Press-Republican

Police, Fire, Courts

March 1, 2010

Police Log: March 2, 2010

FELONY ARRESTS
PLATTSBURGH — A Plattsburgh woman is accused of possessing a hypodermic needle and a book of matches while incarcerated at the County Jail.

Morianna Garrow, 23, was charged at about 2:15 p.m. Monday with two counts of first-degree promoting prison contraband, according to Clinton County Sheriff's Department deputies.

According to deputies, Garrow, who was at the time being held at the jail after she allegedly violated a family court act, became tense when officers asked her to comply with a random search of her cell.

Garrow allegedly attempted to leave the cell and in the process pushed a female officer.

She then allegedly turned over a hypodermic needle to a sergeant at the jail. A partial book of matches was also allegedly found on her person during the investigation.

Both hypodermic needles and any flame-producing devices are considered prison contraband, which resulted in the felony charges.

Garrow was additionally charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument and a harassment violation for allegedly shoving the officer.

After being arraigned in Town of Plattsburgh Court, Garrow was returned to the jail, where she was still being held Monday night for lack of $1,000 cash bail or $2,000 bond.

Garrow will return to court at a later date to answer the charges.

WILMINGTON — A former ski instructor at Whiteface Mountain Ski Center is accused of stealing skis, snowboards and other equipment from the resort and then lying to police about it.

Pierre A. LaPlante, 26, of Malone was taken into custody at noon Sunday for his alleged connection to a burglary that occurred at the resort after he was suspended from his position there, according to Wilmington-based State Police.

Police said LaPlante started working at the mountain resort last fall, but he was suspended after he was arrested on Feb. 22 and charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of stolen property after he was allegedly found in possession of an undisclosed amount of property that had been reported missing from Whiteface on Feb. 17.

At that time, police said, LaPlante allegedly had stashed skis, snowboards, goggles and other equipment at his home in Malone and at a friend's house.

After his Feb. 22 arrest, LaPlante posted bail of $2,500 and was released from Essex County Jail.

Police allege that sometime between his first arrest and Sunday, LaPlante went to the resort after hours, entered the Kids Campus building, went into a supervisor's office, removed an identification card from a desk drawer and then emptied a storage locker that had been issued to him as an employee.

State Police said additional ski- and snowboard-related equipment was in the locker.

At the time of his arrest Sunday, LaPlante was additionally charged with a misdemeanor charge of providing a false statement for allegedly telling State Police during an interview in North Elba that he did not take any of the equipment from the resort.

State Police did not have an estimate of the value of the alleged stolen property Monday evening, as investigators were still working on the case.

LaPlante was arraigned in Town of Wilmington Court and sent to Essex County Jail, where he was still being held Monday evening for lack of $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 bond.

Additional charges are pending as the investigation continues.

CHESTERFIELD — A Port Kent woman is accused of illegally obtaining unemployment benefits while she was actually employed.

Lynn K. Dixon, 37, was taken into custody at 9:08 p.m. Sunday and charged with more than two dozen felonies, according to Plattsburgh-based State Police.

She was charged with 25 counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, one count of first-degree falsifying business records and one count of third-degree grand larceny.

The charges allege that Dixon was employed in Elizabethtown for about a year period stretching from 2008 to 2009, during which she filed for unemployment benefits.

While the third-degree grand-larceny charge alleges that the proceeds of Dixon's alleged crimes exceeded $3,000, a State Police investigator said it is believed the woman received a considerably higher amount of money.

The investigation was initially started by the New York State Department of Labor and then turned over to State Police on Feb. 15.

Dixon was arraigned in Town of Chesterfield Court and was released after posting cash bail.

She is scheduled to reappear in court at a later date.

— By Contributing Writer
Casey Ryan Vock

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