By Dan Murphy -Edited Copy
In last month’s story about former Yorktown Highway Superintendent Eric DiBartolo, I wrote that I received 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. We have some more details to share based on information sent in from readers who obviously have a lot of firsthand knowledge of, unfortunately, what was happening in my hometown of Yorktown for almost 20 years.
But before I do, we have to ask ourselves this question. Did DiBartolo’s past actions lead him to steal from Home Depot? Did people from his past protect him to the point where he didn’t have to answer for his mistakes? Was this current crime just a hiccup in his record or should he be held to the maximum penalty of the law?
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. His case is currently adjourned until April 7th.
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 Westchester 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.
I wrote that one reader asked “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?” Let’s take a look at that this statement for a moment.
I was sent a signed and notarized affidavit. The affidavit was made by Mr. Michael Palmietto. It was signed and notarized on May 2, 2008. Palmietto was the former owner of the Old Stone Church on Rt. 6 at 1715 E. Main Street in Mohegan Lake, NY. At the time, Linda Copper was the Yorktown Supervisor. Two town board members are prominently mentioned in the affidavit; Nick Bianco and Lou Campisi.
The affidavit states that Palmietto wanted to convert the Old Stone Church (Church) into a “café.” Bianco wanted Palmietto to have the Church converted into an “upscale restaurant.” Palmietto, spending over $35,000 in 5 years for the submission of building plans, states that Bianco wanted him to make cash contributions to his reelection campaign. For 3 more years, Palmietto contributed over $3,000 to Bianco’s campaign.
Finding out that Palmietto was making cash campaign donations to Bianco, Eric DiBartolo, the then Highway Superintendent requests money for Lou Campisi’s election fund. DiBartolo assures Palmietto that he could count on Campisi’s vote because he (DiBartolo) had just gotten Campisi a job with a street sweeping company in Hawthorne, NY. DiBartolo then collects $7,000 in cash and a check over the next several months for Campisi. The money was assurance that Palmietto would get his project for the Church approved.
After approximately 5 years and a cost of $50,000, Palmietto’s restaurant project was rejected by the town board. The reason given was they felt there was not enough parking space available. Palmietto states that the town board turned the project down because Bianco got Campisi to side with him and vote against the project. Bianco had wanted the Church to be sold to Town. The affidavit states that Palmietto tried selling the Church on numerous occasions but was blocked each time by Bianco and Campisi. The Church was eventually sold to the present owner Mr. Thomas Chiaro. Chiaro also had problems getting his project plans approved. During the five years mentioned in the affidavit, DiBartolo conducted suspicious business as the Yorktown Superintendent of Highways.
I also received numerous tips about DiBartolo’s activities from former highway department workers. The workers wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation by DiBartolo. Some workers said that DiBartolo opened an account through the highway department with Toyota North in Mount Kisco. There he purchased parts for his personal vehicles. He also used highway department funds to purchase parts for his vehicles from Mount Kisco Trucks Parts and D Auto Electronics (Mahopac). DiBartolo also used the highway department’s Home Depot credit card to purchase building supplies for his home. The workers also stated that DiBartolo used town equipment and personnel to do landscaping work for former Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano. DiBartolo also had highway department workers remove trees from a town board member’s property and the town comptroller’s property. Additionally, the workers stated that DiBartolo had the highway department workers install a sewer line to a residence in Yorktown as a political favor. On other occasions workers were instructed to go to his parent’s condo in the Jefferson Village retirement community to do cleanup work. To keep the workers quiet and “in his pocket”, he would pay them overtime without having worked the necessary hours, give them paid days off, and, purchase gifts for them using highway funds.
Criminal impersonation in the first degree is when a person pretends to be a police officer or a federal law enforcement officer. It is considered a Class E felony. Criminal impersonation in the second degree is a Class A misdemeanor. Criminal impersonation in the second degree is when a person pretends to be a public servant, or wears or displays without authority any uniform, badge, insignia or facsimile thereof by which such public servant is lawfully distinguished, or falsely expresses by his words or actions that he is a public servant or is acting with approval or authority of a public agency or department; and acts with intent to induce another to submit to such pretended official authority.
DiBartolo drove a town vehicle that was previously an unmarked police car prior to being purchased by the town. The town purchased the car for its fleet of vehicles so that town employees could use it if needed. DiBartolo, knowing the vehicle was formerly an undercover police car chose it for his own use. He had the highway department purchase blue and red police lights to mount on the front of the grill, a siren and a spot light. On the night of October 5th, DiBartolo was caught impersonating a police officer. On that night a car with a young lady at the wheel of her car parked across the street in front of DiBartolo’s house on Westview Drive in Yorktown Heights. She was waiting for her boyfriend to join her. Her boyfriend lived near DiBartolo’s house. After a short time, the young man appeared and got in her car. As she was leaving DiBartolo pulled up next to her in the unmarked vehicle now bearing the police equipment. As she was scared and didn’t know why DiBartolo pulled next to her, she and her boyfriend quickly left the neighborhood, drove up Underhill Avenue on to the Taconic Parkway. DiBartolo followed he in the unmarked car.
The young lady and her boyfriend quickly exited the Taconic Parkway onto Baldwin Road knowing that was the quickest way to the Yorktown Police Station. Once exiting the Taconic parkway onto Baldwin Rd, DiBartolo turned on the police lights and tried to pull over the young lady’s car. While doing this he also telephoned the Yorktown Police Department (YPD) stating that he was following a suspicious vehicle that just left his neighborhood. A YPD patrolman intercepted the young lady and her boyfriend prior to them exiting Baldwin Rd. After pulling her, the patrolman interviewed her and her boyfriend. She told the patrolman that she didn’t know why the other car was following her and suddenly put the police lights on and tried to pull her over. The patrolman wrote in the incidence report that everything appeared normal. The incidence report never mentioned that DiBartolo turned on the car’s police lights and tried to pull the vehicle over. The incidence report does not mention if the Patrolman saw DiBartolo’s car with the police lights flashing behind the vehicle? During the interview with the young lady, the patrolman was told that she was the daughter of a Croton Police Department lieutenant (CPD lieutenant). Following this incident, the YPD was contacted by the CPD lieutenant. The CPD lieutenant wanted to know who the “guy” was driving the unmarked police vehicle since his daughter said that it was a man, not in uniform, driving the unmarked police vehicle? Since his daughter said that she knew he wasn’t a YPD police officer, he wanted to know under what authority this “guy” followed his daughter and tried to pull her over? The YPD told the CPD lieutenant that Eric DiBartolo, the Yorktown Highway Supervisor, was the driver of the unmarked vehicle. The YPD said that DiBartolo had the car specifically set up as an unmarked police car for his official use as the town’s Highway Supervisor. The CPD lieutenant then wanted to know why the YPD allowed DiBartolo to modify the car to make it look like an unmarked police vehicle? He also wanted to know why the YPD allowed DiBartolo to pass himself off as a police officer? Following the exchange between the CPD lieutenant and the YPD, a few days later, the YPD made DiBartolo remove all the police equipment from the car; police lights, siren and spot light. The car was then turned over to the YPD for their use. Nothing more was said about the incidence. There is no mention of this incidence in the town board meeting minutes. The incidence report does not mention that the young lady driving the car was the daughter of a Croton Police Department lieutenant. The report does not mention if the YPD police officer saw DiBartolo driving the unmarked vehicle with police lights flashing behind the young lady’s car on Baldwin Road. Is it possible that the incidence report was rewritten to protect DiBartolo from possible criminal actions? Should DiBartolo have been arrested and charged with criminal impersonation in the first or second degree for his actions that night? Why did the YPD cover up for DiBartolo? Was it a political favor to the then police chief or others in the YPD? Was the Westchester DA’s office ever notified of this incidence?
During this past week I also learned that DiBartolo has a concealed weapon license issued by Westchester County. I wonder if he was carrying the concealed weapon on his person when he committed his criminal activities at Home Depot? Does the Westchester DA know about his concealed weapon license? Was the weapon confiscated by the Westchester County Police?
And more items and tidbits keep coming in. We await his next court date on April 7 and get back to you with all the rest.
