TOWN OF THOMPSON, NY — On March 5 at approximately 6 p.m., the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Patrol responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle in a driveway on Dillon Farm Road in the Town of Thompson. Deputy Joseph Calvello located and stopped the vehicle just after it left the scene.

A passenger who was riding in the car, Charles Shortridge, 52, of Liberty, gave a false name. He was observed trying to throw his ID away when the deputy approached the car. Further investigation revealed that Shortridge was wanted on a parole warrant.

Shortridge made news in 2012 when he was implicated in an extortion scheme involving bail money and the theft of a Torah scroll from the Landfield Avenue Synagogue in Monticello. The Torah was eventually recovered, but Shortridge and his associate Chris Colvill filed a lawsuit against the synagogue claiming possible exposure to asbestos.

The pair had previously performed maintenance work for the synagogue. Shortridge was paroled this past September from the Woodbourne State Correctional Facility after serving a sentence for forgery. Shortridge has previously served time in state prison including a 1982 conviction for manslaughter in Oneida County where he was accused of dismembering his victim.

Shortridge was charged as a parole absconder for false impersonation. He was arraigned before Town of Thompson Judge Sharon Jankiewicz and sent to the Sullivan County Jail without bail.