Harrison, New York Food Bank Director Mystified By 90-Year-Old Florence D’Imperio Alleged Theft

County Food Bank Director Mystified By 90-Year-Old’s Alleged Theft

February 22, 2011 7:58 PM

Florence D’Imperio (L); Christina Rohatynski (R) (Photo/CBS 2)

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HARRISON, N.Y. (CBS 2) — The suspects accused of stealing donated food from some of their poorest neighbors in Harrison were nowhere to be found Tuesday afternoon.

The arrest of 90-year-old Florence D’Imperio stunned the Westchester County community. The elderly volunteer was recently named citizen of the year by Harrison’s mayor for her work at the food pantry that she allegedly plundered.

Christina Rohatynski, the director of the county-wide food bank, was mystified by the thefts of donated food.

“What were they thinking? I mean, how much can this be worth?” Rohatynski asked CBS 2′s Lou Young.

Rohatynski was especially mystified by the thefts because it allegedly involved D’Imperio and her son, William, who is a foreman with the Harrison Department of Public Works.

Police found it so difficult to believe the elderly volunteer and city employees were stealing donated food they set a two-month long surveillance to confirm their suspicions.

In addition to D’Imperio’s son, four other city employees were also arrested. The situation has become a major embarrassment for the Town of Harrison, which is trying not to talk about it.

In an exchange with Young, the town’s attorney said Mayor Joan Walsh was in meetings all day and “not available for comment.”

CBS 2 was eventually told that the accused city employees have been suspended for the time being. Other sources also confirmed that Harrison’s Director of Public Services called police when she suspected someone was stealing.

“She said ‘I saw a lot of the food missing.’ So that’s when she blew the whistle,” Rohatynski said.

All six of the defendants will be arraigned next week.

County Food Bank Director Mystified By 90 Year Olds Alleged Theft

martin

a mother and son i take care of my elderly mother and a lot of times money and food are tight we would never steal from anyone throw the book at these people what kind of mother is she citizen of the month how about thief of the year thats okay she ll be going some where where its hot all year burn baby burn
MotherT

This may be a little long…my apologies. I volunteer for Hands of Hope Food Bank in Reno, NV. It is not government funded. We are self-sustaining. In order to keep volunteers from taking “extras”, we simply have made box tags. Boxes are approved by the facilitators before they can be removed from the building. It works quite well.
No Freeloader

I would like to see all food banks closed and welfare abolished. Families should take take care of their own I am sick of freeloaders with their hands out.
alp

Not all food pantries are the same. My wife managed a food pantry for several years. The rules required proper application, names, soc sec no’s, proof of residence, and proof of income. Workers were not clients. Open 1 time per month Workers respected all food and funds were contributed and should be managed accordingly. We later worked for years at another location. There were no application requirements or records kept. Most of the workers were also clients and there was no question they had first pick and took care of themselves. I client worker picked up for more than 10 families monthly. Did they exist? The pantry was run by a beneficient 90+ lady. It was her way or the highway. We could work and not see what was happening or quit. We finally have quit.
bob k

How much food did they steal?

It could be like an office supplies thing — they thought people doing volunteer work could take a little bit of free food for themselves.

People are too quick to condemn before they know the facts.
chiliboots

Trust in Food Banks is so touching; do you see any oversight of them, anywhere?

Also, where did the ‘stolen’ food go? As Ratso Rizzo said: ” If it’s free, then I ain’t Stealin’”
bigred

If it is free food, is it really stealing?….Just sayin

me

Sure it’s stealing. It wasn’t freely given.

jane

i would never think people would do this. wouldn’t they just tell the boss “hey i also need help.” unless they took large amounts. did they break in? weird and very unfortunate.

John

I told my elderly Mom that she could deduct the $10 a week she puts in the basket at church, from her taxes. She refused to do it feeling somehow it was unethical. This 90 year old lady knew darn well she and her son were stealing from the poor. Shame on them. I say make them both pay restitution.

Jeff Rosenbury

Who do you trust? Do you trust six respected volunteers or the politicians who won’t go on record?

There’s more to this story. We should wait until the alleged thieves get to tell their side before passing judgement.

Antonio

Did you not read the story??? The police ran a 2 month long surveillance to confirm their suspicions.
Jeff Rosenbury

I can think of a half a dozen legitimate reasons to take food from a food bank. I can think of half a dozen illegitimate reasons for rich politicians to want to shut a food bank down. Food banks attract homeless people.

A two month investigation would have discovered a motive. A ten minute discussion would have discovered a motive. Claiming they were charging someone with a crime with no idea of the motive is unbelievable.

So we are presented with a group of known liars accusing a group of known compassionate people with a crime. Yes, I want to hear both sides.

lippy

Now even the food banks need a bailout!
big john

you resemble that statement

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