Yonkers Police Chief Charged in 1944 Over Abandoned Investigation

City Manager William Walsh formally charged Yonkers Police Chief William Kruppenbacher with dereliction of duty in 1944. Walsh, acting as Public Safety Commissioner, filed the charges on November 2, 1944. The accusations stated that the officers' conduct seriously affected their fitness to serve.

The charges targeted five individuals: Chief Kruppenbacher, Lieutenant O'Connor, and Patrolmen Boyle, Connolly, and Posenski. Walsh alleged that the group failed to properly investigate an incident at a building located at the corner of Copcutt Lane and Nepperhan Avenue. The city manager described the site as being used for suspicious or questionable purposes. He claimed Kruppenbacher pulled officers away from the investigation without completing their inquiry.

Walsh labeled the Chief negligent and derelict in the performance of his official duties. A trial for all five men was scheduled for November 14, 1944. Deputy Public Safety Commissioner W. Chantler Arbuckle was assigned to preside over the proceedings.

The incident occurred in the same city that has a long history of civic milestones. In 1905, Joan Newton Cuneo, a prominent female racing driver, performed an exhibition race in Yonkers. The event covered a two mile distance. In 1904, Frank Crocker set an amateur automobile racing record at the Empire City Track. Crocker drove a Ford racer for twelve miles in 11 minutes and 32 seconds. He later died at age 27 following a racing accident in January of that year.

Local infrastructure projects also marked the city's history. In 1930, DPW Commissioner William Colquhoun announced plans to clean the Nepperhan River bed and the Main Street sewer outlet. The city hired men to remove trash and deepen the channel. This work aimed to prevent health hazards and stop sewage from backing up into the Hudson River. The crew used machinery to dredge the channel under Larkin Plaza.

Public order challenges have also defined Yonkers history. In 1922, police officers managed a crowd of more than 1,000 high school students after a football game between Yonkers and New Rochelle. The tension escalated when students performed a snake dance on the field. Sergeant Kennedy threatened to use his revolver to keep the crowd back. Officers eventually escorted the students to the Wells Avenue station. Two New York University students, David Berer and Milton Desgrey, were arrested when backup arrived.

Civic life in Yonkers has seen other notable events over the decades. In 1917, the Equal Suffrage Amendment passed by a majority of 2,305 votes. In 1934, the public library received its first ten talking books for blind patrons. In 1935, two girls found a 1710 coin in a backyard on Ellott Avenue. The coin featured a king's head and the words Georgius II Rx.