It began as a domestic complaint on Wednesday (8/15) at 10 a.m. An ex-girlfriend of Thomas Vandusen, age 27, of 402 Canal Street in Palmyra came into the Palmyra Police station to file a compliant. She stated Vandusen had violated a Court Order of Protection two days earlier.

Palmyra Police, well acquainted with VanDusen, obtained a warrant for Aggravated Criminal Contempt in the First Degree. This was not his first violation of a court order. Police immediately began a search of the Village.

Around 1:20 p.m. the ex-girlfriend returned to her apartment. Vandusen was waiting, jumped into the front seat her car.  The startled girl attempted to convince him to turn himself in to police. He instructed her to drive around, eventually ending up in the Palmyra Cemetery after several hours.

Eventually they both ended outside the vehicle, at which point Vandusen punched the girl in the face, took her car keys and medications and ran off towards the Prospect Hill area.

Luckily, a Village worker in the cemetery saw the incident and police were called.

A perimeter was set up and K-9 units from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and State Police were called in. It took police two and a half hours, but Vandusen was taken into custody at 4:16 p.m.

Vandusen was arraigned on the original charge of Aggravated Criminal Contempt in the First Degree and an additional charge of Aggravated Criminal Contempt in the First Degree. He was arraigned in Palmyra Village Court and remanded to jail on No Bail. Additional charges of Robbery are pending.