Genesee County man dies in burning home

March 11, 2013, 5:57 am

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A 47-year-old Town of Alexander man died after being pulled unconscious from his burning home late Sunday night, Genesee County sheriff’s officials reported.

Scott A. Cramer, the only occupant at 11000 Sand Pit Road, was extricated from the home by Alexander volunteer firefighters and taken to United Memorial Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The first firefighters responding to a 911 call at 10:07 p.m. found the fire in the front of the house, with flames showing. Those firefighters searched the home, found Cramer and pulled him out.

A preliminary investigation points to an electrical cause of the fire, sheriff’s officials stated. No damage estimate has been released.

Assisting Alexander volunteer firefighters at the scene were members of the Attica, Bethany, Darien and Town of Batavia volunteer companies, along with Mercy EMS Ambulance.

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Teen pleads guilty to manslaughter in grisly killing

March 11, 2013, 6:27 am

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A teenager has pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the stabbing death of 16-year-old Darren Brown, whose burned body was left in a wooded area behind a popular custard stand on Colvin Avenue last July.

Demetrius Huff, 18, pleaded guilty Friday before State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia. As part of his plea agreement, Huff agreed to a 25-year-prison term, the maximum length possible for a first-degree manslaughter conviction.

Huff and Ezeiekile Nafi, 17, had been charged with second-degree murder, which carries a maximum of 25 years to life in prison, according to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.

Huff and Nafi met Brown on July 4 on Hertel Avenue and lured him to a former railroad right-of-way off Colvin’s 500 block, where they took turns stabbing him to death, law enforcement officials have said. The two returned later with gasoline and burned his body to destroy evidence, police have said.

Brown’s body was discovered by a man walking his dog.

Huff and Nafi were arrested at Huff’s paternal grandmother’s home on Jewett Parkway several days after Brown’s body was found.

Jury selection for a joint trial for Huff and Nafi was to have begun last week. But Buscaglia granted a motion for separate trials after new evidence was brought forward last week that may have benefited one of the co-defendants over the other.

Jury selection for Nafi’s murder trial began this morning.

Huff’s name was added to the list of witnesses who may be called against Nafi.

“He is a potential witness at this point,” homicide prosecutor Colleen Curtin Gable told Buscaglia before jury selection began.

Emily Trott, who is Nafi’s defense attorney, told the judge there were no plea discussions today before jury selection.



email: plakamp@buffnews.com

State police charge Jamestown man with aggravated DWI

March 11, 2013, 7:35 am

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A Jamestown man has been charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated after being accused of having a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than twice the legal limit, State Police at Jamestown reported.

Ronald P. Cummings, 58, was arrested after a traffic stop on Lindsey Street in the Village of Celoron on Sunday morning. Troopers stopped him for failing to use a turn signal, according to police reports.

Unconscious man one of two people arrested for DWI

March 11, 2013, 7:38 am

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Erie County sheriff’s deputies arrested two people for driving while intoxicated over the weekend, including a Brant man found unconscious behind the wheel of his vehicle.

Responding to an accident call on Southwestern Boulevard late Saturday, Deputy Neil Held found the driver, Frank A. Thompson, unconscious behind the wheel. After being treated by the Seneca Nation Volunteer Fire Department, Thompson was arrested for DWI. He refused to provide a breath sample to determine his blood-alcohol content, and sheriff’s officials said his license will be revoked.

On Sunday, while on patrol in the village of Akron, Deputy Simon Biegasiewicz stopped a car for failing to stop at a stop sign. The deputy then charged Rachel A. Miller, 37, of Akron, with DWI. Authorities said a chemical test determined that she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16 percent, twice the legal limit.

Sheriff’s road patrols have arrested 67 people for DWI so far this year, officials added.

Alleged drug trafficker from Puerto Rico arrested

March 11, 2013, 2:27 pm

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DUNKIRK – An alleged fugitive drug trafficker from San Juan, Puerto Rico was arrested here Sunday evening after police found him acting suspiciously and trying to cover his face from plain view at 5th Street and Leopard Street about 6:10 p.m. Sunday, Dunkirk police announced Monday.

Eric Johan Garcia-Rivas, 26, was found to be a fugitive wanted by the FBI on a federal indictment recently handed up in San Juan, charging him with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, investigators said. According to the FBI, Garcia-Rivas is part of a violent San Juan street gang that uses violence, weapons, threats and intimidation to traffic in drugs in a public housing project in that city.

After spending the night in the Dunkirk lockup, Garcia-Rivas was turned over to federal authorities Monday morning.

Buffalo police question dead woman’s husband

March 11, 2013, 7:35 pm

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The husband of an Andover Avenue woman who was found dead in her home about 3:25 p.m. today was being questioned late tonight by Buffalo homicide detectives.

Detective Chief Dennis J. Richards said officers were trying to piece together what happened to the woman, who was described as a mother who was in her mid-30s. Police have not disclosed her name.

They said her husband, Antoine D. Mattox, 32, was being questioned as “a person of interest” but they did not say he was a suspect in his wife’s death.

The cause of her death was not disclosed.

The dead woman’s two children and the family pet dog were taken from the home early this afternoon.

Jury convicts man, 50, of sex crimes against child

March 11, 2013, 10:49 pm

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A Buffalo man found guilty of committing sex crimes against a girl over a four-year period, starting when she was 12 years old, told her she would be abandoned or forced to leave Buffalo if she reported his crimes.

After a two-week trial, an Erie County jury recently convicted Everton Smith as charged of third-degree rape and first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child.

Smith, 50, of Stockbridge Avenue, faces up to 29 years in prison when sentenced April 9 by Erie County Judge Kenneth F. Case.

Prosecutors Lynette Reda and Rosanne Johnson of the District Attorney’s Office said in court that Smith took advantage of friction between the victim and her mother. His threats kept the girl from revealing what had happened, at least for a while.

Smith told the child that all he had to do was say something to her mother and the child would no longer be able to live in Buffalo, according to court testimony.

“He would hold it over my head,” the victim said in court.

The child was not born in Buffalo but moved here when she was in elementary school.

The girl described for jurors her encounters with Smith, which began in 2007.

Smith did not testify in his own defense, but jurors watched a videotaped police interrogation in which he denied harming the child.

“I did not have sex with her. I would never do that. Never. Never,” Smith told Lt. Jeff Rinaldo of the Buffalo Police Department.

Police arranged and recorded a telephone call that the victim placed to Smith asking about his actions.

During the interrogation, Rinaldo asked Smith to explain why he asked the girl during the call if she was recording him.

“Because I was worried, man,” Smith replied, even though he continued to deny the allegations.

Because of Smith’s accent, it was difficult to make out what he was saying on the recorded telephone call.

During the interrogation, Rinaldo asked Smith why he admitted during the call that he had sex with the girl.

“Because I was confused,” Smith replied, saying he was busy with work at the time of the phone call.

“I was confused and working at the same time,” he said. “She was talking, and I was working. I didn’t know what I was saying.”

During the interrogation, Rinaldo was incredulous that someone would admit having sex with a minor, even if busy and confused, if it hadn’t happened.

“Nobody does that,” Rinaldo told Smith. “That sounds ridiculous.”

But throughout the interrogation, Smith continued to deny the allegations.

Jurors deliberated over a couple of days before returning the guilty verdict.

District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III praised Rinaldo, State Police Investigator Christine Borowski and the prosecutors, among others, for their work.

“Because of their dedication and professionalism, another sexual predator has been successfully brought to justice,” Sedita said.



email: plakamp@buffnews.com

Driving drunk at 100 mph

March 11, 2013, 9:35 pm

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An 18-year-old Kenmore woman has been arrested after allegedly driving along Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo at about 100 MPH with no headlights on, swerving at high speeds around one car and driving along sidewalks in Kenmore for a time before she got back on the road.

She was arrested at gunpoint when forced to stop for heavy traffic about 9:45 p.m. Friday on Elmwood at Hertel Avenue.

Taylor S. Bork of Wabash Avenue was arrested by Police Officers Donald Genovese and Albert Monteforte and Lt. Mary Hanley. After failing field sobriety tests she was taken to Buffalo Police Headquarters where a breath test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.20 per cent. The legal limit for driving is 0.08 per cent.

A cup filled with brandy and an open bottle of brandy and marijuana were found in her car.

In addition to being charged with three counts of drunken driving, she was charged with first-degree reckless driving, unlawful possession of marijuana, drinking in public places, reckless driving, changing lanes unsafely, having inadequate lights and speeding.

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Cuomo considered unlikely to fill vacant judicial seat

March 11, 2013, 9:42 pm

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Though several local jurists are expressing interest in being appointed to a vacancy resulting from the January resignation of State Supreme Court Justice Janice A. Rosa, recent history indicates they may be disappointed.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has not appointed anyone to judicial vacancies during his more than two years in office, preferring to let voters make the choice in the next general election. As a result, unless Cuomo reverses course, a November ballot on which no Supreme Court elections were slated could now feature at least one.

Rosa resigned from the bench at the end of January, according to Justice Paula L. Feroleto, administrative judge of the Eighth Judicial District.

Three arrests reported in Impact Zone fights

March 11, 2013, 10:23 pm

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LOCKPORT – Two fights broke out in Lockport’s anti-crime Impact Zone, city police said.

Michael A. Russell, 21, of Washburn Street, was charged with third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child after he allegedly attacked the mother of his 5-month-old son while she was pushing the child in a stroller on Locust Street about 7 p.m. Sunday. The woman, Kendra P. Carnes of John Street, told police she was hit in the face five or six times. She was treated in Eastern Niagara Hospital.

Devin D. Tabor, 16, of John Street, was charged with disorderly conduct after he allegedly shouted obscenities at police as they were investigating the incident.

In a separate confrontation Sunday on Spalding Street, Keith D. Nablo, 44, of Spalding Street, was charged with third-degree assault and menacing after a fight with a Locust Street man who suffered a laceration on his head. The victim said Nablo attacked him over money. Nablo said he was knocked unconscious and was treated in Eastern Niagara Hospital.

Woman accused of cutting man’s ear with broken plate

March 11, 2013, 10:51 pm

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A 27-year-old Wakefield Avenue woman was arrested after she allegedly slashed a man’s ear with a broken ceramic plate during an argument in his Kehr St. flat. Chakara R. Norman was arrested by Police Officers Steven Sierk and Adam E. O’Shea within minutes of the incident at 1:30 a.m. Friday. Norman was charged with second-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon, the broken plate.

The victim was told to seek treatment for lacerations he suffered on his right ear.

Free cab rides offered for tipsy St. Patrick’s Day weekend revelers

March 11, 2013, 11:12 pm

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Tipsy bar patrons during this St. Patrick’s Day weekend will have an option of a free cab ride home from participating establishments, thanks to an initiative announced Monday by the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, Liberty Cab and many clubs in the downtown entertainment district.

The initiative runs from 9 p.m. Friday through noon Monday. During that time, if patrons believe they are too intoxicated to drive, they are encouraged to ask the bartender for a yellow voucher. That is the ticket for a free cab ride home within a 25-mile radius – an estimated $75 value – according to William G. Yuhnke, president of Liberty Cab.

“If you’re in Erie County, we’re going to get you home,” Yuhnke said. “Last year, we were actually more busy on St. Patrick’s Day than on New Year’s Eve.”

Patrons may either call for a cab at 877-7111 or use Taxi Magic, a smartphone app that offers on-demand cab service without talking to an operator.

“With drunken drivers, you have to get there fast so they do not get into the vehicle,” Yuhnke said. “If you don’t, they may have second thoughts and wind up behind the wheel.”

This is not the first time Liberty Cab has offered free rides for drivers who have had too much to drink. In “Safe Ride Home,” the cab company teamed up with the Buffalo Bills last season to transport inebriated football fans home from games at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park. Up to 15 cabs are routinely stationed at the north end of the stadium, according to Sheriff Timothy B. Howard, who approached Liberty Cab weeks ago to pitch the St. Patrick’s Day weekend campaign against drunken driving.

The holiday weekend includes two parades:

• “The Old Neighborhood” St. Patrick’s Day Parade retraces the original 1913 parade route through the historic streets of the Valley and Old First Ward neighborhoods. Starting at noon Saturday, it runs along South Park Avenue; Smith, Elk and Hamburg streets; and O’Connell Avenue.

• The Delaware Avenue St. Patrick’s Day Parade kicks off at 2 p.m. Sunday from Niagara Square, ending at North Street. Last year, it attracted 125,000 people, according to Howard.

Sgt. Daniel S. Dytchkowskyj, who commands the sheriff’s Traffic Bureau, believes that the initiatives to deter drunken driving have been working.

“It seems we’re seeing less arrests on the big drinking holidays,” he said.

“Last year, deputies logged one arrest during St. Patrick’s Day weekend – from 9 p.m. March 16 to noon March 19. I think people are realizing that police are intensifying their patrols during that time.

“It’s important for us to continue the patrols. We can’t let up.”

Howard said that “it costs between $8,000 to $10,000 for a DWI,” referring to legal fees and fines. “That is a steep price to pay, but there is an even steeper price to pay should you maim or hurt someone while driving drunk.”

To date, the following downtown bars are participating in the weekend campaign: Laughlin’s, Sky Bar, D’Arcy McGee’s Irish Pub, City Tavern, Bada Bing Bar & Grill, Buckin’ Buffalo Saloon, Indulge Bar & Night Club, Noir Ultra Lounge, 67 West, Bottoms Up and Soho Burger Bar.



email: jkwiatkowski@buffnews.com

4 face charges in attack on woman in her home

March 12, 2013, 4:53 am

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Two men and two women are being held on first-degree burglary, second-degree assault and other charges for allegedly assaulting a 20-year-old Harmonia Street woman in her flat and cutting her hand with a broken bottle early Saturday morning.

Police Officers Keith Fitzner and Anthony O. Shea, who were on patrol in the area, said they saw the suspects running from the victim’s flat after it was ransacked. They allegedly dropped a steak knife in the process.

Arrested were:

Matthew Clark, 19, of Spiess Street; Julian D. Meadows, 19, of Keystone Street; Jasmine Breyonna McCain, 17, of Newburgh Avenue; and Ashanti Smith, 18, a Harmonia Street, a neighbor of the victim.

Fitzner and Shea said they spotted the four suspects running into the victim’s flat after allegedly breaking open her front door. Then they said they saw the four running out of that flat at about 3:50 a.m. after the victim allegedly was mugged and cut. The first-floor flat was ransacked. No motive for the attack was disclosed.

In addition to the burglary and second-degree assault charge, all four suspects are also charged with third-degree assault, harassment and criminal mischief. The victim, who was repeatedly beaten and kicked, was treated at the scene by a Rural/ Metro medical team for the right hand cut she suffered when one of the suspects slashed her hand with a broken bottle, according to a police report.

Feds, local police raid suspected drug houses

March 12, 2013, 6:49 am

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Federal and Buffalo police this morning carried out a dozen raids on suspected drug houses in a crime- and violence-prone area of the East Side, authorities said.

The streets where the raids occurred were in the area of French, Box, Glenwood and Phyllis.

“In this 10 block area …there have been 10 murders in the last year," said Dale Kasprzyk, head agent in Buffalo for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

”This is a neighborhood where there has been an over amount of violence and drug trafficking.”

“So we teamed up with the DEA to clean it up," said Buffalo Deputy Police Commissioner Charles Tomaszewski said.

One of the raids on French Street was on the 100 block of French.

“They were distributing crack cocaine from the residence," Kasprzyk said.

A police helicopter and SWAT teams from the FBI, Amherst, the Town of Tonawanda and other suburbs were involved in the raids.

One person identified as a primary distributor was Mashi Phillips 38. He was charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.



email: lmichel@buffnews.com

Seven people routed by Hudson Street fire

March 12, 2013, 7:40 am

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Three adults and four children were forced out of their lower West Side home by a Monday evening fire that caused an estimated $65,000 damage, Buffalo fire officials reported.

Firefighters responded to a 5:20 p.m. alarm at 357 Hudson St., two blocks south of Symphony Circle. The blaze, which started on the second floor, extended into the attic of the 2½-story house.

The cause remains under investigation. The Red Cross was called to assist the seven people driven from their home.

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Ceglia alleges conflict of interest by prosecutor in Facebook case

March 12, 2013, 4:21 pm

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The Allegany County man who claims to own half of Facebook is asking the courts to drop the criminal charges against him because of a conflict of interest by the New York City prosecutor handling the case.

Paul Ceglia, in a complaint filed Monday, said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara once worked for the law firm representing Facebook in Ceglia’s civil lawsuit against the social networking giant.

“The appearance of impropriety is obvious,” Ceglia said in his court papers.

Ceglia was charged in federal court in Manhattan last year with orchestrating a “multibillion-dollar scheme” to defraud Facebook.

Federal prosecutors say Ceglia “doctored, fabricated and destroyed evidence” to support his ownership claims regarding Facebook, and they charged him with felony wire and mail fraud.

“Dressing up a fraud as a lawsuit does not immunize you from prosecution,” Bharara said at the time.

The criminal charges against Ceglia, in many ways, mirror the counterallegations made by Facebook in Ceglia’s civil suit against the company.

The complaint contends that Ceglia replaced the first page of his previous contract with Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg with a new page doctored to make it appear Zuckerberg had agreed to provide him with an interest in Facebook.



email: pfairbanks@buffnews.com

Fire heavily damages Town of Niagara apartment complex

March 12, 2013, 5:22 pm

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Ten adults and two children who were displaced by a fast-moving fire that damaged the two-story, eight-unit Royal Apartments at 8521 Porter Road in the Town of Niagara Tuesday are being assisted by the American Red Cross.

Eighty firefighters from 12 fire companies had to be put to work after the fire was reported about 1:45 p.m.

Niagara County Fire Coordinator Jonathan F. Schultz said fire began in a second-floor apartment and spread rapidly through a 2-foot crawl space between the second-floor ceiling and the roof. No injuries were reported and the cause remains under investigation. No estimate of total damages has been released yet.

Schultz said the first companies on the scene were the Niagara Active Hose, Upper Mountain and Frontier fire companies. A call for extensive mutual aid then had to be put out to deal with the fire.

Alleged getaway driver arrested in Lockport bank heist

March 12, 2013, 5:29 pm

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LOCKPORT – Lockport police have arrested a man they believe drove alleged bank robber Joseph S. Trusello back to Niagara Falls after robbing an M&T Bank branch Friday.

James M. Williams, 30, of Tudor Lane, Lockport, was arrested in Niagara Falls at 5:40 p.m. Monday and charged with third-degree robbery, third-degree grand larceny and fifth-degree conspiracy.

Police said he was apprehended when his car was stopped in traffic on Niagara Falls Boulevard near the on-ramp to the Niagara Thruway in the Falls.

The arrest of Williams came after the questioning of Trusello, 23, who was picked up at his residence in a halfway house on Memorial Parkway in the Falls about 3 a.m. Monday.

Detective Captain Richard L. Podgers said “more than $1,000” was recovered in the arrest of Trusello, who has confessed to the robbery. He declined to disclose the amount M&T Bank said was stolen.

He said Trusello fled the scene in a white Cadillac parked near the bank that allegedly was driven by Williams.

Federal parole officers assisted with the investigation of Williams, who was on parole after a federal conviction for narcotics sales, Podgers said.

Trusello shoved a holdup note across the counter at a bank teller at 10:56 a.m. Friday, according to the time on photos of the suspect from a bank security camera. No weapon was used in the holdup.

The photos led to numerous tips from the public that resulted in the arrest of Trusello, who was charged with third-degree robbery and third-degree grand larceny.



email: tprohaska@buffnews.com

Three illegal aliens stopped at bridges from canada

March 12, 2013, 6:16 pm

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Three illegal aliens have been arrested by the Border Patrol in two separate incidents at international bridges between Canada and the United States.

Two citizens of Guatemala were captured about 10 p.m. Monday at the International Railroad Bridge between Fort Erie, Ont., and Buffalo while allegedly trying to hide themselves in a freight train coming into the United States. Border Patrol agents said they claimed they were planning to go to Atlanta, Ga.

Patrols at the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge in Niagara Falls spotted a man from Kosova at 4 a.m. Monday. They said the man was wearing dark clothes and trying to conceal himself as he crossed the bridge. They said the Kosovo immigrant was carring some marijuana and a check of records revealed he had numerous criminal convictions in Canada and was the subject of a Canadian criminal arrest warrant.

If illegal aliens are not stopped by Border Patrol agents, they can quickly blend into the general publics in Buffalo and Niagara Falls and obtain transportation to other destinations in this country, spokesmen for the Border Patrol said.

Witnesses can report suspicious activity to the Border Patrol and remain anonymous by calling 1-800-331-0353 toll free.

Man held in sex harassment

March 12, 2013, 6:21 pm

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A 26-year-old Lackawanna man has been arrested on charges of forcible touching and harassment for allegedly fondling and kissing a woman Saturday afternoon in a Niagara Street deli near Austin Street. Emad S. Al Gumael of Wilkesbarre Street was arrested by Buffalo Police Officers Robert Larusch and Joseph Donovan in the deli shortly after police got a 911 “sex offense” call. The woman complained that Al Gumael pulled her toward him and kissed her after he grabbed her.