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Police identify 4 suspects charged in SWAT team case

June 4, 2013, 4:26 am
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The three men and a woman arrested in a Buffalo Police SWAT team incident Sunday afternoon on Normal Avenue were identified Monday by authorities.

Angel Seda, 22, is charged with weapons assault and menacing counts. She and Edgar Morales, 19; Matthew Coronado, 26; and Keith Gracia, 20, are all charged with endangering the welfare of a child because a 3-year-old girl was in their home in the 300 block of Normal Avenue when the SWAT team was called to deal with an incident there at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The child was not hurt.

The situation broke out after police were called about a group of suspects who stole a bike from another person and assaulting the victim.

When police arrived, the four suspects all ran into the home, and Central District police officers spotted a gun being tossed out a window.

The Buffalo SWAT team was called to the scene, and all four suspects surrendered peacefully.



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Alden couple arrested after domestic dispute

June 4, 2013, 4:27 am
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A 27-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man were arrested by state troopers after a violent domestic dispute in a Town of Alden apartment Sunday morning.

Nadine D. Denzel and Scott M. Taylor were arrested on second-degree harassment charges and ordered to appear in Alden Town Court for further proceedings later this month.

Troopers were called to the Sandridge Road apartment Denzel and Taylor share after getting reports of a loud argument there at about 7 a.m. Sunday. Each apparently assaulted the other after their argument worsened, troopers reported. Denzel had foot and left ear injuries, and Taylor had minor bruising and scratches on his back and shoulder, but both refused medical attention.
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Phone pranksters plead not guilty

June 4, 2013, 8:40 am
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Two 20-year-old pranksters from Plymouth, Mass., who recorded a call from then-Buffalo Bills GM Buddy Nix and his counterpart in Tampa, Fla., last March, were in federal court today in Buffalo to answer charges of illegally intercepting the phone conversation and recording it.

Joshua Barber and Nicholas Kaiser, appearing with their parents, were released on their own recognizance after U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder entered pleas of not guilty for both men. They are scheduled to return to his courtroom Aug. 30.

Kaiser was represented by defense attorney Rodney O. Personius, and Barber was represented by federal public defender Marianne Mariano. Barber claimed a lack of resources to hire an attorney with his $9-an-hour, part-time income working at a deli.

Barber had been calling Nix to seek a tryout to play on the Bills and through a “perfect storm” managed to listen in on a call between Nix and Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM Mark Dominik, according to Personius.

Kaiser, using his cellphone, recorded the conversation off Barber’s phone, which was on speaker, according to the criminal complaint and attorneys.

The six-minute conversation, which focused on the Bills quarterback situation, was later sold to the sports website Deadspin.

email: lmichel@buffnews.com
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Tasered robber who set legal precedent sentenced to eight years

June 4, 2013, 9:00 am
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LOCKPORT – Ryan S. Smith, a Niagara Falls man whose conviction for three violent crimes was overturned because police used a Taser on him to obtain a DNA sample, was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in state prison. He already has served more than half of that time awaiting trial.

Smith, 25, pleaded guilty in March to all 24 counts of the original indictment in exchange for a pledge from Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas that she would sentence him to no more than eight years.

Smith originally was sentenced to 45 years after a jury convicted him in 2009 of three sets of felonies from 2006: two home invasions, one of which included the shooting of a man, and the armed robbery of a convenience store at a gas station.

However, the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court canceled the conviction in March 2012 because police used a 50,000-volt blast from an electronic stun gun to compel Smith to give a DNA sample in September 2008. Smith was in handcuffs and sitting on the floor of Niagara Falls Police Headquarters at the time.

He had given a DNA sample the previous month without incident, but the sample was spoiled by a laboratory worker’s error, and Farkas, without telling the defense, authorized the collection of another sample. The situation was apparently not explained to Smith when he was picked up again.

“I’m guilty. It is what it is,” Smith said Tuesday. “My whole goal all the time was to get home to my family, not to fight in court. I got eight [years], so I think it’s a blessing on my behalf … I came from 45 [years] to where I should have been.”

“In a strange, perverse way, he’s added to the body of law we have in New York,” said court-appointed defense attorney Joseph Terranova, who worked out the plea deal despite Smith’s frequent attempts to fire him.

“The crimes in this indictment are horrific,” said special prosecutor Paul C. Parisi, an Erie County assistant district attorney who took over the case following the appellate court’s ruling,

In the armed home invasions during the summer of 2006, Smith and others bound up children with duct tape, while in the Christmas Eve gas station robbery, a clerk was pistol-whipped and Smith pointed a gun at police who were chasing him.

“This is who this defendant is,” Parisi said.

“This may have reflected who Mr. Smith was at one time. That’s irrelevant at this point,” Terranova said. “I feel Mr. Smith has a tremendous amount of potential. He’s actually quite bright.”

“I don’t know exactly where I’m going, but I’m hoping for better days,” Smith said.

“So you have no interest in being a productive member of society?” Farkas asked.

“That’s not what I said,” Smith replied.

“My concern is that you’re going to be back here, and someone’s going to get hurt in the process,” the judge answered.

“That’s your personal opinion,” Smith said. “I’m not sorry, but I apologize … I don’t know where I’m going, but I’ll get there when I get there.”



email: tprohaska@buffnews.com
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Attorney seeks bail for Falls businessman charged with shooting

June 4, 2013, 11:52 am
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LOCKPORT – A judge said today she will rule June 19 on whether she will permit bail for a Niagara Falls businessman charged with attempted murder.

Defense attorney E. Earl Key sought bail for Timothy C. DePetris, the owner of a Niagara Falls business charged with shooting his brother-in-law, the owner of a rival firm.

Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas had ordered DePetris held without bail at his May 16 arraignment, but today Key asked the judge to change her mind and set bail at $50,000.

Deputy District Attorney Doreen M. Hoffmann opposed Key’s request, calling DePetris “a danger to the community, and he does have assets he could liquidate.”

The prosecutor pointed out that DePetris, who had been living in the hotel at the Seneca Niagara Casino before his arrest, “gambled away $1 million at the casino.”

Key had disclosed that figure at the arraignment.

“The purpose of bail is to assure someone’s appearance at court,” Key said. “He has no prior criminal record.”

Hoffmann said she will submit information about DePetris’ finances to the court.

DePetris, 44, formerly of the Town of Niagara, is charged with shooting his brother-in-law, Sandro Viola, at Integrated Controls USA on Hyde Park Boulevard in Niagara Falls about 1:30 a.m. March 26.

When Viola opened the door, he saw two men who said they were delivering a pizza. Viola hadn’t ordered one, and told police that after he said that, one of the pulled a handgun and fired three shots, one of which struck him in the right shoulder.

Hoffmann said at the arraignment that DePetris thought he had been underpaid in a sale of machinery to Viola’s company. DePetris was owner of the now-defunct Electro-Dyn Choke Corp. of Niagara Falls.

Four days after the shooting, DePetris was arrested in a traffic stop. Police said he had a homemade holster around his neck that contained a pistol, and his vehicle contained a loaded, fully automatic rifle and more than 200 rounds of ammunition.

He allegedly had 16 rifle magazines, six of them taped together in pairs.



email: tprohaska@buffnews.com
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Man sentenced in fatal Cheektowaga shooting

June 4, 2013, 12:31 pm
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Prosecutors wanted a murder conviction. The defense hoped for second-degree manslaughter.

But neither side seemed dissatisfied Tuesday when Dontre Jones was convicted on a charge that fell between those two extremes: first-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting a teenager in a busy Cheektowaga park two years ago.

In a non-jury trial, Erie County Judge Michael F. Pietruszka acquitted on Jones a second-degree murder charge following a three-day trial but convicted him of the lesser charge.

Pietruszka said the prosecution had proven that no one was using deadly physical force against Jones, that he was the aggressor and that he could have safely retreated from the situation.

“Therefore, the defendant was not justified in using deadly physical force,” the judge said.

Jones faces a possible sentence ranging from 5 to 25 years in prison when he’s sentenced manslaughter Aug. 26.

No one disputed that Jones, 18 at the time, fatally shot Ira Watkins Jr., 19, an Erie Community College student and Taco Bell manager who was caught in the gunfire on the evening of May 31, 2011. As many as 75 people had gathered in Cheektowaga Town Park that night.

The shooting stemmed from an argument earlier that day between rival gangs from Humason Avenue and Guilford Street, prosecutors have said. Neither Jones nor Watkins was involved in that dispute.

The question at trial was Jones’ intent, and whether he was justified in the shooting.

Without elaborating, Pietruszka said the prosecution failed to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, the elements of second-degree murder. So he acquitted Jones on that charge.

But he found him guilty of both first-degree manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.

Afterwards, neither side seemed at all upset about the verdict.

James F. Bargnesi, who heads the Erie County district attorney’s Homicide Bureau, was asked whether he was surprised by the judge’s ruling.

“I’m not,” Bargnesi told reporters. “I think this is a reasonable view of the evidence, and we’re satisfied with putting this case to bed after two years.”

When asked about the question of Jones’ intent, Bargnesi said that the distance – the roughly 45 to 60 feet between the shooter and his victim – apparently played a part in the judge’s decision.

“Both sides of that could be argued and were argued during the trial,” said Bargnesi, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant District Attorney Patrick B. Shanahan.

Bargnesi also had high praise for Cheektowaga police, who had to crack open what he called a “very, very difficult case.”

Defense attorney Andrew C. LoTempio said he had hoped for a conviction on only a second-degree manslaughter charge, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

“But we’re not completely dissatisfied with the verdict,” LoTempio told reporters outside the courtroom.

LoTempio did take issue with the ruling on Jones’ intent in the shooting.

“I don’t think my client intended to kill anybody,” he said. “I don’t even think he wanted to injure anybody.”

LoTempio also suggested his client had reason to believe he was at risk of deadly physical force.

“There was an ongoing dispute all spring between these two groups of kids,” he added.

email: gwarner@buffnews.com
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Buffalo man pleads guilty to shaking baby daughter

June 4, 2013, 12:33 pm
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A Buffalo man admitted today that he shook his 7-week-old daughter April 7 in Niagara Falls, causing a potential brain injury.

Jeremy R. Hayes, 24, of Humber Avenue, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted reckless assault on a child. He could be sentenced to as long as four years in prison when he returns before Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas Aug. 28.

The baby girl suffered a subdural hematoma, better known as a brain bleed, Deputy District Attorney Holly E. Sloma said. The incident occurred in a home on Ninth Street in the Falls, where Hayes was then living with the baby’s mother.

“Everything so far, God willing, is looking very good for this baby,” Sloma said. “The subdural hematoma is healing and she’s doing very well … This is a lucky baby.”

After the plea, Farkas cut Hayes’ bail from $100,000 to $5,000. Sloma said that the high bail was set in Niagara Falls City Court because Hayes originally was charged with first-degree assault. She said that with a plea to a much lower charge, $100,000 could be considered “excessive.”

Farkas ordered that Hayes have no contact with the baby. Defense attorney Paul R. Didio said a Family Court proceeding regarding custody is under way.
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Thousands of dollars of cash and casino receipts stolen

June 4, 2013, 1:33 pm
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NIAGARA FALLS – A 78-year old North Avenue man said he left his vehicle unattended in his driveway Monday for a short time and returned to find that more than $7,600 in cash, casino receipts and his Social Security check were taken.

The victim said that he parked his car in his driveway in the 1100 block of North Avenue and discovered later that $2,900 in cash, his Social Securty check and casino receipts were taken from the door of his Buick.

He said several youth were in the yard who were supposed to be cutting the grass, as well as a woman who lived down the street. Police questioned the woman who told police she was in the yard helping the youth get the lawnmower started.

The man said he would be able to cancel his check and casino receipts so they could not be cashed.
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Identity of boy who drowned off Squaw Island revealed

June 4, 2013, 1:43 pm
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The 17-year-old boy who drowned Monday afternoon after he jumped into the cold water of the Niagara River off Squaw Island to save a younger sister was identified by Buffalo Police on Tuesday as Mustafa Ismail of Buffalo.

A Buffalo Police underwater recovery team pulled him out of the water about 4 p.m. and he was declared dead at Erie County Medical Center. His seven-year-old sister, who he had jumped in to save, was pulled out of the water safely by another sister.
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Homeless man imprisoned for grand larceny

June 4, 2013, 2:01 pm
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LOCKPORT – A homeless Niagara Falls man, who was charged with stealing a van, a purse and a wallet between Feb. 9 and 11 was sentenced Monday to two to four years in state prison by Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas.

John R. Malicoat, 38, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny and was ordered to repay the victims a total of $2,521 once he is released.

Farkas said she is recommending Malicoat for an assignment to the state prison system’s secure drug treatment facility, which would mean his parole in six months if treatment is successful. However, she said she doubts Malicoat is eligible because of his prior arrests and convictions.

He snatched a woman’s purse Feb. 9; stole a Dodge Caravan whose keys were left in it at a Pine Avenue gas station Feb. 10, and abandoned it at the Lockport Holiday Inn; and stole a wallet from a shelter agency staffer Feb. 11 and used her credit cards to make $746 worth of purchases.
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Attorney tries to win dismissal of charges in shooting of 2-year-old

June 4, 2013, 2:03 pm
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LOCKPORT – The attorney for Willie R. Scott Jr., a Niagara Falls man charged with shooting a 2-year-old girl in the face as he was allegedly trying to shoot someone else, said Monday he will file a motion to dismiss the charges.

Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III gave E. Earl Key two weeks to do so, and set argument for July 2. But he also scheduled a trial in the case for Sept. 23.

Key contended that prosecutors violated the rules by belatedly giving him a copy of a statement by Timothy Ellison, a witness to the shooting, in which Ellison allegedly said he didn’t see who shot the girl. That was apparently changed in a second statement.

Scott, 32, of LaSalle Avenue, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree criminal use of a firearm. The shooting occurred Nov. 27 as the girl, and a man whom police have said was the intended target, sat in a car outside the Hometown Market on Pierce Avenue in Niagara Falls.

Key charged that Detective Patricia McCune, who took Ellison’s first statement, should have testified before the grand jury. Deputy District Attorney Doreen M. Hoffmann commented that Key hasn’t received the grand jury minutes and doesn’t know who testified. Key wouldn’t say how he knows that McCune allegedly did not take the stand.
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Lockport man charged with Taser possession

June 4, 2013, 2:06 pm
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LOCKPORT – A South Transit Road man pleaded not guilty Monday to an indictment accusing him of having a Taser electronic stun gun at Niagara County Community College Dec. 17.

A security guard reported that she heard an electric zapping sound in an area outside a Tim Hortons on the Sanborn campus. Kenneth J. Ozimek, 45, allegedly told her he had taken the stun gun to NCCC because it was needed for a class he was attending.

However, Assistant District Attorney Theresa L. Prezioso said, investigation showed Ozimek was not enrolled in any class. He was arrested on Christmas Eve and later indicted on a charge of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
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Sex offender draws three years in prison

June 4, 2013, 2:09 pm
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LOCKPORT – Jarad R. Matsulavage, a Lockport man who hid the 14-year-old girl he was having sex with in a closet during a police raid Oct. 11, was sentenced Monday to three years in state prison and 10 years of post-release supervision.

Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III said the girl’s grand jury testimony accused Matsulavage, 19, of injecting her with drugs, although Matsulavage was not indicted on any drug charges. “I never in my life have injected anyone,” Matsulavage said. Murphy said he didn’t believe Matsulavage’s denial.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal sexual act after the hourlong search of his Robinson Road apartment that eventually found the girl.
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Two NT men charged with breaking victim’s jaw twice

June 4, 2013, 2:12 pm
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LOCKPORT – Walter M. Edwards, 29, of Oliver Street, North Tonawanda, was arraigned Monday in Niagara County Court on charges that he and another man invaded a man’s home twice last year and broke his jaw both times.

Assistant District Attorney Theresa L. Prezioso said Edwards and Joseph T. Fago, 19, of Sisson Drive, North Tonawanda, who was arraigned May 22, are charged with entering the North Tonawanda home of Daniel Benchik Nov. 21 and breaking his jaw.

After Benchik reported this to police, Edwards and Fago are charged with returning Dec. 10 in what Prezioso said was a revenge beating, and refractured Benchik’s jaw. On the second occasion, another man present, Santiago Bermudez, allegedly was stabbed in the head with a knife. Bermudez is now dead, but Prezioso said the death wasn’t connected to the knifing.

Edwards and Fago are charged with two counts each of second-degree assault and first-degree burglary, and single counts of third-degree assault, intimidating a witness and criminal possession of a weapon. Edwards’ weapons charge is a felony because he has prior felony convictions; Fago’s charge is a misdemeanor.
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Lockport man pleads guilty to federal drug charges

June 4, 2013, 5:25 pm
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A Lockport man arrested for narcotics trafficking along with 22 other people in August 2010 has pleaded guilty to federal drug charges before U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny, U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul reported Tuesday. He is the 17th defendant to be convicted.

Damian Ard, 32, faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years in prison and a maximum of 40 years and a $5 million fine when he appears for sentencing before Judge Skretny on Oct. 1. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and conspiracy to possess cocaine base with intent to distribute.

Prosecutors said that Ard distributed cocaine base, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, Ecstacy and prescription pills in Lockport from 2009 until his arrest. When police searched Ard’s residence, they reported seizing three guns, ammunition, marijuana in plastic baggies and surveillance equipment.
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Three men and a woman arrested for assaulting police officers

June 4, 2013, 5:29 pm
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Three men and a woman were arrested for allegedly assaulting two Buffalo police officers as they and other officers broke up a fight among a number of people in front of a night club at 1048 Clinton Street about 4:05 a.m. Sunday.

Adriana C. Simpson, 23, of Theodore Street; Dennial Flowers, 27, of Hopeway Drive; Joshua L. Covington, 25, and Gregory Ramos, 21, both of Busti Avenue, were arrested on felony charges of assaulting a police officer and obstructing governmental administration.

Simpson, who is accused of biting the left wrist of Officer Joshua Craig as he was handcuffing her, is also charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly swearing at police officers. Flowers, Covington and Ramos are also charged with resisting arrest and first-degree riot for allegedly fighting with Police Officer Michael Sheu, The officers were treated at Erie County Medical Center after the incident.
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Man charged with pushing female neighbor to ground after punching her

June 4, 2013, 5:32 pm
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A 31-year-old Blaine Avenue man was arrested on third-degree assault and other charges after allegedly punching a neighbor and then pushing her to the ground outside their homes as they argued about 11:50 p.m. Sunday.

Darnell Goodman was also charged with criminal mischief and harassment. The victim told police she had pain in her back and left knee but she refused medical treatment.
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Riverside students arrested in fight that injures officer

June 4, 2013, 5:44 pm
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Three Riverside High School students were arrested for fighting and injuring a police officer Monday morning.

Buffalo Police spokesman Michael DeGeorge said an off-duty officer suffered minor injuries trying to break up a fight among three Riverside students around 11 a.m. Monday. Information regarding the charges and the ages and grades of the involved students was not provided Tuesday.

A teacher at the school stated that a security guard was also injured and that the Buffalo police officer suffered a deep bite on his finger. Both required medical attention. At least one of the involved students had a previous history of violence at the school, the teacher stated.
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Man delayed medical aid for overdosed friend

June 4, 2013, 5:47 pm
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A 19-year-old Lancaster man was charged with blocking medical aid for a friend who had allegedly overdosed on heroin Monday evening in Buffalo.

Conor S. Coffey of Village View, Lancaster, was arrested by police near 200 Amherst Street about 8:15 p.m. after he allegedly took his ailing friend from the parking lot of a supermarket at 345 Amherst Street as a Rural Metro ambulance was approaching to pick up his friend. According to police reports Coffey was trying to give CPR to his friend when the sound of the ambulance sirens prompted him to put his friend in a car and drive down the street until police stopped him. He was charged with one count of obstructing emergency medical service.
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Police restrain woman they say threw brick through window

June 4, 2013, 5:49 pm
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A 24-year-old East Ferry Street woman was physically restrained as she screamed at police who arrested her after she allegedly threw a brick through the front window of another woman in the 900 block of Kensington Avenue at 6:45 p.m. Monday.

Shontell Jones was handcuffed from behind as she fought with officers. She was charged with criminal mischief, harassment and obstructing governmental administration.
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