Police Reports: Burglary, Fraud, Warrants and Vandalism

The following information was supplied by the Monroe Police Department. No arrested person is guilty until so judged in a court of law. 

Safe Stolen in Burglary

A Sentry Safe containing several thousands of dollars in cash, jewelry and personal documents was reported stolen Friday in the burglary of a home on Millo Drive.

Police said the safe was taken from the closet in the victim's bedroom. The burglary was discovered by a friend who stopped by for a visit at 3 p.m. and found the back door to the house wide open.

Police said the victim told them he always keeps his back door unlocked so friends can come in and his neighbors confirmed that numerous friends go in and out of the house throughout the day and night.

The theft took place sometime between 12:45 and 7:30 p.m., police said, adding that all of the victim's friends are being interviewed as part of the investigation.

Two Warrant Arrests

Daniel Griffin, 48, of Winter Street in Ansonia was arrested Saturday on a warrant for failure to appear in court.

Police said the court appearance stems from an arrest for violation of a protective order. Bond for Saturday's arrest was set at $150,000.

Police said Griffin was also arrested on two violation of probation warrants with $25,000 bond each.

He stayed at the police station on a total of $200,000 bond over the weekend and was brought to court on Monday, according to the report.

James S. Supan was arrested on a warrant Friday charging him with issuing a bad check on Nov. 28,2011. Supan of Oak Ridge Road in Monroe was released on $10,000 bond.

Fraud Nets $4,900

A Watch Hill Road man came to police headquarters on Friday to report the theft of $4,900 from his savings account.

On Feb. 27, Chase Bank informed him that someone had tried to withdraw $3,400 from his checking account at a branch in Oakdale, New York. Police said the suspect had a driver's license with all of the data being correct with the exception of the operating number.

The bank did not allow the transaction on that ocassion and the Monroe man was told to change his account number.

Then on April 24, the Watch Hill Road resident checked his bank account and noticed that someone had withdrawn $4,900 from his savings account earlier in the day, according to the report. Police said he contacted the bank and learned that another man had used a driver's license to complete the transaction at a bank branch in Manhattan.

The teller did not follow bank policy, acccording to the report.

The victim was advised to change all of his accounts for security purposes, including his credit cards.

Lottery Scam

An Elm Street woman told police on Friday that she received a phone call from a man identifying himself as Call Johnson from the Publishers Clearinghouse to inform her that her father won $2.5 million.

She called the number he had left for her on her voicemail and there was no answer. Johnson called her again and asked for information on debit cards and checking accounts, "so he could send out the money immediately", according to the police report.

Police said the woman did not divulge any information. A reverse look up of the phone number showed Johnson was calling from a number in Peaks Island, Maine, police said. An officer called the number, but nobody picked up.

The woman was told to contact police if she receives another call.

Two Vandalism Complaints

An employee of Cornell-Carr Co. Inc., a business that produces marine windows and doors at 626 Main Street, noticed damage to a PODS container on April 26.

Police said a large dent had been made to the upper left of the overhead door of the storage container, dislodging it from its track.

Sgt. John Butler said someone may have looked inside the storage container and saw it only had cardboard inside.

Stevenson firefighters had planned to use a Toyota RAV4 for training, but reported vandalism to the junked vehicle on April 26. Police said someone bashed in all of the windows sometime overnight.