Police Report: Suspects Caught With 27 Fraudulent ATM Cards, Runaway Car Injures Owner

More details have emerged in the Jan. 18 arrests of two suspects caught using multiple fraudulent debit cards to withdraw more than $29,000 from Webster Bank ATM machines. Police received a report of suspicious ATM activity at Webster Bank's Popham Road branch at approximately 2:19 p.m. According to the bank manager, two Asian men in their mid-20s to 30s entered the bank on Saturday, Jan. 14, and "acted suspicious" while withdrawing money from the ATM machines. On Tuesday, Jan. 17, employees noticed their ATM machines were low on funds, and the ATM machines at Webster Bank's East Parkway branch were also low on funds. This put the banks on alert for possible fraudulent ATM activity. On Jan. 18, the Popham Road branch serviced its ATM machines and discovered $3,000 had been withdrawn overnight. This was unusual because, according to the manager, only an average of between $20 and $1,300 is withdrawn from the bank on a daily basis. At 1:30 p.m., the same men who suspiciously withdrew cash from the ATM on Jan. 14 entered the Popham Road bank again. They were seen standing at the ATM machines "for a long time," withdrawing cash multiple times. This is what prompted a call to police. An officer on downtown foot patrol arrived in less than two minutes and located the suspects. The suspects had left the bank, but one returned while police were there, and the other was standing outside across the street from the bank. At first, the suspect who was detained in the bank told police "no English" and did not respond to questions. A fraudulent ATM card was observed hanging out of the suspect's pocket, and police confiscated it. As officers interviewed the two suspects during the on-scene investigation, they discovered numerous additional fraudulent ATM cards in the suspects' pockets. According to police, "Both suspects were in possession of 27 fraudulent bank ATM cards, none of which had cardholders' names, and most of which did not have any account number or bank information on them. The ATM cards all had 4-digit PIN numbers written on the back of them. Fraudulent transactions at the bank where the suspects were arrested exceeded $29,000."

Suspect Yan Lin Liu, 33, of Flushing, NY was arrested on 27 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a class-D felony. Suspect Huirong Liu, 24, of Flushing, NY was also arrested on 27 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument. Both suspects were arraigned in Scarsdale Village Justice Court and remanded to the Westchester County Jail on $60,000 bail each. Both defendants are Chinese citizens in the United States on a visa. Police are continuing their investigation of the incident, identifying both the financial institutions and account holder information encoded on the cards. The US Secret Service, operating out of its White Plains office, assisted the Scarsdale Police Department and police are also working with the Westchester County District Attorney's Office Financial Crimes Division on the ongoing investigation.

Death
Irene Frankel, 94, of Brewster Road, died at home of natural causes Jan. 16.

Woman struck by own car
On Jan. 22, a 41-year-old Brittany Close woman was struck by her own car after she failed to put the car into park after pulling into her driveway. When police arrived at the accident scene, they saw the woman sitting in her 2017 Infiniti, bleeding from her left leg. She said she had just pulled into her driveway and thought she had put her car into park. As she was grabbing things from the back seat while outside the car, the vehicle began rolling backwards. The woman's six-year-old daughter was still inside the car, so the woman ran after the car and tried to get back inside to stop it. As the front tire and driver's side front door struck the curb, the car turned and rolled back onto the resident's front lawn. She told police she was not sure if the front driver's side wheel ran over her leg or if the tire pinned her leg up against curbing – thus causing injury. As the car drove over the lawn, the woman continued to run after it. She was eventually able to get back into the car and put it in park. Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps took the woman to White Plains Hospital Center for treatment. SVAC evaluated the daughter, and no injuries were reported. The resident's husband was on scene to attend to their daughter.

Car break-ins
On Jan. 21, a Continental Road man reported two unlocked cars in his driveway – a Jeep and an Infiniti – had been entered and rummaged through overnight. Sunglasses were stolen from the Jeep, and a set of golf clubs in the trunk had been moved. It did not appear as if anything had been taken from the Infiniti.

Identity theft
On Jan. 21, a Cayuga Road woman reported receiving two phone calls about fraudulent credit applications with Bank of America and Fifth Third Bank. The calls were received on Jan. 16 and 17. On Jan. 19, the woman learned someone had submitted a fraudulent request to have her mail forwarded to an address in Orlando, Florida. Thus, any packages sent to the woman's Scarsdale address would have gone to Orlando, if the woman had not realized the issue. The woman notified the post office, and the US Postmaster opened an incident for the unauthorized change of address.

Assault
On Jan. 21, as patrol was entering Freightway Garage for a routine check at 10 p.m., a 22-year-old Crest Lane man and a 20-year-old Crest Lane woman stopped their car while they were exiting the garage to report that they had just been assaulted by acquaintances. The man and woman said the attackers were possibly still on the upper level of the garage. Patrol immediately informed dispatch and requested Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps because the woman was bleeding from the nose and had pain in her head and face. Police canvassed the area for the suspects, but no one was found. The man and woman said they had arrived at the garage to meet up with some friends and hang out. While they were outside their car talking to friends, a female acquaintance approached the woman and said that the two needed to talk. As they walked around the car to talk, the acquaintance said, "I hear you are talking s**t about me from plenty of people. The woman told the acquaintance she was not talking about her. The acquaintance then punched the woman in the nose with a closed fist. She grabbed her hair and starting punching the woman in the face and back of the head. The punches caused bruising and swelling of the cheeks and nose. The man said he attempted to separate the two women, but the acquaintance's boyfriend stepped in and started punching him in the face and chest. The man told police he was not injured in any way. The woman was taken to White Plains Hospital Center for evaluation. The man said he would provide information about the suspects for follow-up. Police questioned the drivers and occupants of three cars that left Freightway Garage during the time police were on scene. No one in any of those cars said they saw the incident.

Dispute
A worker called police because he was having a dispute with a Madison Road man Jan. 19. The worker said the man had written him a check for previously done work but was threatening to cancel the check if the worker did not come back the next day to do more work. The worker said he would only be able to do the additional work the following week. The man confirmed the worker's statements and was adamant in his communication about the worker returning the following day to do additional work. At this point, the worker said he would not come back at all because he was unhappy with the way he was being treated. Police advised the man he should not cancel the check because it was for already completed work, done to the man's satisfaction. Police advised the worker to pursue the matter in small claims court if the man cancelled the check.

Appointment
A caretaker of a Richbell Road house called police, stating she did not know why people and cars were in the driveway at 9:30 p.m., Jan. 19. She said the house was for sale and there had been an appointment to show the house at 7 p.m. The realtor, who was identified as one of the people outside the house, said he did show his clients the house at 7 p.m. His clients left their car in the driveway while they looked at other properties, and they had returned to pick up their car. Everything was deemed to be in good order.

Panic
Police set up a perimeter around a Ridgecrest East house after a resident called 911, reporting a possible intruder at 11:40 p.m., Jan. 19. Police made contact with the resident via a second floor window. The resident said she no longer thought anyone was in the house, except for her and her daughter. She also said her daughter was now in a panic. Police checked the house and its surroundings. They found no signs of attempted forced entry, no footprints and nothing out of the ordinary.

Ride home
On Jan. 20, an elderly man walked into headquarters. He was disoriented and said he did not know how to get back home. Patrol gave him a courtesy ride home and spoke with his wife, who was there. She said he was suffering from dementia. She did not request any further assistance.

Missing mother-in-law
A passerby saw an elderly woman walking on Huntington Avenue without a shoe around 9:45 a.m., Jan. 21. Due to a French and English language gap, the passerby was not able to assist the woman; so the passerby called police. Police drove the elderly woman to headquarters to further assist her. While the woman was at headquarters, a Sage Terrace woman called to report her mother-in-law was missing. The mother-in-law was described as a French-speaking Alzheimer's patient, whose physical description matched that of the woman at headquarters. The Sage Terrace woman and her mother-in-law were reunited, and no further assistance was needed.

Tampering
On Jan. 20, a Brewster Road man asked police to document three peculiar incidents that occurred over the past three weeks. First, the man noticed the mesh screen over his dryer vent became detached. Next, he noticed the padlock on his storage area became unlocked. It showed no signs of force, and the lock appeared intact. Third, he noticed a kitchen window slightly ajar, even thought he had been home all day and the window had allegedly been locked. Patrol checked the window for signs of criminality or pry marks; however, nothing unusual was detected. The man said he would install alarm sensors on the window.

Cars and roadways
On Jan. 16, a Walworth Avenue man reported a black van with tinted windows and a skull decal "lingering suspiciously" in front of his house around 8 a.m. The van belonged to workers employed to do construction work across the street.
Police conducted a traffic stop of a car that had been blocking the intersection of Tompkins and Fenimore roads Jan. 17. A department of motor vehicles check of the car's license plate revealed a suspended registration. A further check of the driver's license and insurance card indicated that they were also suspended - due to an insurance lapse. The driver, a 49-year-old Hartsdale woman, was unaware of the insurance lapse. Police removed the car's license plates and had the car towed to the driver's residence. The driver was issued appropriate summonses.
Three summonses were issued to the owners of illegally parked cars on Freightway Road Jan. 17.
A Mercedes Benz stalled on Brite Avenue and Fenimore Road after midnight Jan. 19. After waiting for a tow from AAA, the driver asked police to call a tow for him. Duty tow was dispatched and took the car to a location in White Plains, at the driver's request.
Parked cars were causing a hazardous condition on Whig Road Jan. 19. Police successfully got all the drivers to move their cars.
Police issued a summons to an illegally parked car on Ogden Road Jan. 19.
A disabled Ford Explorer was towed from Greenacres Avenue to a dealership in Pleasantville, at the driver's request Jan. 19.
Police directed traffic around a disabled car on Weaver Street while the driver waited for a tow Jan. 20.
Police issued a summons to the owner of a parked car partially obstructing a Secor Road driveway Jan. 22.
Seven car accidents were reported in the village this week.

Animals
A Collie with a pink collar was following a caller around the neighborhood of Bradford and Broadmoor roads Jan. 20. The dog was reunited with its owner before police arrived.
A Hamilton Road woman asked for help removing a wild animal from her house at 10 p.m., Jan. 20. She said she saw what appeared to be a rat or squirrel jump across her master bedroom dresser. Police did not observe any animals on scene. They provided the woman with contact information for local trappers. The woman said she would stay in a hotel overnight and contact pest control in the morning.
Police issued a verbal warning to a man who brought his allegedly "unleashed" dog into a park on Boulevard, while kids were playing in the park, Jan. 22. Police explained it was against village code to have unleashed dogs in the park.

Village code
Police advised a solar panel salesman he needed a permit before he could solicit door to door in the village Jan. 18. The man, who had been going door to door on Madison Road, said he was not aware of village code and promised to obtain any necessary permits.

Lost and found
Car keys, miscellaneous keys and a lanyard key ring were found on a rock in Drake Road Park Jan. 16. Police vouchered them at headquarters for safekeeping.
On Jan. 17, a Paddington Road resident reported that his license plates were destroyed after his 2008 Town & Country suburban was sold in an online auction Dec. 12. The resident said he forgot to remove the plate before the vehicle was picked up. The resident needed a report about the lost/destroyed plates.
Police found two street signs on the side of Kensington and Chesterfield roads Jan. 20. The signs were for the intersections of Chesterfield and Shawnee roads and Post Road and Rugby Lane. Police drove to these intersections and found street signs currently intact. Thus, police concluded the recently found street signs were from a past incident and had been replaced in the meantime. The signs were recovered and taken to the highway department.
On Jan. 18, an Oak Lane woman reported losing her Apple watch at a Scarsdale nail salon. On Jan. 20, the woman said her watch had been found.
A customer left her purse in a Palmer Avenue nail salon Jan. 20. Employees gave the purse to police. Police called the owner, who gratefully retrieved her purse.

Firefighters
A Madison Road resident accidentally got locked out of the resident's house Jan. 17. Firefighters helped the resident get back in the house.
A Cohawney Road babysitter and dog accidentally got locked out of their house Jan. 17. Firefighters helped them get back in the house.
A new car running in a Heathcote Road garage caused a burning odor inside the garage Jan. 19. Firefighters did not find any cause for alarm and surmised the burning odor was the scent of a new car being broken in. The car was moved outside the garage; windows were opened for ventilation; and the odor dissipated.
The water department was called about a water leak near a fire hydrant on Old Lyme Road Jan. 19.
This week, firefighters assisted at two car accidents in the village. They responded to sixteen false fire alarms, caused by device malfunction, cooking smoke, shower steam, a detector falling from the ceiling and low battery.

This report covering police and fire department activity from Jan. 17-22 was compiled from official information.

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