Long Island Man’s Tale of Margaretville Trip Doesn’t Add Up

New York State Police say items inside a suspicious vehicle reported at Mountain Side Residential Care then seen parked at the Margaretville Hotel didn’t go along with the story a Long Island man gave for being in Delaware County last month.

Troopers say Delaware County 911 operators got a report of a suspicious person in the parking lot of the residential care facility at 5:22 a.m. on February 17 and got a description of a vehicle and person.

The vehicle and 32-year-old Richard Hildebrandt Junior of Mastic Beach were found at the Margaretville Hotel and while troopers talked to him, they noticed Hildebrandt appeared impaired.  He failed Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and was arrested and charged with Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs.

Authorities say they also noticed the Long Island man had a lot of stuff in his vehicle that didn’t seem to make sense given the story he fed them.  They secured the vehicle and the sports equipment, tools and other items inside and continued the investigation.

Get our free mobile app

Authorities say many of the items in the vehicle turned out to be stolen and, Sunday, March 13 Hildebrandt was additionally charged with felony counts Grand Larceny and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property as well as four misdemeanor counts each of Petit Larceny and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property.

Authorities say numerous unlocked and one locked vehicle were rummaged through in the Margaretville area before Troopers encountered Hildebrandt and found stolen items in his car. He was charged with Criminal Mischief for the damage to the locked vehicle.