(photo: John Bodor)

PATTERSON—A Corvette sports car valued in excess of $35,000 was reduced to cinders early Sunday after it was stolen from a residence in Dutchess County, driven to Patterson and torched.

Brewster State Police were summoned to Route 164 about 100 yards from the Route 22 interchange for a report of a car fire. Patrols found the inferno and Patterson Fire Department personnel arrived a few minutes.  

Firefighters extinguished the blaze but not before the vehicle, which was constructed of fiberglass and plastic, melted.

An investigation determined the auto had been stolen from a private garage in Webatuck before being driven to Putnam and set on fire.

Troopers ask anyone who might have been driving in the Patterson area along Route 22 shortly after midnight Sunday and who might have observed something suspicious to call either Brewster State Police at 845-279-5590 or the Bureau of Criminal Investigation at the Dover Plains State Police at 845-877-3660.

All calls will be kept confidential.

No injuries were reported.