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Sullivan County resident William T. Staesser, age 28, of Woodbourne, was arrested for the first time on Sunday, Jan. 30, and again on Wednesday, Feb. 2, by the Monticello Police.
According to Lt. Mark Johnstone, of the Monticello Police, on Sunday Staesser was arrested following an investigation into the theft of a credit and debit card on Saturday, Jan. 22, from a parked vehicle on North Street in the Village of Monticello.
The cards were stolen while the owner was attending the Funeral services for Forestburgh Firefighter William “Billy” Steinberg, Johnstone said.
After the theft, Staesser then used the stolen cards to make purchases at several business locations in the Village of Monticello and also at Walmart in the Town of Thompson, he added.
Monticello Police used video surveillance from those locations to help identify Staesser.
When arrested on Sunday, Staesser was found to be in possession of a small amount of crack cocaine which he attempted to conceal in his mouth.
Staesser was arraigned and per state bail reform guidelines released on his own recognizance, Johnstone said.
He had been previously arrested by Monticello Police on Thursday, Dec. 9, for stealing two credit cards from a vehicle on West Broadway.
In that incident, Staesser was caught in the act by the vehicle owner and detained until Monticello Police arrived and arrested him.
He was released again on an appearance ticket.
On Tuesday, Staesser was again arrested by Monticello Police and charged with the felonies of grand larceny and two counts of forgery for stealing a debit card from a vehicle on Bank Street during the evening on Monday after being released on the previous arrested.
Staesser used the stolen debit card to again make purchases at locations in the Village of Monticello, Johnstone said.
Staesser was arraigned remanded to the Sullivan County Jail on $15,000 cash bail, $25,000 bail bond, or $40,000 secured insurance bond.
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