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Man hit by three shots in Broadway-Fillmore
A man was struck by three bullets on Lombard Street between Broadway and Paderewski Drive this morning, Buffalo police said.
The victim told police he was approached by an unknown person, who fired several shots at him, authorities said. Three of the shots hit the victim in the upper body, and he was taken to Erie County Medical Center, according to officials.
A nearby vehicle had one if its passenger-side windows shot out, and police recovered two shell casings and one live round from the scene, authorities said.
The victim told police he was approached by an unknown person, who fired several shots at him, authorities said. Three of the shots hit the victim in the upper body, and he was taken to Erie County Medical Center, according to officials.
A nearby vehicle had one if its passenger-side windows shot out, and police recovered two shell casings and one live round from the scene, authorities said.
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Police identify 16-year-old who was fatally shot
Buffalo homicide detectives continue to search for the killer of a 16-year-old boy, identified by police today as Kelmyne Jones.
Just before 4 p.m, Saturday, officers from the Northeast District found Kelmyne, who had been shot, in a driveway in the 200 block of Northland Avenue.
“Responding officers learned that there was apparently a fight involving several young males, in the street, just prior to the
victim ... being fatally shot,” Dennis J. Richards, chief of detectives, said in a prepared statement.
The young man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call or text police using the confidential TIP-CALL number, 847-2255, or the department’s
website, www.bpdny.org.
Just before 4 p.m, Saturday, officers from the Northeast District found Kelmyne, who had been shot, in a driveway in the 200 block of Northland Avenue.
“Responding officers learned that there was apparently a fight involving several young males, in the street, just prior to the
victim ... being fatally shot,” Dennis J. Richards, chief of detectives, said in a prepared statement.
The young man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call or text police using the confidential TIP-CALL number, 847-2255, or the department’s
website, www.bpdny.org.
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Teen gangs’ territorial brawl ends in fatal shot
Kelmyne Jones died at 16 in a street fight that went from bad to worse. With him holding another boy in a headlock, an even younger teenager retrieved a handgun that had been tucked under a bush, and moments later Jones was fatally shot.
The group of about 11 boys scattered – even Jones. He staggered about 80 feet, up the driveway of a home that houses a day care center. That’s where his body was found.
This is according to a resident in the 200 block of Buffalo’s Northland Avenue, who saw the fight rage almost in her front yard Saturday. Several residents in the 200 block, a stable section of mostly owner-occupied homes a few blocks east of Main Street in the center of the city, saw bits and pieces of the tragedy on an otherwise calm day.
“We’ve never had a problem like that over here,” said one resident, Catherine Davis, sitting on her porch 24 hours later, while children played outside. “This is really strange for us,” she said.
Residents in the 200 block had heard Jones, a Buffalo school student, referred to as Jowon, his middle name. They believed his father is also named Kelmyne J. Jones, and a man by that name has a court record for low-level crimes. But for the most part, residents knew little about the young Kelmyne Jones because he lived in another section of Buffalo – five blocks south on Goulding Avenue, Buffalo police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge revealed late Sunday.
Jones was with a group of five boys who marched onto Northland around 4 p.m. Saturday to confront six other youths who live around Northland Avenue and Lonsdale Road. They were engaged in a territorial rivalry and had been sparring for a few days, said a neighbor who was outside grilling dinner when the gangs clashed.
The youths fought for a few minutes, then most just watched while two boys pushed, shoved and wrestled. One was the shooting victim police later identified as Jones, and he appeared to have his opponent in a headlock, the witness said. She said she gave detectives a statement but was unwilling to have her name published, fearing some retaliation.
At one point, a boy from the local gang hustled to retrieve something from under a bush just steps away, not far from Agape AME Church. Just weeks ago, on June 19, police acting on a tip found a .38-caliber revolver in the same area. The boy, believed to be about 13, the neighbor said, was grabbing another gun that had been tucked away.
Soon after, shots were fired, and the street was empty within seconds.
Neighbors thought that if someone had been shot, the wounds could not have been serious. After the police arrived, a resident saw a human form lying far up a driveway that serves the “Sent from Heaven Child Care.” It was Jones’ body. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy is scheduled for today.
The witness and others in the neighborhood believe they know who pulled the trigger, and police are looking for that boy. Reports circulated that the local gang was out to steal the sneakers that Jones wore. Monique Broadus, who lives nearby, said the fighters wanted to take something from Jones as a sign of victory, and the sneakers would do.
She said that some boys in that part of the city have too much time on their hands. When idle days combine with misguided values, bad things happen, she said.
“You have bad kids and you have good kids on every block,” she said. “You have the haves and the have-nots. If you teach kids how to do well, they will become men.
“They need jobs,” she said. “They just can’t be out in the city doing nothing.”
email: mspina@buffnews.com
The group of about 11 boys scattered – even Jones. He staggered about 80 feet, up the driveway of a home that houses a day care center. That’s where his body was found.
This is according to a resident in the 200 block of Buffalo’s Northland Avenue, who saw the fight rage almost in her front yard Saturday. Several residents in the 200 block, a stable section of mostly owner-occupied homes a few blocks east of Main Street in the center of the city, saw bits and pieces of the tragedy on an otherwise calm day.
“We’ve never had a problem like that over here,” said one resident, Catherine Davis, sitting on her porch 24 hours later, while children played outside. “This is really strange for us,” she said.
Residents in the 200 block had heard Jones, a Buffalo school student, referred to as Jowon, his middle name. They believed his father is also named Kelmyne J. Jones, and a man by that name has a court record for low-level crimes. But for the most part, residents knew little about the young Kelmyne Jones because he lived in another section of Buffalo – five blocks south on Goulding Avenue, Buffalo police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge revealed late Sunday.
Jones was with a group of five boys who marched onto Northland around 4 p.m. Saturday to confront six other youths who live around Northland Avenue and Lonsdale Road. They were engaged in a territorial rivalry and had been sparring for a few days, said a neighbor who was outside grilling dinner when the gangs clashed.
The youths fought for a few minutes, then most just watched while two boys pushed, shoved and wrestled. One was the shooting victim police later identified as Jones, and he appeared to have his opponent in a headlock, the witness said. She said she gave detectives a statement but was unwilling to have her name published, fearing some retaliation.
At one point, a boy from the local gang hustled to retrieve something from under a bush just steps away, not far from Agape AME Church. Just weeks ago, on June 19, police acting on a tip found a .38-caliber revolver in the same area. The boy, believed to be about 13, the neighbor said, was grabbing another gun that had been tucked away.
Soon after, shots were fired, and the street was empty within seconds.
Neighbors thought that if someone had been shot, the wounds could not have been serious. After the police arrived, a resident saw a human form lying far up a driveway that serves the “Sent from Heaven Child Care.” It was Jones’ body. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy is scheduled for today.
The witness and others in the neighborhood believe they know who pulled the trigger, and police are looking for that boy. Reports circulated that the local gang was out to steal the sneakers that Jones wore. Monique Broadus, who lives nearby, said the fighters wanted to take something from Jones as a sign of victory, and the sneakers would do.
She said that some boys in that part of the city have too much time on their hands. When idle days combine with misguided values, bad things happen, she said.
“You have bad kids and you have good kids on every block,” she said. “You have the haves and the have-nots. If you teach kids how to do well, they will become men.
“They need jobs,” she said. “They just can’t be out in the city doing nothing.”
email: mspina@buffnews.com
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Elma driver, canal boater run into police trouble
Erie County deputies made DWI arrests on land and water Thursday.
A driver with a blood-alcohol content more than three times the legal limit was arrested following a traffic stop in Elma, sheriff’s deputies reported.
Deputy Tim Christian pulled over a vehicle being driven erratically at about 8:20 p.m. Thursday on Bowen Road in Elma. Jeremy M. Pettigrew, 26, was arrested there, sheriff’s deputies reported.
Pettigrew was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated, failure to maintain lane, unsafe turn and driving with open alcoholic beverages. He was released on tickets to appear in Elma Town Court.
Meanwhile, Deputies Mike Okal and Tim Coulombe were on marine patrol Thursday night in the Erie Canal when they charged Justin D. Ksiazek, 26, of Kenmore, with boating while intoxicated. Ksiazek, who had a blood-alcohol content of 0.18, more than twice the legal limit for operating a vessel, also was charged with operating without navigation lights. He was issued tickets to appear in Tonawanda City Court.
A driver with a blood-alcohol content more than three times the legal limit was arrested following a traffic stop in Elma, sheriff’s deputies reported.
Deputy Tim Christian pulled over a vehicle being driven erratically at about 8:20 p.m. Thursday on Bowen Road in Elma. Jeremy M. Pettigrew, 26, was arrested there, sheriff’s deputies reported.
Pettigrew was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated, failure to maintain lane, unsafe turn and driving with open alcoholic beverages. He was released on tickets to appear in Elma Town Court.
Meanwhile, Deputies Mike Okal and Tim Coulombe were on marine patrol Thursday night in the Erie Canal when they charged Justin D. Ksiazek, 26, of Kenmore, with boating while intoxicated. Ksiazek, who had a blood-alcohol content of 0.18, more than twice the legal limit for operating a vessel, also was charged with operating without navigation lights. He was issued tickets to appear in Tonawanda City Court.
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Police agencies charge three with aggravated DWI on Sunday
Three people were arrested for aggravated driving while intoxicated – for having a blood-alcohol level of at least 0.18 percent – in separate incidents on Western New York roadways Sunday.
Erie County sheriff’s deputies made two of the arrests, while the State Police made the other.
The first occurred at about 1:10 p.m., when Trooper Jeffrey Curtis of the State Police at Jamestown charged Raymond Westbrook, 43, of Pittsburgh, with aggravated DWI and two counts of Leandra’s Law. Westbrook was accused of recording a 0.19 percent blood-alcohol level and having his two minor children in the vehicle. Westbrook was stopped when State Police said he drove through a road check on Waite Corners Road in Sherman.
Erie County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Hanna made the second arrest, after responding to a citizen complaint of a vehicle driving erratically southbound on Route 219 in the Town of Concord at about 7:20 p.m. Hanna, with the help of two other deputies, charged Jennifer Buckley, 48, of Grand Island, with aggravated DWI for registering a 0.26 percent blood-alcohol level.
Then shortly after 10 p.m., Sheriff’s Deputy Gene Nati responded to a vehicle in a ditch on Salt Road at Clarence Center Road in the Town of Clarence. Deputies, working with State Police, charged Kurt Meyers, 38, of Clarence, with aggravated DWI, accusing him of having a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent.
All three drivers were accused of having blood-alcohol levels more than twice the legal limit.
Erie County sheriff’s deputies made two of the arrests, while the State Police made the other.
The first occurred at about 1:10 p.m., when Trooper Jeffrey Curtis of the State Police at Jamestown charged Raymond Westbrook, 43, of Pittsburgh, with aggravated DWI and two counts of Leandra’s Law. Westbrook was accused of recording a 0.19 percent blood-alcohol level and having his two minor children in the vehicle. Westbrook was stopped when State Police said he drove through a road check on Waite Corners Road in Sherman.
Erie County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Hanna made the second arrest, after responding to a citizen complaint of a vehicle driving erratically southbound on Route 219 in the Town of Concord at about 7:20 p.m. Hanna, with the help of two other deputies, charged Jennifer Buckley, 48, of Grand Island, with aggravated DWI for registering a 0.26 percent blood-alcohol level.
Then shortly after 10 p.m., Sheriff’s Deputy Gene Nati responded to a vehicle in a ditch on Salt Road at Clarence Center Road in the Town of Clarence. Deputies, working with State Police, charged Kurt Meyers, 38, of Clarence, with aggravated DWI, accusing him of having a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent.
All three drivers were accused of having blood-alcohol levels more than twice the legal limit.
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Candle ignites Chautauqua County house fire
KENNEDY – An unattended candle left burning in the first-floor family room sparked a fire that destroyed a home in the Town of Poland on Sunday evening, Chautauqua County sheriff’s officials reported.
Kennedy volunteer firefighters responded to a 6:48 p.m. alarm at 2094 Route 62, before being joined by firefighters from Frewsburg, Falconer and Kiantone. Two youths who were at home at the time escaped the fire unharmed.
The Red Cross was called to assist the displaced family. Authorities also said that some family pets were lost in the fire.
Kennedy volunteer firefighters responded to a 6:48 p.m. alarm at 2094 Route 62, before being joined by firefighters from Frewsburg, Falconer and Kiantone. Two youths who were at home at the time escaped the fire unharmed.
The Red Cross was called to assist the displaced family. Authorities also said that some family pets were lost in the fire.
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Nun with gambling habit gets 90 days in jail for stealing from two churches
The thefts weren’t just a one-time crime.
Instead, they followed a long-term pattern of a Catholic nun’s systematic stealing from two churches and their parishioners.
Those crimes included taking money from the weekly collection basket, depositing checks made out to the church into her personal bank account and carrying on a campaign of dishonesty for five full years – all to feed her gambling addiction – authorities said Monday.
That’s why Sister Mary Anne Rapp, a 68-year-old Catholic nun from Lewiston, is going to jail after having pleaded guilty to stealing almost $130,000 from two churches.
Orleans County Judge James P. Punch on Monday sentenced Rapp to 90 days in jail, five years’ probation, 100 hours of community service and $128,000 in restitution payments.
“She’s unquestionably done a lot of good things for a lot of people and causes for many years,” Orleans County District Attorney Joseph V. Cardone said. “But you can’t ignore the extent of the dishonesty.”
That’s why Cardone concluded that it was an “appropriate sentence.”
“I’d hoped that she would not be sentenced to any term of incarceration,” defense attorney James P. Harrington countered. “But she knew this might happen, and she was prepared for any sentence.”
Rapp went to Orleans County Jail immediately after the late-morning sentencing. She’s expected to serve 60 days of that sentence, meaning she could be out in early September.
A veteran of prison ministry, Rapp plans to continue that role in jail, working with female prisoners, especially those with their own addiction problems.
“She knows she can do some good when she’s in the Orleans County Jail,” Harrington said.
The nun spoke briefly in court, admitting that what she did was wrong and apologizing for any embarrassment to the parishioners and her order, the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, courtroom observers said.
Rapp could have faced up to six months in jail after having pleaded guilty to grand larceny. She admitted stealing the money from two rural Catholic churches, in the Town of Kendall and the Village of Holley, between March 2006 and April 2011.
So the 90-day sentence was a midpoint between no jail time and the six-month maximum.
“I think jail was appropriate,” Cardone, the district attorney, said, referring to the long-term systematic thefts.
Harrington, the defense attorney, had a different view of her personal punishment.
“I don’t think sending her to jail was necessary to do that,” he said. “She is the type of person who’s punishing herself internally all the time. She stole money from her friends and from people who counted on her. She knows that.”
But Harrington, referring to the jail sentence, quickly added, “I understand why the judge did it.”
Investigators have that said she stole the money to feed a gambling addiction carried out in Western New York casinos. Sources have said that she spent much of that money in the state-operated casino at the Batavia Downs harness-racing track.
Cardone cited all the times that defense attorneys come in and explain that their clients have a heroin or cocaine addiction or a gambling problem.
“It’s not an excuse that you have an addiction,” the district attorney said.
Harrington pointed to the “remarkable ability” that Rapp has shown in battling her addiction.
She spent 9½ months in a treatment facility for gambling addicts and has continued her recovery through counseling and support groups.
“She’s an addict, she’ll be in recovery for the rest of her life, and she knows she’ll have to struggle with that for the rest of her life,” Harrington said. “She knows that she needs the support of people who have gone through this to make sure she doesn’t go back.”
The veteran Buffalo defense attorney, who has represented plenty of addicts in his lengthy career, then talked about the gambling addiction.
“I look at the casinos as the crack cocaine of regular people,” he said of those who can’t curtail their gambling. “They get to the point where they can’t control it, like any other addiction.”
Hearing that a nun was going to jail because of thefts triggered by a gambling addiction didn’t shock Mary McConnell, Ph.D., a certified gambling treatment counselor with Jewish Family Service of Buffalo and Erie County.
“This is not a surprise to me,” she said. “We have had priests and other clergy. It’s like any other addiction. It can happen to anybody.”
Like any other addiction, a gambling habit probably starts with just going out to have some fun.
“It’s not illegal,” McConnell said. “It’s like a minivacation, if you have a lot of stress or everyday problems. It’s sort of like a mini-Disneyland.”
But in some cases, the adrenaline rush of winning turns into an addiction. Then, the addicted gambler starts thinking that maybe one big win can erase any mounting debt.
“Gamblers live on ‘maybe,’ ” McConnell added. “And ‘maybe’ makes their blood run.”
Sister Edith Wyss, provincial minister for the 133 members of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, based at Stella Niagara in Lewiston, issued a statement saying, “We feel great empathy for the two church communities affected by her actions. Sister Mary Anne is a member of our community, and we will continue to help and support her.”
email: gwarner@buffnews.com
Instead, they followed a long-term pattern of a Catholic nun’s systematic stealing from two churches and their parishioners.
Those crimes included taking money from the weekly collection basket, depositing checks made out to the church into her personal bank account and carrying on a campaign of dishonesty for five full years – all to feed her gambling addiction – authorities said Monday.
That’s why Sister Mary Anne Rapp, a 68-year-old Catholic nun from Lewiston, is going to jail after having pleaded guilty to stealing almost $130,000 from two churches.
Orleans County Judge James P. Punch on Monday sentenced Rapp to 90 days in jail, five years’ probation, 100 hours of community service and $128,000 in restitution payments.
“She’s unquestionably done a lot of good things for a lot of people and causes for many years,” Orleans County District Attorney Joseph V. Cardone said. “But you can’t ignore the extent of the dishonesty.”
That’s why Cardone concluded that it was an “appropriate sentence.”
“I’d hoped that she would not be sentenced to any term of incarceration,” defense attorney James P. Harrington countered. “But she knew this might happen, and she was prepared for any sentence.”
Rapp went to Orleans County Jail immediately after the late-morning sentencing. She’s expected to serve 60 days of that sentence, meaning she could be out in early September.
A veteran of prison ministry, Rapp plans to continue that role in jail, working with female prisoners, especially those with their own addiction problems.
“She knows she can do some good when she’s in the Orleans County Jail,” Harrington said.
The nun spoke briefly in court, admitting that what she did was wrong and apologizing for any embarrassment to the parishioners and her order, the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, courtroom observers said.
Rapp could have faced up to six months in jail after having pleaded guilty to grand larceny. She admitted stealing the money from two rural Catholic churches, in the Town of Kendall and the Village of Holley, between March 2006 and April 2011.
So the 90-day sentence was a midpoint between no jail time and the six-month maximum.
“I think jail was appropriate,” Cardone, the district attorney, said, referring to the long-term systematic thefts.
Harrington, the defense attorney, had a different view of her personal punishment.
“I don’t think sending her to jail was necessary to do that,” he said. “She is the type of person who’s punishing herself internally all the time. She stole money from her friends and from people who counted on her. She knows that.”
But Harrington, referring to the jail sentence, quickly added, “I understand why the judge did it.”
Investigators have that said she stole the money to feed a gambling addiction carried out in Western New York casinos. Sources have said that she spent much of that money in the state-operated casino at the Batavia Downs harness-racing track.
Cardone cited all the times that defense attorneys come in and explain that their clients have a heroin or cocaine addiction or a gambling problem.
“It’s not an excuse that you have an addiction,” the district attorney said.
Harrington pointed to the “remarkable ability” that Rapp has shown in battling her addiction.
She spent 9½ months in a treatment facility for gambling addicts and has continued her recovery through counseling and support groups.
“She’s an addict, she’ll be in recovery for the rest of her life, and she knows she’ll have to struggle with that for the rest of her life,” Harrington said. “She knows that she needs the support of people who have gone through this to make sure she doesn’t go back.”
The veteran Buffalo defense attorney, who has represented plenty of addicts in his lengthy career, then talked about the gambling addiction.
“I look at the casinos as the crack cocaine of regular people,” he said of those who can’t curtail their gambling. “They get to the point where they can’t control it, like any other addiction.”
Hearing that a nun was going to jail because of thefts triggered by a gambling addiction didn’t shock Mary McConnell, Ph.D., a certified gambling treatment counselor with Jewish Family Service of Buffalo and Erie County.
“This is not a surprise to me,” she said. “We have had priests and other clergy. It’s like any other addiction. It can happen to anybody.”
Like any other addiction, a gambling habit probably starts with just going out to have some fun.
“It’s not illegal,” McConnell said. “It’s like a minivacation, if you have a lot of stress or everyday problems. It’s sort of like a mini-Disneyland.”
But in some cases, the adrenaline rush of winning turns into an addiction. Then, the addicted gambler starts thinking that maybe one big win can erase any mounting debt.
“Gamblers live on ‘maybe,’ ” McConnell added. “And ‘maybe’ makes their blood run.”
Sister Edith Wyss, provincial minister for the 133 members of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, based at Stella Niagara in Lewiston, issued a statement saying, “We feel great empathy for the two church communities affected by her actions. Sister Mary Anne is a member of our community, and we will continue to help and support her.”
email: gwarner@buffnews.com
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Double trouble for Genesee County DWI suspect
Genesee County sheriff’s deputies nabbed a driving while intoxicated suspect Saturday night in the Town of Leroy – about four hours after he was arrested for DWI in a Darien Lake concert parking lot.
The double trouble for Charles W. O’Shea, 35, of East Main Street, Leroy, started late Saturday afternoon when he was arrested for DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation, according to police reports. Deputies said a check of computer records showed that his license had been revoked due to a prior DWI conviction, sheriff’s officials said.
Then shortly after 8:30 p.m., Deputy Chad Minuto, who had aided in the original arrest, spotted O’Shea’s vehicle and stopped it in a truck-stop parking lot on Route 19 in the Town of Leroy. Deputies charged O’Shea this time with felony DWI, aggravated unlicensed operation and consumption of an alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle, police said.
Following his second arrest, O’Shea was sent to the Genesee County Jail on $10,000 bail.
The double trouble for Charles W. O’Shea, 35, of East Main Street, Leroy, started late Saturday afternoon when he was arrested for DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation, according to police reports. Deputies said a check of computer records showed that his license had been revoked due to a prior DWI conviction, sheriff’s officials said.
Then shortly after 8:30 p.m., Deputy Chad Minuto, who had aided in the original arrest, spotted O’Shea’s vehicle and stopped it in a truck-stop parking lot on Route 19 in the Town of Leroy. Deputies charged O’Shea this time with felony DWI, aggravated unlicensed operation and consumption of an alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle, police said.
Following his second arrest, O’Shea was sent to the Genesee County Jail on $10,000 bail.
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Hoskins guilty of 52 counts of animal cruelty
Beth Lynne Hoskins’ 74-count animal cruelty trial resulted in her conviction on 52 counts of animal cruelty for mistreatment of her high-end Morgan horses.
But the judge’s verdict issued Monday is not stopping her in her fight, and already she is strategizing her appeal. It’s a case that has rung up at least $2 million total, between both dueling sides, the SPCA Serving Erie County and Hoskins, for both horse care and legal bills.
The more than three-year saga – which began with the March 18, 2010, raid by the SPCA at Hoskins’ 50-acre Aurora horse farm – culminated Monday in an overflowing Aurora Town Court room. About 60 people waited to hear Town Justice Douglas W. Marky’s verdict, with some lining the courtroom almost up to the judge’s bench and others standing in the hallway.
Marky ticked off a two-page list containing four columns of horses’ names – announcing in his verdict the names of each of the horses for counts in which he found Hoskins guilty of animal cruelty as well as the counts for which he did not.
In all, Hoskins was found guilty of 52 misdemeanor counts under the state Agriculture & Markets Law, while she was not guilty of 22 counts.
Monday was the pivotal moment in Hoskins’ nonjury criminal trial before Marky that began just before Memorial Day 2012.
Hoskins sat composed at the defense table, dressed in a khaki-colored linen blouse and bright yellow skirt, with her trademark jangling bracelets. Notably absent was her daughter, Alex, who usually accompanied Hoskins to court.
Hoskins’ wealthy family, which owns the Buffalo-based Curtis Screw machining company, did not attend the court proceedings. Hoskins later said it would have been too hard on the family.
In rendering his verdict, Marky did not distinguish what factored into his decision. And neither Assistant District Attorney Michael Drmacich, nor Hoskins’ primary defense attorney, Thomas J. Eoannou, said they knew, either.
But Marky noted that the 22,000 documents filed in the case represented its complexity and breadth. “It’s a bigger stack of papers than I am tall. That’s a huge undertaking,” Marky said before issuing the verdict at about 4:30 p.m. “Although this was one case, it was really 74 trials, all of them intertwined.”
Marky set sentencing for 4:15 p.m. Sept. 26.
A major unknown, however, is what will happen to the 39 horses that Hoskins has had at her farm since a State Supreme Court justice overseeing civil cases involving the situation returned them to her the summer following the raid. One had since died.
The SPCA, meanwhile, is caring for 30 of her horses at foster farms. Attorneys in the case Monday said it was uncertain just when a hearing would be held in which a judge can determine what happens to the horses.
The case has captured national attention in horse and animal abuse circles.
Hoskins vehemently denies any wrongdoing and insists she properly cared for her large herd, and that conditions found in March 2010 at her farm were the norm for a horse farm coming out of winter.
Hoskins and Eoannou have contended she is the victim of overzealous animal rights crusaders trying to rewrite the rules on how animals are treated.
But the Erie County District Attorney’s Office has steadfastly insisted otherwise, presenting a case detailing depths of manure in the horses’ stalls and maintaining that many were underfed and appeared dehydrated. Some witnesses noted hoof distortions, infections and absent farrier care, as well as dry water buckets and holes in some of the stalls. They testified to significant weight gain in some of the horses once they were under SPCA care.
After the verdict was announced and court was dismissed, Hoskins leaned over to Eoannou and gently held his head, before whispering in his right ear. A short time later, after the courtroom had cleared, she said in an interview that she would definitely be appealing to the Erie County Court Appellate Term.
“I’m very grateful that we’ve been able to launch our defense. This is just the first step in a long process,” Hoskins said, intimating that the playout of the case is indicative of animal rights activists and what she said were undercurrents that were not always obvious.
“We’re not done, yet. This was one person and one person’s opinion,” she said of Marky’s verdict. “We’ve pursued justice where we could, and will continue to do this. I certainly haven’t benefitted from this taking so long. The process takes a long time.”
Hoskins said she had not had any expectations of what the verdict would be. She is known for her litigious nature, and also has sued the SPCA and others for $2 billion in damages, charging that she was set up.
Another attorney she has retained, John P. Bartolomei, said motions are pending in State Supreme Court on the return of her 30 other horses. Hoskins also is looking to have that court order the return of $350,000 that she has paid the SPCA for the agency to care for her animals.
Eoannou termed this verdict as “round one.”
On the split verdict, he said he knows every horse and he did not see the distinction as to why some were apparently mistreated and others were not. “I respect it, but I don’t know how he got it,” he said of the judge’s decision.
SPCA Executive Director Barbara Carr afterward said she was confident in the agency’s work on the Hoskins case, which has proved to be the costliest and longest.
“We don’t go into a case without doing our homework and without knowing what we’re doing. I’m not at all surprised we got to this point. Certainly, the proof was there,” Carr said, thanking the District Attorney’s Office for all the work that went into the case. “It was huge and we’re very glad that it’s now completed.”
The SPCA has spent “around” $1 million caring for the horses, she said. Hoskins, in contrast, estimated she has spent $750,000 on legal fees and $350,000 in horse care costs to the agency.
What happens to the horses next is a huge source of interest in the community. “That’s entirely up to the courts what happens with the horses. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of discussion about that,” Carr said, indicating that the routine inspections at Hoskins’ farm would likely continue for now.
Asked about Hoskins’ claim that the SPCA was overreaching in its accusations, Carr said: “It was all in the evidence as to whether or not this was so.”
Drmacich thanked the SPCA, vets, volunteers, investigators, “because without their help, this could never have been possible, without their hard work and dedication. I think this is a victory for the SPCA and for all those people, and the animals.”
Reached late Monday night, Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said he was pleased with the verdict. “We expected convictions and felt the case was well supported by the evidence,” he said. “Drmacich did a great job.”
Some in the horse community were thrilled with the conviction news. “Over the long years that this has gone on, I have spoken with vets and volunteers who helped with the raid. It sure sounds like those horses needed to be removed,” said Barb Cunningham, president of the western chapter of the New York State Horse Council. “We can’t believe they found her guilty, because we figured she would pull something else out of her hat, but we have certainly felt she was guilty.”
“I don’t believe she should ever have been given any horses back. What she has done to the SPCA economically, is horrendous,” Cunningham said. “The woman never should be allowed to have animals. I hope she is sentenced quickly and doesn’t win an appeal, and is forced to pay the SPCA for all the money they are putting out.”
Also in court Monday, Marky again denied a motion to toss the case out. Last week, he had reserved decision on a renewed motion by Hoskins to have the case dismissed because of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct by Matthew Albert, an assistant district attorney in the case, who had a romantic relationship with SPCA investigator Alex Cooke. The judge again cited cases presented by Bartolomei, but did not find merit that the situation in any way jeopardized or prejudiced the case.
Both Albert and Cooke attended Monday’s proceedings. Beforehand, Albert stood outside the court on the sidewalk with a handful of pro-horse people holding signs encouraging drivers to honk for the horses.
After the verdict was announced, Cooke and Albert were seen in a tight embrace on Paine Street, celebrating Hoskins’ conviction on 52 counts.
Hoskins on Monday still insisted the prosecutorial misconduct issue had merit. “It seemed very compelling to me and the others I’ve been working with. It seemed obvious there was a multi-layered conflict in the relationship, that it appeared inappropriate at the very least,” Hoskins said.
email: krobinson@buffnews.com; bobrien@buffnews.com
But the judge’s verdict issued Monday is not stopping her in her fight, and already she is strategizing her appeal. It’s a case that has rung up at least $2 million total, between both dueling sides, the SPCA Serving Erie County and Hoskins, for both horse care and legal bills.
The more than three-year saga – which began with the March 18, 2010, raid by the SPCA at Hoskins’ 50-acre Aurora horse farm – culminated Monday in an overflowing Aurora Town Court room. About 60 people waited to hear Town Justice Douglas W. Marky’s verdict, with some lining the courtroom almost up to the judge’s bench and others standing in the hallway.
Marky ticked off a two-page list containing four columns of horses’ names – announcing in his verdict the names of each of the horses for counts in which he found Hoskins guilty of animal cruelty as well as the counts for which he did not.
In all, Hoskins was found guilty of 52 misdemeanor counts under the state Agriculture & Markets Law, while she was not guilty of 22 counts.
Monday was the pivotal moment in Hoskins’ nonjury criminal trial before Marky that began just before Memorial Day 2012.
Hoskins sat composed at the defense table, dressed in a khaki-colored linen blouse and bright yellow skirt, with her trademark jangling bracelets. Notably absent was her daughter, Alex, who usually accompanied Hoskins to court.
Hoskins’ wealthy family, which owns the Buffalo-based Curtis Screw machining company, did not attend the court proceedings. Hoskins later said it would have been too hard on the family.
In rendering his verdict, Marky did not distinguish what factored into his decision. And neither Assistant District Attorney Michael Drmacich, nor Hoskins’ primary defense attorney, Thomas J. Eoannou, said they knew, either.
But Marky noted that the 22,000 documents filed in the case represented its complexity and breadth. “It’s a bigger stack of papers than I am tall. That’s a huge undertaking,” Marky said before issuing the verdict at about 4:30 p.m. “Although this was one case, it was really 74 trials, all of them intertwined.”
Marky set sentencing for 4:15 p.m. Sept. 26.
A major unknown, however, is what will happen to the 39 horses that Hoskins has had at her farm since a State Supreme Court justice overseeing civil cases involving the situation returned them to her the summer following the raid. One had since died.
The SPCA, meanwhile, is caring for 30 of her horses at foster farms. Attorneys in the case Monday said it was uncertain just when a hearing would be held in which a judge can determine what happens to the horses.
The case has captured national attention in horse and animal abuse circles.
Hoskins vehemently denies any wrongdoing and insists she properly cared for her large herd, and that conditions found in March 2010 at her farm were the norm for a horse farm coming out of winter.
Hoskins and Eoannou have contended she is the victim of overzealous animal rights crusaders trying to rewrite the rules on how animals are treated.
But the Erie County District Attorney’s Office has steadfastly insisted otherwise, presenting a case detailing depths of manure in the horses’ stalls and maintaining that many were underfed and appeared dehydrated. Some witnesses noted hoof distortions, infections and absent farrier care, as well as dry water buckets and holes in some of the stalls. They testified to significant weight gain in some of the horses once they were under SPCA care.
After the verdict was announced and court was dismissed, Hoskins leaned over to Eoannou and gently held his head, before whispering in his right ear. A short time later, after the courtroom had cleared, she said in an interview that she would definitely be appealing to the Erie County Court Appellate Term.
“I’m very grateful that we’ve been able to launch our defense. This is just the first step in a long process,” Hoskins said, intimating that the playout of the case is indicative of animal rights activists and what she said were undercurrents that were not always obvious.
“We’re not done, yet. This was one person and one person’s opinion,” she said of Marky’s verdict. “We’ve pursued justice where we could, and will continue to do this. I certainly haven’t benefitted from this taking so long. The process takes a long time.”
Hoskins said she had not had any expectations of what the verdict would be. She is known for her litigious nature, and also has sued the SPCA and others for $2 billion in damages, charging that she was set up.
Another attorney she has retained, John P. Bartolomei, said motions are pending in State Supreme Court on the return of her 30 other horses. Hoskins also is looking to have that court order the return of $350,000 that she has paid the SPCA for the agency to care for her animals.
Eoannou termed this verdict as “round one.”
On the split verdict, he said he knows every horse and he did not see the distinction as to why some were apparently mistreated and others were not. “I respect it, but I don’t know how he got it,” he said of the judge’s decision.
SPCA Executive Director Barbara Carr afterward said she was confident in the agency’s work on the Hoskins case, which has proved to be the costliest and longest.
“We don’t go into a case without doing our homework and without knowing what we’re doing. I’m not at all surprised we got to this point. Certainly, the proof was there,” Carr said, thanking the District Attorney’s Office for all the work that went into the case. “It was huge and we’re very glad that it’s now completed.”
The SPCA has spent “around” $1 million caring for the horses, she said. Hoskins, in contrast, estimated she has spent $750,000 on legal fees and $350,000 in horse care costs to the agency.
What happens to the horses next is a huge source of interest in the community. “That’s entirely up to the courts what happens with the horses. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of discussion about that,” Carr said, indicating that the routine inspections at Hoskins’ farm would likely continue for now.
Asked about Hoskins’ claim that the SPCA was overreaching in its accusations, Carr said: “It was all in the evidence as to whether or not this was so.”
Drmacich thanked the SPCA, vets, volunteers, investigators, “because without their help, this could never have been possible, without their hard work and dedication. I think this is a victory for the SPCA and for all those people, and the animals.”
Reached late Monday night, Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said he was pleased with the verdict. “We expected convictions and felt the case was well supported by the evidence,” he said. “Drmacich did a great job.”
Some in the horse community were thrilled with the conviction news. “Over the long years that this has gone on, I have spoken with vets and volunteers who helped with the raid. It sure sounds like those horses needed to be removed,” said Barb Cunningham, president of the western chapter of the New York State Horse Council. “We can’t believe they found her guilty, because we figured she would pull something else out of her hat, but we have certainly felt she was guilty.”
“I don’t believe she should ever have been given any horses back. What she has done to the SPCA economically, is horrendous,” Cunningham said. “The woman never should be allowed to have animals. I hope she is sentenced quickly and doesn’t win an appeal, and is forced to pay the SPCA for all the money they are putting out.”
Also in court Monday, Marky again denied a motion to toss the case out. Last week, he had reserved decision on a renewed motion by Hoskins to have the case dismissed because of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct by Matthew Albert, an assistant district attorney in the case, who had a romantic relationship with SPCA investigator Alex Cooke. The judge again cited cases presented by Bartolomei, but did not find merit that the situation in any way jeopardized or prejudiced the case.
Both Albert and Cooke attended Monday’s proceedings. Beforehand, Albert stood outside the court on the sidewalk with a handful of pro-horse people holding signs encouraging drivers to honk for the horses.
After the verdict was announced, Cooke and Albert were seen in a tight embrace on Paine Street, celebrating Hoskins’ conviction on 52 counts.
Hoskins on Monday still insisted the prosecutorial misconduct issue had merit. “It seemed very compelling to me and the others I’ve been working with. It seemed obvious there was a multi-layered conflict in the relationship, that it appeared inappropriate at the very least,” Hoskins said.
email: krobinson@buffnews.com; bobrien@buffnews.com
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Man killed on Norway Park over weekend
Buffalo’s 19th and 20th homicides of the year occurred within hours of each other during what proved to be a busy holiday weekend for police homicide investigators.
Ronald L. Jones, 23, of Buffalo was shot late Saturday in the first block of Norway Park, just hours after a 16-year-old was shot and killed in the 200 block of Northland Avenue, police reported Monday.
Police responded to a 911 call reporting a shooting on Norway Park shortly after 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Upon arriving there, officers learned that the victim had been taken to Erie County Medical Center in a private vehicle. Authorities said Jones appeared to have been dumped at the hospital by the driver of the vehicle. Jones was pronounced dead at ECMC.
The teenage victim, Kelmyne Jones of Buffalo, was found dead seven hours earlier, when police responded to another reported shooting shortly after 3:30 p.m. Jones, who authorities said was not related to Ronald Jones, was killed during a fight involving a group of about 11 boys.
Despite the timing and relative proximity of the incidents – the shootings occurred within two miles of each other – Chief of Detectives Dennis J. Richards said the crimes did not appear to be connected.
No arrests have been made in either incident, and police are continuing to investigate both. Anyone with information is asked to call or text the department at 847-2255, or send an email to www.bpdny.org.
email: hglick@buffnews.com
Ronald L. Jones, 23, of Buffalo was shot late Saturday in the first block of Norway Park, just hours after a 16-year-old was shot and killed in the 200 block of Northland Avenue, police reported Monday.
Police responded to a 911 call reporting a shooting on Norway Park shortly after 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Upon arriving there, officers learned that the victim had been taken to Erie County Medical Center in a private vehicle. Authorities said Jones appeared to have been dumped at the hospital by the driver of the vehicle. Jones was pronounced dead at ECMC.
The teenage victim, Kelmyne Jones of Buffalo, was found dead seven hours earlier, when police responded to another reported shooting shortly after 3:30 p.m. Jones, who authorities said was not related to Ronald Jones, was killed during a fight involving a group of about 11 boys.
Despite the timing and relative proximity of the incidents – the shootings occurred within two miles of each other – Chief of Detectives Dennis J. Richards said the crimes did not appear to be connected.
No arrests have been made in either incident, and police are continuing to investigate both. Anyone with information is asked to call or text the department at 847-2255, or send an email to www.bpdny.org.
email: hglick@buffnews.com
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10th St. Gang member gets prison for killing rival who shot cousin
When Saul Santana went looking for revenge, he found it in Anthony “Ace” Colon.
It was the bloody summer of 2009, and Santana, a 10th Street Gang member, was seeking retaliation for the shooting of his cousin, fellow gang member Edwin Rivera.
Santana found Colon, the rival Seventh Street Gang member who shot his cousin, on Ullman Street in Riverside and in broad daylight shot him several times in the back.
Colon died later that day.
“I did that dude dirty,” Santana later told Rivera.
Santana, who also was shot in retaliation a few months later, was sentenced Monday in federal court to 27 years in prison.
His sentencing marks the latest chapter in the 10th Street Gang prosecution, one of the biggest organized-crime cases in Buffalo in decades.
At the heart of the prosecution are five murders, including the slayings of two innocent neighbors caught in crossfire, and the allegation that the defendants acted collectively, as part of a criminal enterprise, to sell drugs and terrorize their West Side neighborhood for nearly a decade.
“I did this to myself,” Santana told U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. “No one else is to blame.”
His mother, weeping in the courtroom, could be heard saying, “I love you.”
“I took the life of another human being,” Santana said, “and that can never be replaced.”
Santana’s defense lawyer acknowledged his client’s role in the war between the 10th and Seventh Street gangs – he was one of the first gang members to be charged in the case – but suggested his actions were the product of a world most people can’t even fathom. It was a world that saw Colon shoot Rivera, Santana shoot Colon, and another Seventh Street Gang member shoot Santana.
“That’s just a microcosm of the case,” said James P. Harrington, Santana’s defense attorney, “but it defines the world these young men were living in.”
Federal prosecutor Joseph M. Tripi agreed but reminded Arcara that Santana’s regret didn’t become evident until after he was charged with Colon’s killing.
“The war between the two gangs heated up, and Mr. Santana was part of that,” Tripi said of that summer on Buffalo’s West Side. “At the time, there was no remorse.”
Santana pleaded guilty last year to taking part in a racketeering conspiracy but, as part of his plea deal, admitted killing Colon on June 26, 2009, in an act of revenge.
“They have a code,” Arcara said. “It’s too bad the culture he was in caused him to do what he did.”
Formed in the late 1980s, the 10th Street Gang dominated the West Side neighborhood bounded by Niagara Street on the west, Richmond Avenue on the east, Auburn Avenue on the north and Carolina Street on the south.
The government’s investigation of the gang resulted in 38 people being charged; many of them have taken plea deals. About 20 reputed gang members still face felony charges, including murder or attempted murder.
The investigation was overseen by the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, a coalition that includes Buffalo Police and State Police.
email: pfairbanks@buffnews.com
It was the bloody summer of 2009, and Santana, a 10th Street Gang member, was seeking retaliation for the shooting of his cousin, fellow gang member Edwin Rivera.
Santana found Colon, the rival Seventh Street Gang member who shot his cousin, on Ullman Street in Riverside and in broad daylight shot him several times in the back.
Colon died later that day.
“I did that dude dirty,” Santana later told Rivera.
Santana, who also was shot in retaliation a few months later, was sentenced Monday in federal court to 27 years in prison.
His sentencing marks the latest chapter in the 10th Street Gang prosecution, one of the biggest organized-crime cases in Buffalo in decades.
At the heart of the prosecution are five murders, including the slayings of two innocent neighbors caught in crossfire, and the allegation that the defendants acted collectively, as part of a criminal enterprise, to sell drugs and terrorize their West Side neighborhood for nearly a decade.
“I did this to myself,” Santana told U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. “No one else is to blame.”
His mother, weeping in the courtroom, could be heard saying, “I love you.”
“I took the life of another human being,” Santana said, “and that can never be replaced.”
Santana’s defense lawyer acknowledged his client’s role in the war between the 10th and Seventh Street gangs – he was one of the first gang members to be charged in the case – but suggested his actions were the product of a world most people can’t even fathom. It was a world that saw Colon shoot Rivera, Santana shoot Colon, and another Seventh Street Gang member shoot Santana.
“That’s just a microcosm of the case,” said James P. Harrington, Santana’s defense attorney, “but it defines the world these young men were living in.”
Federal prosecutor Joseph M. Tripi agreed but reminded Arcara that Santana’s regret didn’t become evident until after he was charged with Colon’s killing.
“The war between the two gangs heated up, and Mr. Santana was part of that,” Tripi said of that summer on Buffalo’s West Side. “At the time, there was no remorse.”
Santana pleaded guilty last year to taking part in a racketeering conspiracy but, as part of his plea deal, admitted killing Colon on June 26, 2009, in an act of revenge.
“They have a code,” Arcara said. “It’s too bad the culture he was in caused him to do what he did.”
Formed in the late 1980s, the 10th Street Gang dominated the West Side neighborhood bounded by Niagara Street on the west, Richmond Avenue on the east, Auburn Avenue on the north and Carolina Street on the south.
The government’s investigation of the gang resulted in 38 people being charged; many of them have taken plea deals. About 20 reputed gang members still face felony charges, including murder or attempted murder.
The investigation was overseen by the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, a coalition that includes Buffalo Police and State Police.
email: pfairbanks@buffnews.com
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Judge revokes bail over defendant’s note to jury
Toward the end of the day Wednesday, with the jury preparing to recess for the holiday weekend, defendant Mohamed Taher wrote a note and held it up inside the courtroom.
“Bangs are nice,” the note said.
No one knows for certain why Taher, one of two defendants in a marijuana-trafficking case, wrote the note, although the judge wondered aloud Monday if it was intended for female members of the jury.
“Obviously, the government has grave concerns,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy C. Lynch. “It could have easily been viewed by the jury. We don’t know if it was.”
Lynch, who is prosecuting the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel L. Violanti, said the note, written in block lettering, was clearly displayed for the men and women deciding Taher’s fate.
“It appears he endeavored to influence one or more members of the jury,” he said.
Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny responded to the allegations – the note was spotted by a witness and caught on courtroom surveillance tapes – by revoking Taher’s bail and questioning the jury about what they might have seen.
Skretny said he felt compelled to survey the jury because it wasn’t clear from surveillance tapes if anyone saw Taher’s note.
“Did any of you see the piece of paper that was held up?” Skretny asked them Monday.
None of the jurors said they saw it.
Taher’s defense lawyer said he saw the surveillance tapes but said the note was never recovered. He also pleaded with Skretny to be cautious in how he questioned the jury.
“The more specific it gets, the greater the danger of prejudice,” said defense attorney Rodney O. Personius.
In the end, Skretny allowed the trial to continue and the jury to remain intact.
Taher and co-defendant Kaleel Albanna are accused of taking part in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana and smuggling cash across the border into Canada in 2006 and 2007.
Taher is charged with being a leader of the conspiracy.
email: pfairbanks@buffnews.com
“Bangs are nice,” the note said.
No one knows for certain why Taher, one of two defendants in a marijuana-trafficking case, wrote the note, although the judge wondered aloud Monday if it was intended for female members of the jury.
“Obviously, the government has grave concerns,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy C. Lynch. “It could have easily been viewed by the jury. We don’t know if it was.”
Lynch, who is prosecuting the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel L. Violanti, said the note, written in block lettering, was clearly displayed for the men and women deciding Taher’s fate.
“It appears he endeavored to influence one or more members of the jury,” he said.
Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny responded to the allegations – the note was spotted by a witness and caught on courtroom surveillance tapes – by revoking Taher’s bail and questioning the jury about what they might have seen.
Skretny said he felt compelled to survey the jury because it wasn’t clear from surveillance tapes if anyone saw Taher’s note.
“Did any of you see the piece of paper that was held up?” Skretny asked them Monday.
None of the jurors said they saw it.
Taher’s defense lawyer said he saw the surveillance tapes but said the note was never recovered. He also pleaded with Skretny to be cautious in how he questioned the jury.
“The more specific it gets, the greater the danger of prejudice,” said defense attorney Rodney O. Personius.
In the end, Skretny allowed the trial to continue and the jury to remain intact.
Taher and co-defendant Kaleel Albanna are accused of taking part in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana and smuggling cash across the border into Canada in 2006 and 2007.
Taher is charged with being a leader of the conspiracy.
email: pfairbanks@buffnews.com
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Coast Guard rescues three in disabled boat
Three people were rescued Monday evening by the U.S. Coast Guard after their boat became disabled and began taking on water in the Niagara River not far from LaSalle Park, officials reported late Monday from the external affairs office of the Ninth Coast Guard District.
No injuries were reported.
The Coast Guard watchstander at the Buffalo Station was summoned at about 7 p.m. by the operator of a 23-foot Sea Ray who reported his watercraft was taking on water.
A Coast Guard boat crew from the local station launched a small, 25-foot response boat to the scene at the same time an urgent marine information was broadcast by the watchstander that requested any nearby boaters to provide assistance, if possible, the Coast Guard report stated.
Within about five minutes, the Coast Guard boat crew arrived at the scene of the disabled Sea Ray and were able to bring all three people aboard that vessel to safety on the Coast Guard boat.
Officials said the Coast Guard boat crew was not able to properly operate its dewatering pump aboard the Sea Ray but were able “to control the flooding by shutting down the boat’s engine,” according to the Coast Guard statement.
The rescuing crew were able to tow the Sea Ray to the Erie Basin Marina. There, it was put on a trailer.
Coast Guard officials said none of the three aboard the Sea Ray required medical attention as the result of the mishap.
The names of those involved were not released late Monday.
email: citydesk@buffnews.com
No injuries were reported.
The Coast Guard watchstander at the Buffalo Station was summoned at about 7 p.m. by the operator of a 23-foot Sea Ray who reported his watercraft was taking on water.
A Coast Guard boat crew from the local station launched a small, 25-foot response boat to the scene at the same time an urgent marine information was broadcast by the watchstander that requested any nearby boaters to provide assistance, if possible, the Coast Guard report stated.
Within about five minutes, the Coast Guard boat crew arrived at the scene of the disabled Sea Ray and were able to bring all three people aboard that vessel to safety on the Coast Guard boat.
Officials said the Coast Guard boat crew was not able to properly operate its dewatering pump aboard the Sea Ray but were able “to control the flooding by shutting down the boat’s engine,” according to the Coast Guard statement.
The rescuing crew were able to tow the Sea Ray to the Erie Basin Marina. There, it was put on a trailer.
Coast Guard officials said none of the three aboard the Sea Ray required medical attention as the result of the mishap.
The names of those involved were not released late Monday.
email: citydesk@buffnews.com
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Three-time prisoner pleads guilty to robbery attempt
LOCKPORT – Ricky Q. Caldwell, of Niagara Falls, who has been to state prison three times, is headed back after pleading guilty to attempted third-degree robbery Monday in Niagara County Court.
Caldwell, 48, of Michigan Avenue, admitted to the charge in connection with a theft attempt May 6 at a Family Dollar store on Hyde Park Boulevard in the Falls.
Police said Caldwell loaded up two bags of merchandise and pulled a knife on a clerk who tried to prevent him from leaving the store. He faces mandatory prison time of up to four years when he returns before County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas on Aug. 26. In the meantime, he’s being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Caldwell’s criminal resume includes 27 months in prison for a 1983 first-degree sexual abuse conviction; 30 months behind bars for a 1991 attempted third-degree robbery plea; five years, starting in 1998, for fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance; and 32 months in prison after a 2005 plea to attempted third-degree burglary.
Caldwell, 48, of Michigan Avenue, admitted to the charge in connection with a theft attempt May 6 at a Family Dollar store on Hyde Park Boulevard in the Falls.
Police said Caldwell loaded up two bags of merchandise and pulled a knife on a clerk who tried to prevent him from leaving the store. He faces mandatory prison time of up to four years when he returns before County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas on Aug. 26. In the meantime, he’s being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Caldwell’s criminal resume includes 27 months in prison for a 1983 first-degree sexual abuse conviction; 30 months behind bars for a 1991 attempted third-degree robbery plea; five years, starting in 1998, for fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance; and 32 months in prison after a 2005 plea to attempted third-degree burglary.
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Court upholds conviction in 2009 slaying in Falls
The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the second-degree murder conviction of Tyrome L. Elder in the Nov. 7, 2009, handgun slaying of a Buffalo man.
Elder, 27, of Weston Avenue, Niagara Falls, is serving a sentence of 32 years to life for the shooting of Jacobi L. Lovett, 36, of Stanislaus Street, Buffalo. Lovett was shot in the left thigh as he sat in a green Jaguar on Niagara Avenue in the Falls in what police said was a robbery attempt. The bullet struck Lovett’s femoral artery, and he bled to death.
A Niagara County Court jury convicted Elder of murder and weapons charges in a March 2011 trial, but another jury acquitted a co-defendant, Earl McCoy of Rochester, three months later.
In a two-page ruling, the five-judge appeals court shot down every claim of error made by Elder against the trial judge, Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III.
Elder, 27, of Weston Avenue, Niagara Falls, is serving a sentence of 32 years to life for the shooting of Jacobi L. Lovett, 36, of Stanislaus Street, Buffalo. Lovett was shot in the left thigh as he sat in a green Jaguar on Niagara Avenue in the Falls in what police said was a robbery attempt. The bullet struck Lovett’s femoral artery, and he bled to death.
A Niagara County Court jury convicted Elder of murder and weapons charges in a March 2011 trial, but another jury acquitted a co-defendant, Earl McCoy of Rochester, three months later.
In a two-page ruling, the five-judge appeals court shot down every claim of error made by Elder against the trial judge, Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III.
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Gunshot victim’s body found on East Side porch
Buffalo police are investigating an apparent shooting that took the life of a man in his early 20s, after the young man’s body was found on a porch Tuesday morning in the city’s Langfield Drive-Suffolk Street area.
The body was discovered by a neighbor shortly after 6:30 a.m. on Sun Street, which runs north from Langfield Drive, east of Suffolk, Buffalo police said.
Anyone with information about the killing is asked to call or text the Buffalo police confidential tip-call line at (716) 847-2255 or e-mail the department at www.bpdny.org
The body was discovered by a neighbor shortly after 6:30 a.m. on Sun Street, which runs north from Langfield Drive, east of Suffolk, Buffalo police said.
Anyone with information about the killing is asked to call or text the Buffalo police confidential tip-call line at (716) 847-2255 or e-mail the department at www.bpdny.org
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Four members of drug ring plead guilty to federal charges
Four more members of the Anderson Drug Trafficking Organization pleaded guilty this week to federal charges of selling cocaine in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood.
The latest members of the family-run drug ring headed by Theresa Anderson to admit their guilt are Melvin Calhoun, her husband; Dion Anderson, her son; and Anquensha and Toshia Hodge, two of her daughters.
All four pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine base, joining Anderson and two other family members who previously pleaded guilty.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa M. Marangola said Leo Mellerson, a boyfriend of one of the daughters and the last remaining defendant in the case, also is expected to take a plea deal.
The latest members of the family-run drug ring headed by Theresa Anderson to admit their guilt are Melvin Calhoun, her husband; Dion Anderson, her son; and Anquensha and Toshia Hodge, two of her daughters.
All four pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine base, joining Anderson and two other family members who previously pleaded guilty.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa M. Marangola said Leo Mellerson, a boyfriend of one of the daughters and the last remaining defendant in the case, also is expected to take a plea deal.
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Kensington Expressway attack leads to jail sentence
A Buffalo man will spend up to a year in jail for attacking a woman on the Kensington Expressway, Cheektowaga police announced Tuesday.
Rafael A. Martinez, 56, who pleaded guilty to strangulation and obstruction of breathing, was sentenced Monday by Town Justice Paul Piotrowski.
According to police, Martinez was riding in a car driven by his 48-year-old girlfriend last December. Martinez pressed on the accelerator with his hand, causing the vehicle to speed up, but the 48-year-old woman put the car in neutral and managed to stop it on the Thruway overpass.
When the car stopped, Martinez used a scarf to choke her until she almost lost consciousness, police said. She managed to get out of the car and tried to call police, but Martinez jumped on top of her and tried to throw her into traffic, then over the guard rail.
Cheektowaga Officers William Cookfair and Mark Fatta arrived and arrested Martinez, who originally was charged with strangulation, assault, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
Rafael A. Martinez, 56, who pleaded guilty to strangulation and obstruction of breathing, was sentenced Monday by Town Justice Paul Piotrowski.
According to police, Martinez was riding in a car driven by his 48-year-old girlfriend last December. Martinez pressed on the accelerator with his hand, causing the vehicle to speed up, but the 48-year-old woman put the car in neutral and managed to stop it on the Thruway overpass.
When the car stopped, Martinez used a scarf to choke her until she almost lost consciousness, police said. She managed to get out of the car and tried to call police, but Martinez jumped on top of her and tried to throw her into traffic, then over the guard rail.
Cheektowaga Officers William Cookfair and Mark Fatta arrived and arrested Martinez, who originally was charged with strangulation, assault, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
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Forty pounds of scrap aluminum stolen
LOCKPORT – Aluminum down spouts stored in front of an overhead door at a workshop/garage in the 5600 block of Niagara Street Ext. were stolen sometime between Saturday and Monday.
The garage owner, Chuck Barclay, told Niagara County sheriff’s deputies there was approximately 40 pounds of scrap aluminum, which consisted of brown downspouts with pinched ends, and sections of gutter.
Police were checking scrap metal salvage yards for signs of the missing aluminum.
The garage owner, Chuck Barclay, told Niagara County sheriff’s deputies there was approximately 40 pounds of scrap aluminum, which consisted of brown downspouts with pinched ends, and sections of gutter.
Police were checking scrap metal salvage yards for signs of the missing aluminum.
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