Trio Busted for Stealing Residents’ Mail in Mahopac
Carmel police arrested two Brooklyn residents and a Mahopac man last Thursday for stealing mail from residents and leveled charges for a variety of other offenses.
Shortly after midnight on Dec. 1., police were contacted by a resident who observed a suspicious vehicle in the area of West Lake Boulevard in Mahopac. The resident reported that occupants of the vehicle appeared to be stealing mail out of various mailboxes in the area, police said.
Carmel officers responded to the scene, locating the suspected vehicle on Route 6N in Mahopac. They conducted a traffic stop and identified the operator along with two passengers.
Police discovered that the driver, Vitaliy Lutso, 27, of Brooklyn was driving with a suspended license and registration and had a fraudulent Delaware registration tag. The two passengers in the car were identified as 29-year-old Tetiana Alive-Yolosovych, also of Brooklyn, and Mykola Popadynets, 24, of Mahopac.
Upon further investigation, several pieces of stolen mail belonging to Mahopac residents were discovered inside the vehicle. Investigating officers also recovered several stolen credit cards and about 80 stolen checks belonging to victims in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Tennessee, police said.
All three suspects were taken into custody and transported to Carmel police headquarters for processing.
Popadynets was charged with petty larceny, fourth- and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. He was also charged with being a fugitive from justice, due to an active warrant out of Broward County, Fla. for larceny and fraud. Bail was set at $50,000 cash and $150,000 bond.
Alive-Volosovych and Lutso were also charged with fourth- and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Bail was set for each at $5,000 cash and $15,000 bond.
Lutso was hit with the additional charges of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, operating a vehicle with a suspended registration and not having insurance along with third-degree possession of a forged instrument.
All three suspects were arraigned by Carmel Town Justice Thomas Jacobellis and remanded to the Putnam County Correctional Facility, police said.
The Carmel Police Department and the United States Postal Inspection Service are continuing their investigation with additional criminal charges pending.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
