By Dan Hust
NARROWSBURG — State Police have arrested two local men and charged each with three felony counts of burglary in the third degree.
Michael S. Wilson, 18, of Callicoon and Joseph Flora, 19, of Narrowsburg were apprehended Monday and stand accused of breaking in to a church, library and town hall in Narrowsburg.
They were arraigned in Town of Tusten Court this week and remanded to the County Jail on $35,000 cash bail (where, as of yesterday, they remained).
The State Police press release said that “a portion of the stolen property was recovered” but did not offer details. The investigator was unavailable for comment yesterday.
“They haven’t said whether our communion ware was recovered,” Rev. Phyllis Haynes, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, said yesterday.
According to the reverend, a variety of silver serving instruments used in communion services was stolen.
Just down the street, the Tusten Town Hall – part of the Tusten Theater – also fell victim to burglaries, with cash taken from town employees’ desks and general damage done to the offices.
Curiously, no electronics were stolen there.
But right next door, the Tusten-Cochecton branch of the Western Sullivan Public Library (WSPL) lost a 40-inch TV, two computers and $135 from the petty cash drawer, totalling around $3,000.
The burglars hit the library over two nights last week, in fact, leading the library to install a steel reinforcing plate to firmly lock its two front doors together.
“It’s shocking when it happens two nights in a row,” WSPL Director Kristin White affirmed.
Nevertheless, she praised the State Police and their quick response.
“These guys were on the scene and were very thorough,” she acknowledged of the troopers. “We were very, very impressed with them.”