Confrontation on village street leads to man’s arrest

A 31-year-old man has been charged with stealing a military-style jacket from another man, described by his mother as autistic, outside a restaurant on Partition Street in the village.

Edward M. Kovacs, of 52 Blue Hills Drive, was charged with petty larceny, a misdemeanor, after the incident, the Saugerties Police Department said Tuesday.

Police said officers responded to a report of a robbery in the area of Mirabella’s on Partition Street shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday. A 22-year-old man at the scene told officers a man confronted him, demanded his jacket, took the garment and went into Mirabella’s, police said.

“When officers entered Mirabella’s ... Edward Kovacs, a patron in the establishment, stood up and advised officers that he was the person who took the other man’s jacket,” police said in a press release.

According to police, Kovacs told the officers was sitting in the restaurant when he saw a man walk by wearing military garb, so he approached the man and asked him if he had served in the armed forces. Kovacs told police he couldn’t understand what the man was saying, though he might be drunk, “told the victim to take the jacket off, and then pulled the jacket off the victim,” the press release said.

Kovacs told officers he demanded the jacket because he though the man was disrespecting the military, police said,.

Gretel Swart said her son, Evan, the alleged victim, has autism and that she believes Kovacs should be charged with more than just petit larceny.

“He just didn’t take the jacket nicely,” Swart said, adding that her son doesn’t drink alcohol. “Evan didn’t just give him the jacket.”

Kovacs was released with an appearance ticket and is due in court on June 12, police said.