 North Central Avenue. Police searched the area but were unable to find the girl.

Trouble at TJ Maxx: Chanel Lauren Dulyx, age 24 and Rashanea Osholaja, age 21, were arrested for stealing $200 in merchandise from TJ Maxx on the evening of June 20th. Police found one of the suspects walking with a small child on Central Avenue with a young child. The second suspect was the mother of the child. The two women were booked and released on bail. On the afternoon of June 30th, another suspect made off with a bag of merchandise and fled on foot northbound on Central Avenue. In her haste to get away, she left behind her shoes and a stolen Nike bag filled with mens underewear, sock and a Michael Kors purse.

Steven Palmgren of the Bronx was arrested for Petit Larceny after he took $445 of merchandise from Shop Rite on Central Avenue and left without paying on June 28th.

All in the family: A Hartsdale woman reported that 15 credit cards and $100 in cash were missing from the top drawer of her dresser on June 27th. She suspects that her sister, who was visiting for the weekend, took the cards and cash before she returned home to Florida.

Asleep in the street: On Saturday morning at 5:36 am a man was found lying on N. Washington Street in Hartsdale near the intersection of Central Avenue. Police woke up the man who identified himself as Daniel Souza, age 51 of White Plains. Souza told police that he had been drinking all night and was en route to a friend’s house on Fox Glen Drive when he decided to take a nap in the street.