Hoosick Dog Officer Beck Faces More Charges

by Bea Peterson
Hoosick Dog Control Officer Matthew Beck, 46, of 145 Beck Road, Eagle Bridge, was put on indefinite leave of absence without pay last week when further charges were placed against him by NYS Police and NYS Environmental Conservation Police.
According to NYS Troop G Public Information Officer Trooper Maureen Tuffey, the State Police executed a search warrant at the Beck property on May 27. “During the course of the search warrant a piece of farm equipment, a  KUHN  model GA 4121 GTH Hay Rake was observed in plain view that matched the description of one which had been reported stolen to the State Police in August 2007.  Continued investigation revealed the rake to be the stolen one.”  As a result, Beck was charged with Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the third degree, a felony.
Beck was additionally charged by the New York State Environmental Conservation Police with violations of Title 6 of NYCRR, Construction and Operation of a Non Permitted Solid Waste facility and a Violation of Agriculture and Markets law, section 374-2c, Unlawful Euthanasia of Dogs. Those charges resulted from the finding of the remains of two dogs in a manure pile with gunshot wounds to the head. The remains were turned over to DEC wildlife Pathologist Ward Stone for identification.
On March 22 Beck was charged with petit larceny, forgery, submitting a false written statement and official misconduct of a public servant. The charges resulted from a claim by April Stevens of Clay Hill Road. She contacted Beck and reported her two female dogs missing in late February. When Stevens posted flyers in town a Harkin Hollow Road resident told her she had found the two dogs and turned them over to Beck. Those dogs were never returned to Stevens. At the time Trooper Tuffey said Beck told police investigators he returned those dogs to a town man. However those dogs were male and did not resemble the missing dogs. On March 27 Beck appeared in Town Court, and his case was adjourned to Rensselaer County because the false written statement is a felony charge.
Beck was arraigned by Town Justice Robert Schmidt in the Town of Brunswick Court on the latest charges and is scheduled to reappear in Hoosick Town Court on June 11.
Safe Haven Boarding and Grooming of Greenwich has been hired by the Town as Dog Control Officer. Their phone number is 692-7478 or 692-2840.