NEW YORK COMPUTER STOLEN Man arrested for stealing computer from New Hartford Village Office Building | NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - News, Weather, Sports - Utica, New York | Local News:

Man arrested for stealing computer from New Hartford Village Office Building

Story Created: Jul 1, 2009 at 11:24 AM EDT

Story Updated: Jul 1, 2009 at 11:43 AM EDT

NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. (WKTV) - A New Hartford man has been arrested in regards to a computer theft from the New Hartford Village Offices, police said.

On Tuesday, June 30 around 2 p.m., The New Hartford Police Department responded to a report of a theft at Butler Hall on Genesee Street in the Village. Arriving on the scene, officers were told that a Dell Notebook-style computer valued at $1,200 was stolen from a conference room within Butler Hall.

The computer belonged to an independent contractor working for the Town of New Hartford, and was not owned by the Town or Village of New Hartford.

After interviews at the scene and a canvass of the area was made, police began to check the surrounding area. It was then that a suspect by the name of Gary W. Hopping, 54, of New Hartford, was located by police officers behind The Bank of America.

Police said a further investigation in the area revealed that Hopping was responsible for the theft of the computer.

Hopping was found to have entered Butler Hall at approximately 1 p.m. for no known purpose and while inside made his way to the basement level conference room where he located the computer, which was left unattended while the owner had gone to lunch.

Hopping unplugged it and then ran out of the rear exit of Butler Hall making his way towards Genesee Street behind businesses in the area, police said. When the owner returned he found the computer missing and reported it to the Butler Hall personnel, who, in turn, contacted the police.

Hopping, who was still in the area when police were searching, was arrested. At that time, the computer was recovered in a knapsack that he was carrying and ultimately returned to the owner and was not damaged.

Hopping was charged with grand larceny, arraigned in The Village of New Hartford Court and will re-appear in court Wednesday afternoon to answer the charges with his attorney.