Posted on 01/21/2015 12:14:17 PM PST by george76
A Middletown, New York man was arrested Monday on a charge of felony criminal mischief because he bulldozed his house, police say.
WNBC News reports police were called to the Middletown home Monday afternoon as 48-year-old James Rhein was knocking it down with a rented excavator and placing debris in dumpsters.
Police said Rhein hadn’t filed for any demolition permits and hadn’t even notified the utility companies of his intention to destroy the house. Emergency crews had to be called out Monday to shut off electric, water and gas to the property.
The one other party Rhein failed to notify was his wife, Diane Andryshak, who is the only legal owner of the house, according to records.
“He bulldozed all her clothes in there. Washer, dryer, furnace, hot water heater, everything was still in there. In fact, her medication was still in there,” neighbor Steve Belfiglio told CBS-New York.
The couple was reportedly living elsewhere, but many of their belongings were still inside. Rhein said the foundation of the house had been crumbling for years and needed costly repairs.
“So I took it down, that’s it,” Rhein said.
When CBS-New York reporter Tony Aiello confronted Rhein about demolishing a house that wasn’t legally his, Rhein seemed unconcerned.
(Excerpt) Read more at mynewspress.com ...
The odds are: everything was still on.
And it honestly wouldn’t be the first time such happened.
If memory serves, they found a house that once had gaslights.
The lines to those were still hooked up and nobody had checked.
Ever.
A kaboom waiting to happen, Middletown has a hodgepodge of new next to Victorian next to only the great pumpkin knows.
Once upon a time it was a railroad hub.
So you have a bunch of leftover buildings from that era here.
Ah, journalism ... the art of infinite deniability.
IF the gas was shut off, precluding a BOOM, I withhold judgment on the whole matter. It's possible they both come out of this financially ahead, losing a disintegrating little house on an expensive lot ...
Not the first time I’ve seen it, but still fun.
He's a contractor. He knows Marty the Mole here in NY...and the "Call Before you Dig" number. But he's not digging and he knows how to shut everything off. Even I know how to find and turn off the shut off valves.
No one was ever in any danger.
So who called the Town? Everyone on the street knew he was the owner and a contractor.
But I think I remember reading that someone called the wife and said he was wrecking the house.
I'd say the cops (via 911) got the first call.
That’ll learn her!
“No one was in any danger”
Uh, I live here in Middletown area.
That is NOT a guarantee!
Thank you for the Wednesday laugh. I needed it.
Welcome to Middletown (my neck of the woods), visit anytime!
Next question is whether or not moose can actually see it as Yootoob blocks some things o different countries.
You see a screen that says “We are sorry, this video is not available in your area”.
That’s funny.
Still a waste.
Run like the wind to a position of safety ,then enjoy!
G’night. :)
T’was visible
Ah, so you can see it?
Excellent!
Goodnight Moose, see you tomorrow.
Looks like he saw it.
The explosions probably aren’t even visible to the actors.
Decapitating a horse to feign intimidation against yourself?
That’s a whole different level than “sick”. Demented might work.
Maybe she bought the horse head from a catalog.
Green screen usually.
Sadly.
Seriously, how can one NOT look at ones own handiwork?
When I was in artillery, we would have paid good money to be allowed to see what we flattened.
:(
Don’t know as they actually investigated it beyond going “yup, that’s a real horse head.”
There are several horse farms in the area, all they needed to do was check to see if any had recently deceased horses, and if anyone had wanted the head off one.
But, NY State Troop F BCI is not known for their ability to solve crimes.
And as the two towns don’t exactly have a police force {Greenville has a constable, Waywayanda doesn’t have anything} the local State Trooper barracks handles that sort of thing.
Middletown has their own PD, Wallkill has their own PD.
They don’t talk to each other much.
(Wallkill got spanked due to their officers sexually harassing women they pulled over, and harassing the boyfriends or husbands of same.)
Interesting area to reside in.
Go over there and take a selfie.
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