A Niagara Avenue man who was shot in the head in what investigators had called a drug-related shooting in December, was arrested Tuesday on felony drug possession charges.
Michael A. Lorraine, 25, was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Investigators armed with a search warrant on Tuesday morning said Lorraine, who recently had surgery on his leg, had stashed nine grams of crack cocaine in his leg cast. Lorraine told police in December that two unidentified men approached his car and shot at him while at the intersection of Highland and Calumet avenues. He was able to drive himself to the hospital after being grazed in the head and was transferred to Erie County Medical Center for treatment.
Investigators said Lorraine had been under investigation for some time and has had numerous drug-related arrests in the past.
Ramone A. Westbrook, no age available, of Whitney Avenue was charged by narcotics investigators with unlawful possession of marijuana. Westbrook was stopped after he was seen driving and then dropping Lorraine off at his house.
• Two men were charged in connection with the theft of more than $12,000 worth of electronics from a Pine Avenue jewelry and electronics store.
Jamarius D. Scott, 21, of Linwood Avenue and Xavier T. Faura, 18, Portage Road, were charged with third-degree burglary, third-degree grand larceny and second-degree criminal mischief.
A third man is being sought for his role in the thefts, according to Niagara Falls detectives.
Witnesses told police they saw two men use a hammer to shatter a window at the NYC Jewelry and Electronics Outlet in the 1600 block of Pine Avenue just after 3 a.m. Sunday. The men were seen fleeing and running behind buildings. Police tracked footprints in the snow to an apartment building but were unable to locate the suspects.
Police said two laptops and five cellphones were stolen from the store.A Niagara Falls man could be sentenced to as long as 12 years in state prison after being ejected from the judicial diversion program of court-supervised drug treatment by Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas.
James W. Jones, 48, of 15th Street, was accused by drug court staff of trying to use the diversion program only as a means of staying out of prison, not to stop using drugs. He tested positive for narcotics several times since Farkas placed him in the program last July.
Jones, a six-time felon, had pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance for having crack cocaine in his pocket when his parole officer visited him Jan. 18, 2012. He is being held without bail pending sentencing April 17.
• A Niagara Falls man was arraigned in Niagara County Court on charges of burglarizing a vacant house in that city Nov. 28, and his brother is to be arraigned Friday on the same charges.
Emanuel L. Rogers, 31, formerly of Maple Street, Buffalo, pleaded not guilty to third-degree burglary, third-degree criminal mischief, attempted petit larceny and possession of burglary tools. County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas jailed him in lieu of $5,000 bail.
Malique L. Rogers, 37, of Cudaback Avenue in the Falls, is to appear before Farkas today.
Assistant District Attorney Joseph A. Scalzo said a nearby resident called police Nov. 28 after seeing two men stacking pipes, a sink, a car jack and other metal objects in an alley behind a Fourth Street house, owned by the city because of a tax foreclosure. Scalzo said Emanuel Rogers was inside when police arrived and tried to jump out an upstairs window, but was pulled back in by an officer.A Buffalo couple told police that property was stolen from their rental car overnight while it was in the valet parking lot at the Seneca Niagara Casino hotel.
A cellphone and a pair of prescription eyeglasses were taken from the vehicle sometime between 11 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday, police said, resulting in a loss of $285. Valet parking employees told police the car may have been left unlocked.A burglar stole $480 in cash after breaking into a 19th Street apartment overnight, Niagara Falls police said.
The female resident told police that someone entered the apartment via a side window sometime between 5 p.m. Friday and 12:40 a.m. Saturday. In addition to the money, which was taken from a bedroom, a pair of cellphones were taken from a living room area. Total loss was estimated in the neighborhood of $700.An Ohio couple was robbed of $100 cash while drinking at Legends Bar & Grill on First Street, Niagara Falls police said.
The wife told police that she had two $50 bills in her purse when she went to the bar shortly after midnight, and that she kept her purse on the bar near her for the next hour, leaving it only momentarily to check on a lottery ticket. Upon returning to her hotel room around 1:30 a.m. she discovered the money had been removed from the purse.An 81-year-old Wheatfield man said his Sears Mastercard was used to make just over $300 in unauthorized purchases from stores where he never had shopped.
The victim told Niagara County sheriff’s deputies that he never lost possession of his card. He said he believes that the account may have been compromised online.
He said he noticed charges on his card to Sports Authority, Stop and Shop and Waldbaum’s but had never purchased anything from these stores.A Grand Island man will not go to jail for his guilty plea to driving while intoxicated in North Tonawanda.
Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III sentenced Timothy J. Homa, 29, of East River Road, to three years’ probation, a $395 surcharge, 14 days in the Niagara County work program and 30 days of community service.
Homa pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor DWI count Dec. 11, during a trial on a DWI felony indictment. He was arrested May 20, after his car became stuck on a planter box made of railroad ties in a parking lot on Manhattan Street in North Tonawanda.
• A former North Tonawanda man who grew marijuana in his apartment there was pronounced a success in the judicial diversion program of court-supervised drug treatment.
Robert C. Hetrick, 47, of Glenfield Drive, West Seneca, had pleaded guilty in January 2012 to second-degree criminal possession of marijuana, a felony. Tuesday, Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III allowed him to reduce that plea to fourth-degree possession, a misdemeanor. Hetrick is to be resentenced May 7, with probation the likely outcome.
Hetrick was arrested Aug. 23, 2011, when police raided his apartment on Ganson Street in North Tonawanda and found an indoor growing operation and more than a pound of pot.
