A Van and a Case of Chicken Stolen on Erev Shabbos from Swan Lake Camp

by Mindy Cohn

A video security camera led to burglary and larceny charges for a Sullivan County man who broke into a boys' camp and made off with a case of chicken and a van.

Jimmy Pagan, age 58, of Swan Lake, was arrested on Friday, July 21, for breaking into Satmar Boys Camp and stealing a 2020 Honda Odyssey and the chicken left thawing on the kitchen counter. 

Local police spotted Pagan and recognized that he looked like the man caught on the camp's video security camera of the break-in.

The burglary took place around 4:30 a.m., Friday morning, at the Satmar Boys Camp on Briscoe Road in Swan Lake. In the video, Pagan can be seen taking the raw chicken off the counter along with keys to the Honda Odyssey.

Pagan was later recognized by an officer out patrolling on Birch Lane in Swan Lake. The Honda Odyssey was found with its license plates removed in a field behind Pagan's home. The case of chicken was also recovered.

Pagan was charged with felony burglary, grand larceny, and petit larceny. He was arraigned in the Town of Neversink court and sent to the Sullivan County Jail after a $40,000 bail was set.