by David Flint
New York State Police at Schodack arrested Jeffrey P. Crandall of Troy following an investigation into a suspicious car fire on Schaeffer Road Extension, not far from Bly Hollow Road, in the Town of Berlin. [private]On December 31, State Police and the Berlin Fire Department responded to a fully involved vehicle fire. The tires and rims had been removed and taken prior to the vehicle being purposely set on fire. The vehicle was identified as a 2012 Honda Fit that had been reported stolen out of Green Island, NY on December 23, 2013. Subsequent investigation by the State Police Schodack BCI led to the arrest of Crandall
on charges of Arson in the 3rd degree, a class C felony, and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 3rd degree, a class D felony.
Crandall was arraigned in Schodack Town Court and remanded to the Rensselaer County Jail in lieu of $30,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond.
Crandall appeared for a preliminary hearing on January 8 in Berlin Town Court before Judge Donald W. Sweet. New York State Police Investigator Mark Garrison testified that the last four digits of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) retrieved from the burned car matched the last four of a car stolen the previous week in Green Island, that Crandall was a neighbor of the woman who owned the stolen car and that a witness had alleged that Crandall was seen driving the car and had made a statement indicating he might have intended to burn it.
Assistant District Attorney Roman Griffith maintained that this was sufficient for a determination of reasonable cause to believe that a felony had been committed.
Crandall’s attorney argued that there was no proof that his client had stolen the car in Green Island or that he had burned the car or even that the burned car was the same car that was stolen. No license plate was recovered and with only four out of 16 or 17 numbers in a VIN, he maintained that the burned car could have been just one of many of the same make, model and year. He noted that neither the person in Green Island from whom the car was stolen nor any of her relatives had bothered to try to identify the remains of the car that was in Police custody. He urged that the case be dismissed and Crandall be released from custody.
Judge Sweet agreed that there was no proof yet that Crandall had stolen the car and burned it but still held that there was reasonable cause to believe that the stolen car and the burned car were one and the same and that a felony had been committed. He ruled that Crandall be remanded back to the Rensselaer County Jail and that the bail be kept at the amount previously set. [/private]