The case of former Yorktown Highway Superintendent Eric DiBartolo in Cortlandt Town Court has been adjourned, again, until May 26. DiBartolo has been changed by Westchester DA Mimi Rocah’s office with felony Grand Larceny for allegedly 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.”
The responses to DiBartolo’s arrest continue to pour into our paper, with Yorktown residents, but others across Westchester, seeking to contact us to tell their story, or Horror story, about their interactions with DiBartolo.
First, because the case keeps getting adjourned, many of our readers are wondering why it is taking so long for the Assistand District Attorney and the Court to resolve this matter. Our experiences have been that most criminal cases in Westchester are adjourned a few times. This gives both sides a chance to resolve the matter with a plea agreement. The DiBartolo case, in our view, is no different, and we believe there are no shenanigans going on.
For those who believe that DiBartolo is using his connections that he built over 20 year in Yorktown government and politics, we do not agree. Most politicians, and those in power in Northern Westchester and Yorktown, are keeping their distance from Mr. DiBartolo.
Recent stories sent into us concern several properties purchased by DiBartolo and others on Front Street, including two businesses that still operating, and a house that DiBartolo bought next to Clark’s Funeral Home, which apparently was another part of his efforts to put the longtime Yorktown businesses out of business, because someone with connections to the funeral home was trying to expose DiBartolo’s wrongdoings. A tennant who lived in the house prior to DiBartolo purchasing it has an interesting story to tell.
We have also been contacted about another woman who was pulled over by DiBartolo for no lawful reason. For a period of time, DiBartolo used a town vehicle that had undercover sirens and on at least one occasion, pulled over a young woman who’s father was a Croton Police Officer. At no time was DiBartolo ever a law enforcement office, and as a result, illegally pulled over anyone with his unmarked town vehicle.
We have also heard that there are members of law enforcement who never appreciated DiBartolo “throwing his weight around town, and acting like he was a cop,” as one former Yorktown Police officer told us after we read a few Facebook posts and reached out.
The only request we keep getting is to try and write more about the incidents of anti-semitism that were allowed and even permitted in the Town Highway Department under DiBartolo. While we will try to revisit this part of the story, on prior occassions those involved did not want to revist this difficult part of their lives.
We will try to provide more details before the next court date of May 26.
