Will appear in court on Oct. 12
Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith reports the arrest of a 22 year-old Dutchess County man on felony larceny charges stemming from his alleged involvement in stealing two cars from the Village of Cold Spring. On Aug. 6, a Sheriff’s patrol car located a 1999 Acura parked at the Cold Spring Metro-North station parking lot that had been reported stolen four days earlier (and reported to the Beacon police department.) Investigations revealed that the Metropolitan Transit Authority police (MTA) had received a report of another stolen vehicle, a 2002 Honda, stolen from the same lot on Aug. 3. [SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE]
In the early morning hours of Aug. 8, deputies from the Sheriff’s Office and a Village of Cold Spring police officer responded to an auto accident at the intersection of Route 9D and River Road. Upon their arrival, officers found a one-car crash. The driver of the vehicle had fled prior to their arrival. Checking the car’s registration, police discovered that it was the Honda reported stolen earlier. Later that day, the Sheriff’s Office received a call from a Cold Spring resident reporting that his 2001 Mercedes Benz had been stolen from in front of his home during the night. Believing the car thefts were related, the four law enforcement agencies conducted a joint investigation.
On Aug.18, the City of Beacon Police Department responded to a car crash. Upon their arrival, they found the stolen Mercedes Benz and Jaroslaw Rzasa of Wappingers Falls. During the police interview, Rzasa admitted to stealing both vehicles. He told investigators that he stole the cars because, “the train doesn’t go to Wal-Mart.” Beacon police charged Rzasa with criminal possession of stolen property and numerous vehicle and traffic infractions. Police also learned that Rzasa was wanted on an outstanding parole violations arrest warrant.
On Sept. 14, MTA police officers and Putnam Sheriff’s investigators arrested Rzasa on warrants issued by Cold Spring Village Justice Thomas Costello. MTA police charged him with grand larceny in the fourth degree, a class C felony, while Sheriff’s investigators charged him with grand larceny in the third degree, a class D felony. Rzasa was arraigned before Justice Costello and ordered held in lieu of $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 secured bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 12.
Sheriff Smith praised the outstanding cooperation exhibited by the four law enforcement agencies saying, “By police officers from the City of Beacon, Village of Cold Spring and Metropolitan Transit Authority working with our investigators a career criminal was apprehended and is facing serious felony charges. It is this type of team work that protects Putnam County each day and ensures that our county remains one of the safest in New York State.”
The suspect said “the train doesn’t go to Wal-Mart.” Maybe Cold Spring Mayor Gallagher should look into that…he seems to look into every other ridiculous complaint.