Is this just “the tip of the iceberg?
By Dan Murphy
Our story last month on former Yorktown Highway Superintendent Eric DiBartolo resulted in over 50 letters, emails, tips and stories from our readers, all of who had their own tale that they wanted to tell about being wronged over the past 20 years.
On Feb. 11, DiBartolo was arraigned in Cortlandt Town Court before Judge Maritza Fugaro-Norton and charged with a felony Grand Larceny charge of stealing $14,479.78 from The Home Depot in Cortland Manor on 23 different occasions in 2020.
DiBartolo, a former four-term Yorktown Highway Superintendent, Yorktown Heights Fire Chief, and former President of the Yorktown Chamber of Commerce, is accused by the DA of conspiring with a Home Depot employee, Tyrone Bass, in a “scan and skip” scheme in which DiBartolo brought merchandise to Bass to check out, and Bass on nearly two dozen occasions completed the transactions without charging him for many of the items.
“It’s sad and disheartening to see someone who has been a respected elected official and community member violate the public trust in this way,” DA Rocah said. “These actions also have a corrosive effect throughout the area, undermining trust and confidence in government.
DiBartolo’s arrest is still the talk of the town in Yorktown. “Mr. Murphy, It appears that the Westchester County Police did not get involved with investigating Dibartolo until the Home Depot Loss Prevention Unit asked them to investigate. It says that Dibartolo stole from the store on 23 separate occasions. First question, what prompted the Loss Prevention Unit to investigate? Did they receive a tip?
How do they know when the scheme actually began, or, are they speculating? He could have been doing this for years. Did the Loss Prevention Unit also look other Home Depot stores in Westchester County, Putnam County, Dutchess County and in Connecticut to see if there were other incidences where Dibartolo may have run the same scam?
Did the Westchester County Police reach out to other law enforcement departments to see if Dibartolo may have pulled similar scams in their jurisdictions? Have they asked Lowe’s to check their loss prevention specific to Dibartolo returning items to their stores?” said Julius G., a Yorktown reader.
Another Yorktown reader asks, “What makes a person like Eric Dibartolo, a former highway superintendent, president of the Yorktown Chamber of Commerce, highly admired and respected citizen of Yorktown and Westchester County, resort to stealing? Were there similar actions in Mr. Dibartolo’s past that were brought to light but cast aside by people wanting to protect him and his image?”
“Who knows what his thoughts were at those times. Was he scheming to make fast money for himself? Has Mr. Dibartolo been doing things that border on being illegal? Has he been caught before but not held accountable? Have his actions been covered up by friends with political connections?”
“This time he is caught and there is no covering up his actions. However, is this crime the tip of the iceberg or is there more to find? Many of the people that have contacted you know that Eric Dibartolo is not the same wonderful Yorktown citizen often portrayed in newspaper articles. Apparently investigations conducted by Yorktown citizens approximately ten years ago, when Mr. Dibartolo was Yorktown Highway Superintendent, questioned his purchases and actions, many times bordering on being illegal, that were covered up to protect him.”
The investigation referenced was a NYS Comptrollers report from 2012, which highlighted questionable use of taxpayer funds and conduct by DiBartolo. “We are concerned that the Superintendent has not always acted appropriately and in the best interests of the Town’s citizens. We identified actions of the Superintendent in which we believe both his personal financial interests and public responsibilities conflict. We found that the Superintendent sold used equipment and materials totaling $28,670 to the Town, and the Town paid a company over $100,000 that was owned by his sister-in-law which created prohibited interests. In addition, we identified irregularities in the bidding processes for various pieces of equipment, including ignored bid specifi cations and erroneous bid documents to make it appear as though purchases were bid when they were not. Finally, we found that the Superintendent’s computer was used to view and store pornographic and other inappropriate images, engage in a political campaign, and to buy and sell auto parts, for personal use, on a public auction website,” wrote NYS Comproller Tom DiNapoli’s office.
Other emails and stories about DiBartolo, and his trail of wrongdoing include, a number of incident and police reports, from impersonating an officer to picking a fight at a cancer walk in town, to having town employees work on his home, to the questionable acquisition of property on Front Street, to charges made at Mitchell’s Hardware in town, to an anti-semitism suit filed against him, and it goes on and on.
One reader called DiBartolo “a semi-celebrity who got preferencial treatment.” Another believes that DiBartolo may have returned the same items that he is accused of stealing from Home Depot. “He is the type of guy who will find someone down on his luck and befriend him and get that person to help in his scheme.”
Some Yorktowners with friends who work at Home Depot claim that DiBartolo was also seen “at customer service, where you return items, alot,” which leads to speculation that he may have returned stolen items, which sometimes are accepted without a receipt, but just your ID.
“I wonder if that constitues another crime,” asked Patty B, from Yorktown. “If he returned items and got cash for a stolen item, I hope someone is looking into that. I think that could have definetely happened–he’s a habitual criminal.”
One police report concerning DiBartolo is worth mentioning because it involves the daughter of a then Croton Police Department Leiutenant. Dated, Oct 3, 2005, Krysten Duffy, claimed that an unmarked car with flashing lights had pulled next to her and was following her around Yorktown as she waited to pick up a friend.
A real Yorktown Police Officer and car went to the corner where Duffy had pulled over and she told the officer her story, in which she was very nervous at the car that pulled next to her. The police report states that “Eric DiBartolo is following the vehicle.”
According to a FOIL request, the Town vehicle that DiBartolo was driving, while not a police car, had lights similar to an unmarked police car and a siren, was removed from DiBartolo and returned to the town.
More on this in the weeks to come…. if the stories keep pouring in?
