A Valley Cottage man has been indicted by a Rockland County grand jury on a burglary charge stemming from an incident in Valley Cottage in November.
Michael Welch, 35, of 374 Sierra Vista Lane, is accused of second-degree burglary in connection with a break in at a home on Fulle Drive, where a basement window and a glass insert of a deck door were damaged.
Welch was arrested Nov. 24 by Clarkstown police after a rash of incidents in Valley Cottage.
Police said they received a report from a homeowner about a suspicious person running through a back yard on Fulle Drive. Just prior to seeing that person, the homeowner said he heard loud, banging noises coming from his neighbor's home.
An investigation found damage at the neighbor's home. A glass door leading from a deck to the kitchen was shattered and a basement screen door had been damaged.
A few minutes later, a homeowner on Melanie Lane reported hearing someone on his deck. Police said the homeowner spotted a man walking off the deck, with that person matching the description of a man seen during the earlier incident.
Later that evening, police said they received another call about a suspicious man, this time on Branchville Road, with the description of that man being similar to the earlier incidents. Police said they found Welch in the area and he was identified by witnesses.
