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The incident began in Ulster County in the town of Saugerties when during the early morning hours of Friday, May 20, Saugerties Police received numerous calls reporting larcenies from unlocked vehicles.
Stolen from the vehicles were purses, cellphones, credit cards, debit cards, and other personal items, said Chief Joseph Sinagra, of the Saugerties Police.
Shortly after the report of the larcenies, an officer spotted two suspicious males on bicycles and conducted a field interview with both, the chief said.
One of the males was identified as a 17-year-old from the city of Kingston and the second male, Dustin J. Van Etten, age 23, of Kingston, police said.
After the field interviews, both were sent on their way, the chief said.
On the same day, police received a complaint that a 16-year-old had been robbed while at the Cantine Memorial Sports Complex in Saugerties, Sinagra said.
The victim said he had been attacked by two males, who were on bicycles. One of the males reportedly displayed a crowbar in a threatening manner during the attack while the other male took the victim’s backpack, cell phone, and a pair of shoes, police said.
An investigation by detectives established that the two males previously interviewed were the same ones that committed the vehicle larcenies and the robbery of the teen at Cantine, Sinagra said.
On Thursday, June 2, Saugerties Police arrested the 17-year-old.
On Thursday, June 2, after several attempts to get Van Etten to surrender to police, the department was able to secure a warrant for his arrest.
A call was put out to local police departments and the public looking for Van Etten, police said.
On Tuesday, June 7, he was nabbed by the Kingston Police and charged with:
- Robbery
- Two counts of criminal possession of a weapon
- Two counts of grand larceny
- Two counts of conspiracy
- Five counts of petit larceny
- Two counts of attempted petit larceny
Van Etten was released on his own recognizance and is scheduled to appear in the Town of Saugerties Justice Court at a later date.
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