State Department of Environmental Conservation officers in the North Country were busy over the last month busting illegal dumping near Malone and assisting with an arrest from a bank robbery in St. Lawrence County.

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Franklin County

On Wednesday, Feb. 27, ECO Jennifer Okonuk received a complaint from the state police about a trash pile just outside of the village of Malone, and then another complaint about more dumping the next day. Okonuk investigated and was able to determine the trash came from a particular building in the village.

Okonuk spoke with the owner, who provided documentation that she had hired two men to take the garbage to the dump. Okonuk interviewed one of the men who initially denied the dumping, but eventually admitted that he and another individual had dumped the trash.

Both men were issued tickets for the unlawful disposal of solid waste, and Okonuk directed them to clean up the garbage and provide proof that the material was properly disposed of.

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St. Lawrence County

On Thursday, Feb. 28, ECOs Bret Canary and John Ryan responded to a bank robbery at the Community Bank in Hermon.

Canary protected part of the perimeter around the crime scene and Ryan assisted the state police and county sheriff’s office with scene preservation and security. The DEC Division of Law Enforcement worked on the multi-agency investigation, which resulted in the arrest of Timothy A. Shippee on March 2. Shippee was charged with robbery in the second degree.