Ridge
MONTICELLO – A Monticello man is in the Sullivan County Jail without bail on charges that he broke into a seasonal bungalow colony on Bennett Street in the village, damaged and stole copper piping from seven separate units.
Melbourne Ridge, 39, was charged with seven counts of felony burglary and criminal mischief as well as misdemeanors of petit larceny, possession of burglar’s tools and resisting arrest.
When Monticello officers responded to the scene, they found Ridge standing over a pile of accumulated copper and as he was holding bolt cutters. When he saw the officers, he dropped the cutters and ran, but was apprehended in a wooded area where he physically struggled with them until he was subdued.
A warrant search of Ridge’s vehicle revealed other items believed to have been stolen from the bungalows.
Additional charges are pending against Ridge who is also wanted by the State Police at Liberty on a bench warrant by Town of Thompson Court for aggravated criminal contempt.
