Police follow footprints to catch teens responsible for over 45 Oxford thefts
OXFORD – The Oxford Police Department, Chenango County Sheriff’s Office and New York State Police responded to over 45 vehicle theft complaints from Oxford residents last week.
On Monday, 19-year-old Michael K. Purdy, said to be the ring leader by police, and 18-year-old Otilio Cruz, turned themselves into authorities.
Purdy is currently charged with fourth degree criminal possession of a weapon, sixth degree conspiracy, fourth degree criminal mischief, eight counts of petit larceny, making a false written statement, trespassing, unlawful possession of marijuana and remanded to the Chenango County Correctional Facility on $20,000 bail.
Cruz was charged with five counts of petit larceny, fourth degree criminal mischief, sixth degree conspiracy and trespassing and was released.
Police said they had been looking for the two teens since Friday.
Oxford Police Chief Richard Nolan said the local station began receiving calls at 4 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 15 and by 8:30, the agencies had received a total of 20 reports of vehicles being broken into. Nolan said yesterday that calls continued to come into the station as late as Monday morning.
Police said all the vehicles targeted in the crime had their doors unlocked over night.
“If the cars were unlocked, they took what they could get out of them. If they were locked, they kept moving on,” said Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Richard M. Cobb.
The chief said the two suspects were under the influence of marijuana at the time of the thefts.
Callers reported missing money, CDs, DVDs, cigarettes, I-pods and chargers, cameras, GPS units and even their car mats, said police.
“A concerned resident walking his dog witnessed two suspicious persons at 4 a.m. in the morning. This resident followed their tracks and realized these two were looking in a number of cars. He then dialed 911 to report this activity,” said the chief.
A joint investigation into the thefts began last week, which at one point involved eight police officers checking complaints and following up on leads.
Two sets of footprints were discovered by police and followed back through several streets, leading all the way back to the suspects’ residence at 20 South Washington St. in the Village of Oxford.
“We followed the footprints nearly two miles back to the residence,” said Nolan.
Police obtained a warrant and conducted a search of the home Friday, allegedly recovering dozens of pieces of suspected stolen property, drug paraphernalia, switch blades, throwing knives and other illegal items. The suspects were not home at the time of the raid.
The Sheriff’s Office said had an open investigation in Oxford on separate complaints received two-week earlier and suspected that the two culprits of Thursday’s theft may have been behind them.
“We’re still looking into some things we still have some cases from a week or two prior. PD received a lot of stolen property and we need to compare it to our cases and see if any of it matches up, but initially we took a number of complaints a week or two prior regarding the same kind of crimes, car larcenies,” said Cobb.
The Norwich Police Department also has an outstanding warrant for Purdy over charges of criminal possession of stolen property issued by the Norwich City Court Jan. 5.
Cobb said additional charges against the two teens were pending.
“We have an entire room filled up with evidence and about 40 victims we have to keep in touch with,” said Nolan.
Nolan said any items missing from the thefts can be recovered from the Oxford Police Department, Wednesday to Sunday. Residents are welcome to come into the station and look over the stolen property to see if they can identify any lost items.
Any resident missing items from their cars are asked to call the Oxford PD at 843-2333 or the Sheriff’s Office at 334-2000.
All residents are encouraged to remove their valuables from sight in their vehicles and keep them locked over night, said Nolan.
Police said some of the victimized vehicles had car keys in their ignitions.
At last night’s Village of Sherburne Board meeting, Trustee and First Assistant District Attorney Stephen M. Dunshee asked Sherburne Mayor William Acee to encourage citizens of the village to lock their cars.
“A couple of thugs broke into every vehicle on the street in the Village of Oxford last week, looking for money, I assume for drugs,” said Dunshee.
On Monday, 19-year-old Michael K. Purdy, said to be the ring leader by police, and 18-year-old Otilio Cruz, turned themselves into authorities.
Purdy is currently charged with fourth degree criminal possession of a weapon, sixth degree conspiracy, fourth degree criminal mischief, eight counts of petit larceny, making a false written statement, trespassing, unlawful possession of marijuana and remanded to the Chenango County Correctional Facility on $20,000 bail.
Cruz was charged with five counts of petit larceny, fourth degree criminal mischief, sixth degree conspiracy and trespassing and was released.
Police said they had been looking for the two teens since Friday.
Oxford Police Chief Richard Nolan said the local station began receiving calls at 4 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 15 and by 8:30, the agencies had received a total of 20 reports of vehicles being broken into. Nolan said yesterday that calls continued to come into the station as late as Monday morning.
Police said all the vehicles targeted in the crime had their doors unlocked over night.
“If the cars were unlocked, they took what they could get out of them. If they were locked, they kept moving on,” said Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Richard M. Cobb.
The chief said the two suspects were under the influence of marijuana at the time of the thefts.
Callers reported missing money, CDs, DVDs, cigarettes, I-pods and chargers, cameras, GPS units and even their car mats, said police.
“A concerned resident walking his dog witnessed two suspicious persons at 4 a.m. in the morning. This resident followed their tracks and realized these two were looking in a number of cars. He then dialed 911 to report this activity,” said the chief.
A joint investigation into the thefts began last week, which at one point involved eight police officers checking complaints and following up on leads.
Two sets of footprints were discovered by police and followed back through several streets, leading all the way back to the suspects’ residence at 20 South Washington St. in the Village of Oxford.
“We followed the footprints nearly two miles back to the residence,” said Nolan.
Police obtained a warrant and conducted a search of the home Friday, allegedly recovering dozens of pieces of suspected stolen property, drug paraphernalia, switch blades, throwing knives and other illegal items. The suspects were not home at the time of the raid.
The Sheriff’s Office said had an open investigation in Oxford on separate complaints received two-week earlier and suspected that the two culprits of Thursday’s theft may have been behind them.
“We’re still looking into some things we still have some cases from a week or two prior. PD received a lot of stolen property and we need to compare it to our cases and see if any of it matches up, but initially we took a number of complaints a week or two prior regarding the same kind of crimes, car larcenies,” said Cobb.
The Norwich Police Department also has an outstanding warrant for Purdy over charges of criminal possession of stolen property issued by the Norwich City Court Jan. 5.
Cobb said additional charges against the two teens were pending.
“We have an entire room filled up with evidence and about 40 victims we have to keep in touch with,” said Nolan.
Nolan said any items missing from the thefts can be recovered from the Oxford Police Department, Wednesday to Sunday. Residents are welcome to come into the station and look over the stolen property to see if they can identify any lost items.
Any resident missing items from their cars are asked to call the Oxford PD at 843-2333 or the Sheriff’s Office at 334-2000.
All residents are encouraged to remove their valuables from sight in their vehicles and keep them locked over night, said Nolan.
Police said some of the victimized vehicles had car keys in their ignitions.
At last night’s Village of Sherburne Board meeting, Trustee and First Assistant District Attorney Stephen M. Dunshee asked Sherburne Mayor William Acee to encourage citizens of the village to lock their cars.
“A couple of thugs broke into every vehicle on the street in the Village of Oxford last week, looking for money, I assume for drugs,” said Dunshee.
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