Father and son charged in series of station heists

Florida — The police arrested two Chester men during an investigation of numerous commercial burglaries in the Village of Florida and Town of Goshen. State Police in Monroe, the Town of Goshen Police Department and the Village of Florida Police Department have for the past two months been investigating the burglaries, which affected mostly gas stations and convenience stores. Last week, the state police set up a task force to conduct surveillance of local businesses. On March 2, task force investigators and troopers found an unattended vehicle with its engine running on Quarry Road in the Town of Goshen, near an Exxon gas station. As they approached toward the station, they found Joshua P. Edwards, 20, behind a dumpster, wearing a ski mask and socks over his hands. They said he had a screwdriver, a two-way walkie-talkie and the keys to the Exxon station and its ATM machine, which had been stolen on Feb. 27 during the course of a burglary at the same location. Edwards, of 58 Conklington Road in Chester, was taken into custody without incident. A preliminary investigation at the scene determined that the front door of the station had been tampered with by the use of a screwdriver. The officers found no one else at the scene. But during the course of the morning troopers monitored Edwards’s residence to find additional suspects. While outside his residence, according to the police report, an agitated man carrying a Winchester .32 caliber rifle approached the troopers and ordered them to get off of his property. The troopers took the man, later identified as Joshua’s father - Peter Edwards - into custody. Peter Edwards, 41, was charged with menacing a police officer and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. A search warrant was subsequently executed at the Edwards residence by officers and investigators from the state police and Goshen Town and Florida Village departments. Police said they recovered property reported stolen during this recent rash of burglaries, including: a safe stolen from the Exxon station that contained more than $25,000 in New York State lottery tickets, an ATM cash box, ski masks, gloves, burglar’s tools (including a flashlight, sledge hammer and crowbars), telephone calling cards, cigarettes, rolled coins, disposable cameras, U.S. currency, keys to an ATM machine, watches and assorted miscellaneous property. Most of this property was discovered in a room located behind a false wall. Police said also said they found a small amount of marijuana and cocaine. Joshua Edwards was charged with third-degree attempted burglary, fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, possession of burglar’s tools and possession of a radio device during the commission of a crime. He is currently on probation in New York for a prior burglary conviction. Both defendants were arraigned before Goshen Town Justice Thomas Cione and sent to the Orange County Jail in lieu of $25,000 cash bail for the elder Edwards and $10,000 cash bail for his son. Investigators from the Monroe barracks said they are looking for an additional suspect.