Tales from the Monroe Police blotter

Monroe - The following items come from the Monroe Village Police Department: Unattended death prompts angry reaction On Jan. 19, a homeless man contacted Monroe Police who told them he found his 45-year-old-friend dead in his apartment on Nortjh Main Street when he went to visit him. “At this point in time after our investigation and an investigation and autopsy by the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office,” Det. James Frankild said this week, “there does not appear to be any signs of foul play and we are awaiting toxicology results to determine the exact cause of death. During the death investigation on the 19, however, officers were summoned back to the lobby of the police station by the dispatcher who advised that a man had just entered the lobby with a shotgun and was threatening suicide. Officers returned to the station and quickly separated the man from the weapon. The man, a 65-year-old from White Plains , was taken to Arden Hill campus of Orange Regional Medical Center in Goshen for a mental health evaluation. No charges were filed. Stolen Social Security checks On Jan. 25, Monroe Police arrested and charged Steven Snitofsky, 51, of Monroe with three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and one count of fourth-degree grand larceny. Police said Snitofsky’s wife, who had been receiving Social Security benefits, died in August 2010. However, the federal Social Security Administration had not been notified of the death and continued to mail monthly checks to her home. Police said Snitofsky took three of the checks , forged signtures on two of them and then deposited them into his account at a local bank. Police said he later withdrew the money and used it for his personal gain. The combined value of the three checks was $1,929. Snitofsky was arraigned by Acting Village Justice Lawrence Lezak and sent to Orange County Jail pending further court action. The Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General’s Office assisted with the investigation.