press pop up



	PRESS RELEASE

		POLICE MAKE ARREST IN SCHOOL BURGLARY September 23, 2009 The City of Middletown Police arrested four persons in connection with a Burglary at the J.W. Chorley Elementary School over the weekend. The school, which is located at 50 Roosevelt Ave, is part of the Middletown City School District. Zachary Bennett, 17 of Middletown, Davendra Ramnath, 16 of Middletown and Elizabeth Steinman, 16, of Middletown have been charged with Burglary 3rd degree, a Class “D” Felony. Rajendra Ramnath, 19, of Middletown was charged with Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 5th, a Class “A” Misdemeanor. Davendra Ramnath and Steinman are students at Middletown High School. School officials discovered the burglary when school opened on Monday morning. Police were aided by surveillance video inside and outside of the school. The video is part of an elaborate video camera network that the school district maintains. Middletown High School Resource Officer Esteban Mercado and Orange County Probation Officer Melissa Laks, who is assigned to the high school, were able to identify the suspects from the video. The suspects were picked up by Middletown Detectives. The suspects were charged after giving statements. The suspects had taken three laptop computers and school supplies during the burglary. The laptops are valued at $960.00 each. Police recovered two of the laptops and some of the supplies. “We value our partnership with the Middletown Schools and we hope that these arrests serve as a reminder to others that we will not tolerate any crimes on school grounds” said Middletown Police Chief Matthew Byrne. “In furtherance of our community policing focus, we place many of our resources towards the Middletown Schools. As an example of this, we assign three School Resource Officers and a DARE officer to the Middletown Schools every school day. Commercial burglaries are down 14% in the City of Middletown and we hope these arrests help us decrease burglaries even further” Bennett and Davendra Ramnath were arraigned in Middletown City Court before Judge Michael Schwartz. Bennett was sent to the Orange County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond and Ramnath was released to the probation department. Rajendra Ramnath was released pending arraignment on September 30. Steinman is awaiting arraignment in the Middletown Police lockup. Arrest Photos of the defendants are available upon request. The City of Middletown Police Department, which is the second largest police department in Orange County, started serving the residents of Middletown in 1888.