Drunk Driver, Smashed Window and a Threat

Intoxicated Driver: Antonio Palanca of Yonkers, who is a student at Westchester Community College was found passed out, and locked in his car at the intersection of Popham Road and East Parkway at 4:15 am on February 19th. He was stopped at a green light, slumped over and breathing, but unresponsive. Police reported that the engine was on and the red 2007 Mazda was in drive.

The car was locked with Palanca was passed out inside and police were unable to wake him. Police called a tow truck to unlock the car and move it. When they opened the door they shook Palanca and shouted at him and he finally woke up, but he was unable to speak coherently or stand on his own. His eyes were bloodshot and he appeared to be intoxicated. When asked if he was drunk, he replied, “I had a few drinks, I thing Vodka.”

He was taken to White Plains hospital by the Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps where he was evaluated, released and returned to the Scarsdale Police trailer. His Breathalyzer test showed a blood alcohol level of .16% and he was charged with two counts of driving while intoxicated, which is a misdemeanor. He was released on $250 bail and a court date was set.

Smashed: A Harvest Drive resident was home watching television at 10 pm on February 18th when he heard a loud crash in front of his house. He got up to investigate and found that someone had thrown a baseball through the front window of the house and shattered the glass. Neither the man nor his wife are engaged in any disputes and they had no idea who would have done this or why it happened.

Struck: An employee of Scarsdale Hardware was directing a delivery truck on Scarsdale Avenue on 2/18 when he was hit by the mirror of car going north on Scarsdale Avenue. His right arm was struck by the driver’s side mirror of the car and the Ambulance Corps was called. The man refused medical treatment.

Threatened: A sixteen year-old girl from Quaker Ridge came to police with her parents to report a threatening text message she received on her cell phone on February 16th. The message read, “Listen crack baby, don’t ever ever in ur life tell me im a bitch over again. Before I was gonna punch u in the face. Now im gonna kick ur ass.” The message was sent from someone under the age of 18 and the family asked the police to follow-up.

The previous day, the girl’s parents had called police to report that their daughter had violated their PINS (Person In Need of Supervision) agreement and left the house by the second floor balcony door without telling them she was going out. The father contacted the girl on her cell phone and she refused to let her parents know where she was or whom she was with.

Lost and Found:

-Headless Rabbit: a headless rabbit was found underneath a large tree at the Weinberg Nature Center. Police surmised that another animal had attached the rabbit and that the head had not been removed as a part of a satanic ritual or incident of cruelty.

-Key: On 2/19, a gold-plated key attached to a blue carrying case with flowers was found on East Parkway at Christie Place. The key and carrier are now at the police station.

-Wallet: A Coach wallet was found in front of Chase Bank on East Parkway at 7 am on 2/20 and brought to police by a Good Samaritan. Police were able to identify the owner by the content of the wallet and contacted her. She came by and picked it up.

-Walker: A damaged walker was found on the corner of Roosevelt Place and Edgewood Road at 4 pm on 2/19. Police contacted the woman whose name appeared on the walker who denied it was hers.

Safekeeping: A Montrose Road man turned in four semi-automatic guns and two revolvers to police for safekeeping. The guns were the property of his recently deceased father. The man wanted police to hold the guns until he could get permits to own them.

Harassed: An elderly Eastwoods Road woman received a phone call from someone who claimed to be her grandson at 10:30 pm on 2/19. He claimed he had been arrested for drunk driving and was being held in a Mexico City jail. He asked her to send him $4,000 to pay for a rental car he had wrecked. The woman told the caller that she would need to ask her husband and the man called back at 11:50 pm to ask about the status of the funds. He became belligerent and the woman hung up. In the interim, she had determined that the caller was not her grandson.

Damaged: A Griffen Road woman called to report damage to her electronic entrance gate doors on February 22nd. Her housekeeper had seen a post office truck hit the gate on the afternoon of 2/16. Police got in touch with the postal worker who admitted that he did hit the gate due to ice on the road. The post office accepted responsibility for the damage and the resident was instructed to file a claim.

Identity Theft: Unauthorized charges were made on a Lincoln Road family’s debit cards in the amounts of $285 and $170. The charges were made on 2/10 to the Department of Motor Vehicles to pay for fines and violations. In addition, $670.98 was paid to Norton.com on the man’s Amex card on 1/29 – also without his authorization.