This is the police. Step away from the cupcakes!
A half-baked town-board member called the cops on a pair of pint-size entrepreneurs for selling their cookies and cupcakes in a Westchester park without a permit.
“A lot of people go to eat lunch in the park,” one of the bummed-out baker boys, Andrew DeMarchis (pictured), 13, of Chappaqua, told The Post yesterday.
“So everybody bought dessert from us. When the cop first pulled up, I didn’t know he was there for us. Then he walked up to us. I didn’t know we needed a permit. I was more shocked than scared.”
Andrew said he called his mother, Suzanne, who had helped make the duo’s delicious oatmeal and chocolate-chip cookies on a stick.
“The police officer was extremely pleasant. He said he was sorry to have to do this but that he was following up on a report filed over the phone by a town-board member,” Mrs. DeMarchis told The Journal News.
Andrew’s pal, Kevin Graff, 13, “was so upset he was crying all the whole way home,” she said. “He was worried if he was going to get arrested or have a criminal record.”
New Castle board member Michael Wolfensohn — who had sicced the cops on the boys last month — refused to comment to The Post yesterday when reached at his home.
A town official said Wolfensohn has received harassing e-mails and phone calls since residents learned of his cupcake stance.
He had earlier told The Journal News: “All vendors selling on town property have to have a license, whether it’s boys selling baked goods or a hot-dog vendor.
“In hindsight, maybe I should have [just called the boys’ parents], but I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to do that,” Wolfensohn said. “The police are trained to deal with these sorts of issues.”
The town’s peddling-permit fees can run up to $350 for two hours, although charities are typically given a break.
Andrew and his buddy Kevin said they were selling their baked goodies in front of a playground at Gedney Park just to earn some spending money.
Andrew said they sold brownies, cookies and cupcakes for $1 each, earning $129 on their first day and $30 on their second before the cops shut them down.
“I’m proud of Andrew,” his mother said. “I think he handled himself well. I was also impressed with his business. It was creative, and they weren’t doing anything wrong.”