Court: Homeless Man's Robbery Case Adjourned, Young Mother Pleads Guilty to Striking Daughter

A homeless man who has been arrested by Port Chester Police dozens of times was back in court Friday, this time on charges that he broke into a local office building.

Kip Hartman, 44, was being held on petty larceny charges stemming from the burglary of $250 worth of merchandise from Western Tool Supply on Midland Avenue. Hartman last month pleaded guilty to those charges and was sentenced to five months in jail.

While Hartman was in custody, police received a videotape of an alleged break-in at 200 William Street, an office building, that occurred on August 18. Investigators recognized Hartman from the video and charged him with felony burglary. Hartman pleaded not guilty.

On Friday Hartman's attorney said he had not received the surveillance video from the office building. Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Adimari said she has not been handling the case and doesn't know the whereabouts of the video.

Judge Jose Castaneda adjourned the case to Oct. 8 to give the attorneys time to work out the issue.

Woman Pleads Guilty to Striking Daughter

A Port Chester woman who witnesses say chased her 7-year-old daughter into a parking lot and hit her repeatedly pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child on Friday.

Tanya Torello admitted that on May 30 she chased her daughter into the parking lot of the Waterfront Plaza Stop & Shop and hit her in the head. Several people who witnessed the scene called police to report it.

When Torello returns for sentencing Dec. 17 she faces three years of probation and $400 in fines and fees. A five-year order of protection will also be issued on behalf of the daughter, meaning Torello won't be able to see the girl outside of a supervised setting until she's 12 years old.

Port Chester Man Denies Drinking Problem, Sent to Counseling

A local man accused of harassing his estranged wife was ordered on Friday to undergo substance abuse treatment despite the lack of any hard evidence suggesting he has a problem.

Danny Suero is charged with aggravated harassment after allegedly sending a barrage of threatening text messages to his estranged wife.

Assistant District Attorney Adimari said that the wife has claimed that Suero has a drinking problem, which may have contributed to the harassment, and requested that he be referred to a counseling program. But Adimari had no other evidence, and Suero denied the claims.

Judge Castaneda initially rejected the request.

"I'm not going to order treatment because this case doesn't involve alcohol," he said.

But Adimari played hard ball.

"If he's not assigned to [counseling], I don't know that my office will have  a [plea] offer for him," she said.

After speaking to his attorney, Suero agreed to attend the counseling program. His case was adjourned to Oct. 8.