MONTICELLO – A Monticello man is being held 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.
