Monetary gifts intended for garbage collector holiday tips
Perceptiveness on the part of a Cold Spring police officer in the early Christmas Eve gloom thwarted an apparent theft-in-progress of money left as tips for village garbage collectors.
According to Cold Spring Police Department Officer in Charge George Kane, the incident began around 3 a.m. on Dec. 24 when Police Officer David DiRienzo, on a routine patrol, saw a car going erratically down Constitution Drive, weaving from one side of the street to the other. Further scrutiny revealed the car was stopping at trash cans as the driver removed money left with the cans as tips for the trash collection crew, Kane told Philipstown.info on Sunday evening (Dec. 29).
The garbage collectors make their rounds early each Tuesday.
The on-site police work resulted in the arrest of two Newburgh men, Edward Claire Yeagley, 36, and Edward Yeagley, 62. The younger Yeagley was charged with criminal possession of stolen property and unlawful possession of personal identification – the latter because he also was allegedly found with a stolen check. Arraigned before Cold Spring Justice Court Judge Thomas Costello, he was remanded to the custody of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department. The older Yeagley was charged with petit larceny and released on a desk appearance ticket and is expected in Justice Court on Jan. 8, with other charges still pending, Kane said.
Another law enforcement officer, Tommy Lee, of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, assisted Officer DiRienzo. “Both officers did an outstanding job in this case,” Kane said. “Had the arrest not been made, this crime may have gone unreported and/or unnoticed.”
