Sanitation Cart on Fire, Lost Parents Found in Danbury

A sanitation Cushman (motorized cart) caught fire on Mamaroneck Road around 2 p.m., Aug. 21. Police closed the road while firefighters extinguished the fire. According to the driver, the Cushman made a loud "bang" while it was traveling east on Mamaroneck Road over the Bypass Bridge. The driver got out of the vehicle to investigate and saw flames. He said ran away from the vehicle and returned to the sanitation department's central garage on foot because he was nervous. He did not request any medical attention. The sanitation supervisor was on scene. Firefighters called the Westchester County Cause and Origin team to help determine what caused the fire. They determined the fire was caused by a mechanical problem, and it was deemed accidental in nature. Specifically, a spark or ember was thought to ignite gasoline which was leaking. The Cushman was towed to the Village's central garage. Damage was estimated at $1,500.

Stolen
Five street signs were removed or damaged along Brewster Road overnight Aug. 17. They were the signs from the following streets, Brewster and Butler roads, Brewster Road and Sage Terrace, Brewster and Gorham roads, and Brewster and Oakstwain roads. One street sign, at Fox Meadow and Butler roads, was damaged with gray spray paint. The cost for the highway department to replace the signs was $400.

A Post Road man reported a bicycle was stolen from inside his car parked in his driveway Aug. 20. He said he keeps the bike there. He last saw it at 6:30 p.m., Aug. 19. He discovered it stolen on Aug. 20 at 1 p.m. The bike was described as a white Scott road bike valued at $1,224.06.

An Edgemont Road man reported his black Kona mountain bike was stolen from Depot Place Aug. 20. He said he left the bike unsecured behind a shed near a bike rack while shopping for food at Decicco's Marketplace. When he returned from shopping, he discovered the bike was missing. He purchased the bike in June 2014 for $1,500.

Car break-in
On Aug. 21, a woman reported her car was broken into while parked in a Palmer Avenue driveway sometime between July 26 and Aug. 21. The car was parked in the Palmer Avenue driveway while the owner was vacationing in Scotland. When she returned from vacation, she realized her remote key did not work. She then discovered her center console was broken, and the stereo was missing. At that point, she realized a rear passenger window was broken and the car's doors were ajar. The car battery was dead.

Identity theft
On Aug. 17, a Harwood Court executive director reported someone forged numerous checks on his business checking account with Chase Bank. Three fraudulent checks written on August 12 were successfully cashed in Brooklyn. On August 17, further investigation revealed 27 other fraudulent checks were cashed in Malverne, New York. Police are following up.

On Aug. 17, a Popham Road resident reported he received a letter from a credit card company advising him an account balance was more than 60 days overdue. The credit card account was fraudulently opened in March 2014, using the man's name, his Social Security number and his ex-wife's address in Mt. Kisco. The account remained inactive until May 2015, when several electronic charges from Brazil were processed on the account.

On Aug. 19, a Graham Road resident reported receiving a letter from the IRS stating someone had fraudulently used her Social Security number to file taxes.

On August 19, a Norma Place woman told police her account attempted to file her tax return on April 15, but the return was kicked back because someone had already filed a return under the woman's Social Security number. She advised the IRS that the first return was fraudulent.

On Aug. 19, a Carstensen Road man reported someone was fraudulently using his name and address on a social networking site to request money and attempt to defraud women on a dating site. The reported a similar incident to police on March 6. He learned of the incident when a woman from Italy wrote to him, telling him she had been contacted by a person asking for money in the man's name. She became suspicious, thought it was a scam and reached out to alert the man.

On Aug. 21, a Sycamore Road woman reported two fraudulently written checks were cashed against her Bank of America account. The bank was alerted to the incident when two checks were cashed out of sequence. Upon investigation, the woman realized one box of checks was missing from a cabinet inside her house. Bank of America has frozen the woman's account.

Harassment
On Aug. 17, a Fox Meadow woman reported harassment from a man who wanted to see her on a personal, romantic level. She said she has told the man she was not interested numerous times, but he has been waiting for her outside meetings she attends and offering her rides in his car. He has allegedly been contacting her friends in an attempt to win their support for his interest in dating the woman. The man allegedly got mad when one of the friends told him she did not want to talk with him about the woman. The woman said she formerly knew the man from her previous employment as a personal trainer at a gym in 2007-2009. There, he often asked her to help him with the machines. The woman asked police to tell the man to stop contacting her.

White powder
A Greendale Road boy told police he was walking outside his house with his mother when they saw a plastic wrapped package had been run over on the street outside their house Aug. 18. The package contained a white powdery substance with an acidic smell. Officers went to the house to investigate. When they arrived, the boy's mother said she had just spoken with her younger son and learned he had been playing with antacid tablets in the street. She apologized for causing alarm.

Seizure warrant
Police stood by while agents from the NY State Department of Taxation and Finance served a Claremont Road resident with a seizure warrant Aug. 18. The agents took possession of a 2003 Jeep Liberty.

Tree removal
A Crane Road resident alleged a neighbor was removing a tree that was actually on her property Aug. 19. The tree removal contractor showed police a permit from Village Hall authorizing the removal of the tree. The resident and the neighbor came to a mutual agreement to proceed with the tree removal.

On Aug. 22, a Brown Road resident complained of noise and a possible permit violation associated with a neighbor's tree removal at 9:15 a.m. The tree removal contractor showed police a valid permit for cutting down the tree. The contractor through he could begin work in the village at 9 a.m. Patrol told him he could only begin work with power tools after 10 a.m. on weekends. The contractor apologized and promised to wait until 10 a.m. to begin work.

Lost parents
A Wakefield Road woman called police because she was worried about her parents who were visiting from Argentina and had gone missing, by car, with the woman's six-year-old son Aug. 19. The parents had driven to Pleasantville to drop off their grandson and had not returned to Scarsdale for several hours, the woman said. Neither parent had a cell phone, but they borrowed a stranger's cell phone and called their daughter around 3 p.m. They said they were lost in Pleasantville, and the stranger who lent them the cell phone offered to program the GPS to direct the parents back to Scarsdale. By 10 p.m., the parents had not yet returned home. While police were gathering information, the woman received a call from a Connecticut number, The parents had borrowed another stranger's cell phone to tell their daughter they were at an Exxon-Mobil gas station in Danbury, Connecticut, near exit 12 on I-95. Police advised the woman to tell her parents to stay where they were so she could drive to Connecticut to help them get back to Scarsdale. Police provided her with the addresses of various Exxon-Mobil gas stations in and around Danbury, as well as the number of Connecticut State police, in case she was unable to locate her parents. The woman and her husband left to pick up her parents and son.

Lost son
A Rock Creek Lane mother reported her 14-year-old son was missing after she went to pick him up from soccer practice and he was not at the field at 12:45 p.m., Aug. 21. Village employees found the boy walking in the vicinity of Ridgedale Road and Palmer Avenue. The boy said his mother was late picking him up, so he decided to start walking home. His cell phone's battery had died, and he had no way of contacting his mother, he said. Mother and son were reunited, and all was in good order.

Crying baby
A tall, thin, barefooted man was seen walking up and down Oak Way for about 30 minutes while holding a baby Aug.22. Police went to the area and found a man and a baby sitting in a green Subaru Forester. The man said he was waiting for his wife who teaches a yoga class nearby. The baby had been crying, and he decided to walk with the baby to soothe the baby.

Screaming man
MTA dispatch reported a white man, approximately 20 years old, screaming and attempting to stop traffic on East Parkway at 5:45 a.m., Aug. 23. When police arrived at the scene, no one was there. Employees from Dunkin' Donuts said they saw a young man on East Parkway "with bleeding knuckles." No further information or description was provided.

Car service
A man called police at 12:30 a.m., Aug. 21, from a car service car in the area of Christie Place and East Parkway. He was having a dispute with the driver over the fare, and he alleged the driver would not stop the car and let him out unless he paid the full fare. With patrol's assistance, the man and the driver were able to reach a resolution over the fare.

Help
Police checked the welfare of an Elm Road man at the request of the man's brother. Patrol went to house and found everything to be in good order.

On Aug. 19, police checked the welfare of a Boulevard woman with a broken shoulder. The woman's cousin became worried when the cousin could not reach her by phone or text. Patrol went to the woman's house and confirmed she was OK.

A young man received a message from a friend in boarding school in which the friend stated he was going to commit suicide. The young man, who was a resident of Greenburgh, told police his friend's boarding school was in Middleboro, Massachusetts. Patrol notified Middleboro and Greenburgh police departments for follow up.

Cars and roadways

• Police notified Verizon about a damaged telephone wire on Sylvan Lane Aug. 17.
• A garbage truck broke down on Popham Road Aug. 17. A tow truck operator said the truck was in danger of tipping over while being towed. Police closed a portion of Popham Road and assisted with traffic control while the tow truck safely towed the garbage truck out of the area.
• A driver stuck curbing and got a flat tire on Fenimore Road Aug. 18. Police and a firefighter helped the driver change her tire to a spare.
• A man sitting in a running black Suburban parked on Clarence Road was a taxi driver working on a laptop computer while waiting to pick up a person for airport transport Aug. 18.
• A branch and acorns fell from a tree and cracked a car's windshield while the car was travelling on Crossway Aug. 19.
• Police notified Verizon about a hanging telephone wire over Thornwood Place Aug. 20.
• A Lyons Road resident said a carting company drove over his lawn and damaged it while delivering a dumpster to a neighbor's construction site Aug. 20. The carting company driver allegedly exchanged "a few choice words" when confronted by the resident. The resident's neighbor and general contractor offered to repair any damage to the lawn, and the resident was satisfied with this.
• A woman parked her car in the Village Hall lot, and the car's front bumper got stuck on the cement block at the head of the parking space Aug. 20. Police advised the woman to slowly back up her car, while patrol gently lifted the bumper to release it from the cement block. In the end, the car was safely moved out of the parking space without suffering any damage.
• Police placed traffic cones over a trench cut in Olmsted Road Aug. 21. The trench appeared related to construction work at a nearby house; so police left messages for the contractor to rectify the situation.
• Police called a tow truck for a driver with a flat tire on Griffen Avenue Aug. 23.
  
• Eight car accidents were reported in the village this week.

Lost and found

• On Aug. 21, a Brambach Road resident reported her father, who is now in China, lost his Canadian citizenship card while at her house. He needed a police report to request a replacement card.
• A person walking on Heathcote Road found a street sign in the vicinity of Brookby Road Aug. 22. The sign was not attached to a post. Police gave the sign to the highway department for replacement.
• A wallet was found on Scarsdale Avenue Aug. 23. Police contacted the Chappaqua owner, who said he would not be able to pick up his wallet until the next day. Police vouchered the wallet at headquarters for safekeeping.

Village code
Petrol issued summonses to landscapers using gas-powered leaf blowers on Rochambeau Road Aug. 18, Graham Road Aug. 19 and Foxhall Road Aug. 20.

On Aug. 18, patrol issued a summons for unnecessary noise to a driver who honked his horn in traffic on East Parkway.

Passersby reported a man walking in the area of Crossway and Weaver Street shouting obscenities Aug. 19. The man said he was walking home from Westchester Reform Temple and had been talking to himself. He apologized for being loud and told police he would be quieter. Police determined he was not breaking any laws.

Police dispersed kids gathering in a Scarsdale High School parking lot around 9 p.m., Aug. 22.

Fire
A smoke odor in a Greenacres Avenue house was caused by an open flue in the fireplace. Firefighters advised the resident to call a chimney service company.

Firefighters contacted Con Edison about carbon monoxide in a Hamilton Road house Aug. 17. The carbon monoxide appeared to be coming from a faulty oven.

Firefighters and volunteer firefighters assisted at a structure fire and explosion at the NY State Thruway Yard in Larchmont Aug. 18.

An oil odor in a Cowhawney Road basement was caused by a leaking boiler Aug. 19.

A car's motor overheated on Clarence Road, and coolant spilled on the road Aug. 20. Firefighters cleaned to roadway, and police requested a tow for the disabled car.

Carbon monoxide monitors went off in a Chesterfield Road house, and the homeowner called the fire department's business line and left a message Aug. 20. When firefighters received the message, they instructed the homeowner to call 911 for an immediate response. Investigation showed the carbon monoxide alarm was a false alarm caused by off-gassing from overcharged sump pump batteries. Firefighters disconnected the batteries and ventilated the house. They recommended calling a plumber for repair.

Firefighters stood by for Con Edison at the site of a carbon monoxide leak in a Spier Road house Aug. 21. A plumber was working on an leaking acetylene tank at the time.

Firefighters assisted Scarsdale police and Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps with a medical call Aug. 21.
An odor of natural gas inside an Aspen Road house was caused by a broken gas valve on a defective stove Aug. 22. The resident turned off the gas before firefighters arrived. Firefighters advised the resident to leave the stove off until repairs could be completed.

Firefighters shut gas and power to a faulty stove in a Heathcote Road house Aug. 22. They advised to get the stove serviced.

Firefighters stood by for Con Edison at the site of fallen power lines on Oakwood Place Aug. 23.

This week, firefighters assisted at two car accidents in the village and on parkways. They responded to 23 false fire alarms caused by device malfunction, construction dust, burnt food in a microwave, cooking smoke, cleaning chemicals and burnt toast.

This report covering police and fire department activity from Aug. 17-24 was complied from official information.

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