On Tuesday, Dec. 20, around 5 p.m. police in Columbia County pulled over a 2000 Ford Crown Victoria in Canaan that matched the description of a vehicle that had been used in the theft of catalytic converters, according to New York State Police.
Inside the car, officers found two stolen converters and the tools that had been used to cut them from victims' vehicles, as well as around 3.3 grams of fentanyl, police said.
After this, the following five people were charged:
- Robert Perez, age 41, of Schodack;
- Tonya Perez, age 39, of Schodack;
- Lucindia Rideout, age 51, of Schodack;
- Crawford Boice, age 29, of Schodack;
- Ross Hendrick, age 45, of Castleton-on-Hudson.
All five suspects were charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and possession of burglar tools. Additionally, Boice was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, and Robert Perez was charged with petit larceny, for which he had an outstanding arrest warrant, according to authorities.
Robert Perez was brought before town of Claverack Court and is now held in Columbia County Jail without bail. As for the other suspects, they will appear in town of Canaan Court on Thursday, Jan. 12, police said.
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