A car has reportedly struck a pedestrian in the parking lot of Tops Market, located at 390 W. Main St. in the City of Batavia. There are injuries. City fire and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 12:59 p.m.: A responder on scene reports there is no damage to the vehicle and the pedestrian is being treated at the scene by Mercy medics.

UPDATE 1:09 p.m.: City fire is clearing the scene. The patient is being taken to UMMC.

A 26-year-old Batavia mother of three young children who was among the first people in the state arrested in 2009 under "Leandra's Law" avoided a felony conviction in that case, reports WHAM 13's Sean Carroll.

Following her conviction on a single count of driving while ability impaired, Michelle Crawford also wasn't required to drive a car with an interlock ignition device.

Crawford was seriously injured in a single-car rollover accident in Byron last week and investigators say charges are pending in that case.

Erie County Judge William Boller who convicted Crawford of DWAI and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, berated Crawford for putting her children in harm's way and then sentenced her to 60 days in jail and probation, according to video in Carroll's report.

At the time of the December 2009 arrest, Crawford's three children were 4, 3 and 17 months old.

"Leandra's Law," named after a little girl killed in a car crash involving an allegedly drunken driver, makes it a felony to drive drunk with children 15 years old or younger in the car.

The law also required anybody convicted of drunken driving to have an interlock ignition -- designed to keep a person who has alcohol on his breath from starting a car -- on any car the person might drive.

Carroll reports that Crawford was convicted of DWI in 2007 and that her license was revoked in 2009.

The car she reportedly drove March 8 was registered to a Batavia man whom Carroll reports Crawford was living with. Carroll said the car's owner was sleeping when Crawford allegedly took the car and he didn't know about the accident until seeing news reports the following morning.

Crawford's children are reportedly living with relatives in Erie County.

Mason Dumbleton, 20, of Pavilion, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, unsafe speed, unsafe lane change and unlawful possession of marijuana. Dumbleton was reportedly involved in a motor-vehicle accident on Route 20A in the Town of Perry at 10:30 p.m., Saturday. Dumbleton's vehicle reportedly left the south side of the road, struck a driveway culvert and a utility pole causing it to go airborne. The car landed on its roof. Dumbleton reportedly suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene.

Daniel Norman Brown, 39, of Lake Street, Le Roy, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Brown is accused of placing a phone call to a person he is barred from contacting. Brown was also arrested the day before, on Sunday, and charged with harassment, 2nd. Brown was accused of grabbing a woman and pushing her down.

Enoch Ronald Cole, 61, of Lake Street Road, Le Roy, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Cole allegedly punched another person in the back.

Kevin James Hodge, 28, of Valley View Drive, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Hodge is accused of stealing $66.21 in merchandise from Kmart.

Kathryn Ann Tordy, 45, of Sheriden Drive, Williamsville, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, improper left turn and failure to keep right. Tordy was stopped at 12:34 a.m. Saturday on Remsen Road, Pembroke, by Deputy Kevin McCarthy.

Daniel Jay Balduf, 20, of Angling Road, Pembroke, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and insufficient tail lamps. Balduf was stopped at 3:35 a.m. Saturday on Angling Road by Deputy Kevin McCarthy.

Danielle Marie Stevens, 35, of Ford Road, Elba, is charged with criminal trespass, 2nd. Stevens allegedly entered and remained unlawfully in a hotel room.

Jill Ann Fulater, 59, of Shepard Road, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving left of pavement markings and improper right turn. Fulater as stopped by Deputy Kevin McCarthy at 4:20 a.m. Sunday on Route 63, Batavia, following a complaint of an erratic driver.

Timothy Ryan McJury, 24, of Madison Street, Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant for petit larceny. McJury was arraigned in Town of Batavia Court. McJury was arrested on a city court warrant for parking violations. McJury was jailed on $1,000 bail.

A 17-year-old resident of Warboys Road, Byron, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, speeding (75 mph in a 55 mph zone) and driving on a junior license (state Class DJ) after 9 p.m. and driving on a DJ license with two or more passengers under age 21. The youth was stopped at 1:13 a.m. Sunday on Buffalo Road, Bergen, by Deputy Timothy Weis.

A car fire is reported on the westbound Thruway at mile marker 400. Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments are responding.

UPDATE 7:07 p.m.: A responder on scene reports "nothing showing."

UPDATE 7:09 p.m.: It appears to be a blown engine, not a fire. All units back in service.

A man accused of taking part in a couple of Batavia burglaries in the early fall was apparently sorely disappointed in the nine-year sentence handed down by Judge Robert C. Noonan today.

Kurt H. Hawkins Jr., 18, who has no permanent address, uttered a mild profanity and refused to sign about a half-dozen orders of protection documents when Noonan had them presented to him.

Noonan warned Hawkins such behavior wouldn't look good on his record at any future parole hearing, but Hawkins slumped in his chair and still refused to sign.

A month ago, Hawkins admitted to burglary, 2nd, and assault, 2nd.

The assault charge stemmed from an attack on an inmate in the Genesee County Jail following his initial arrest.

Noonan noted just before pronouncing his sentence that while Hawkins had no prior criminal history, he had shown a propensity for violence and the attack in the jail was of particular concern.

Noonan also reminded Hawkins that he was lucky, maybe, to be alive.

"I recognize your history and the fact that fortunately nobody was hurt in (the burglaries), but it could have been you (who was hurt)," Noonan said. "A lot of people keep protection in their homes and they would have been perfectly justified under the law to use it. It could have been you dead on the floor of that bedroom."

A woman was reportedly home, alone, in her bedroom when Hawkins entered the house.

Hawkins and his attorney Jerry Ader blamed his conduct on abuse of drugs and alcohol.

"He could have quite a future ahead of him if he just applies himself and avoids drugs and alcohol," Ader said. "Obviously, a prison sentence will help him do that, but it's just a question of how long."

In court, Hawkin's only statement, other than his refusal to sign, was, "I feel bad for the woman when I ran into her."

A 22-year-old Batavia man who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit murder charge well as other felonies will spend from two to six years in state prison, Judge Robert C. Noonan ruled today

Justin Z. Barker, of North Lyon Street, previously admitted to criminal possession of a controlled substance, 5th, and burglary, 3rd, but entered what's known as an "Alford Plea" in the murder-for-hire case, which means he didn't admit to the actual crime, just that he would probably be convicted if the case went to trial.

The burglary charge stems from a 2009 break-in at the Beaver Brothers Restaurant at Darien Lake Theme Park in which Barker and an accomplice got away with more than $7,000 cash. Baker was the driver and got to keep half the cash, according to courtroom discussion today.

The drug charge stems from Barker's arrest June 2 after management at a hotel complained about unpaid hotel guests who wouldn't leave.

Barker's brother, 25-year-old Derrick, fled on foot and was captured in a field across the Thruway from the hotel.

Also arrested June 2 was Benjamin Santiago Jr., 22, of North Lyon Street, Batavia.

Santiago allegedly had 70 bags of heroin in his backpack. A quantity of cocaine was found in the room, too.

Barker's defense attorney, Jerry Ader, sought to make technical clarifications to the record in court. Ader maintained that Barker was in no way involved in the misuse of a credit card involving a person not, apparently, associated with the case, and that Barker did not possess heroin.

Noonan struck the name of the woman with the credit card from the report on Barker, but let the information on heroin stand.

Ader said that such clarifications are important when a prisoner comes up for parole.

The other clarification was the name in the report on the purported target of the murder conspiracy. A woman's name was taken out and Benjamin Santiago's name inserted.

Assistant District Attorney Will Zickl pushed for the maximum sentence available under the plea agreement -- two- to six-years in prison) because of the seriousness of the conspiracy charge and the multiple criminal accusations in Barker's file.

"The defendant has committed or participated in drug crimes, crimes of domestic violence, property crimes, crimes of personal dishonesty and of course, the conspiracy," Zickl said. "I submit the conspiracy was substantial and was frankly quite far along in the process at the time of his plea -- money had exchanged hands."

Ader argued that many of the alleged crimes mentioned by Zickl were not anything Barker admitted doing, and that's why he didn't plead guilty to the other charges.

Ader noted that Barker, who had no prior felony convictions, had been through a series of misfortunes, including the sudden death of a daughter that led Barker to get involved with drugs.

"All of this set him off in a direction that wasn't helping, not helping for the community and not helping for himself," Ader said.

When asked to speak, Barker said, "I regret my actions. I wasn't thinking clearly when I did what I did. I'm sorry for everything I did."

Noonan responded, "Not thinking clearly is a pretty good defense to a lot of things, but it's not a good defense to conspiracy to commit murder. It's absolutely baffling that there could be anything that could make you think your conduct in this case is anything you could lead you to say just, 'I'm sorry.' "

The third member of a trio of men who brutally assaulted a Batavia resident and caused him to lose an eye will spend seven years in prison, Judge Robert C. Noonan ruled this afternoon.

The attorney for Timothy Andrews, 21, of 144 Bank St., Batavia, argued that Andrews didn't enter the apartment with his brother and Christopher Preedom but Noonan said he didn't believe the assertion.

"If you wanted to refute the allegation that you went into the apartment, you should have gone to trial," Noonan said.

Earlier, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said that both the victim's statement and the statement of a witness indicated all three men, including Timothy Andrews, entered the apartment.

"This defendent and his brother beat (the victim) on the front and back of his head with coffee mugs and the victim said he suffered skull decompressions as a result," Friedman said.

As Friedman spoke, Andrews looked back at the 20 or so family members and friends gathered in the courtroom and shook his head, "no."

When Noonan pronounced sentence, several women in the group burst into tears and several people were crying as they filed out of the courtroom after the sentencing.

Andrews told Noonan that whatever sentence Noonan imposed, he would use the time to learn and be a better person, the kind of person he thought he would become when he was little.

"I'm going to learn better skills and get an education," Andrews said. "Whatever I get today is something I'm going to have to accept and move on with my life."

On Dec. 19, Andrews entered a guilty plea to attempted burglary, 2nd, for his part in the attack of a resident of Woodstock Gardens Apartments.

Andrews reportedly said in a probation report that he only went along to protect his brother, 19-year-old Kevin Andrews, because he thought there would be trouble. He reportedly said he knew Christopher Preedom,18, of 21 Holland Ave., Batavia, the lead assailant, was really mad at the victim.

Preedom received a 12-year prison term and Kevin will spend seven years in prison.

The search for the bodies of two missing Oakfield men who presumably mistakenly jumped into the Genesee River will continue this week, according to the lead investigator on the case.

Senior Investigator James J. Newell of Rochester, Troop E, said with the water temperature still low, it's harder to locate the bodies of the two men, but as it warms up later this week, the State Police helicopter will conduct an air reconnaissance.

David King, 54, and Michael King, 46, have been missing since Feb. 19.

Newell said investigators do not suspect foul play and there has been no activities on the cell phones, debit cards or bank accounts for either brother since then and nobody has reported seeing them.

The brothers went missing after David left Strong Memorial Hospital following an a minor accident on the I-390.

David was charged with reckless driving after his car hit a guard rail.

He was transported to the hospital where he was treated and released for minor injuries. David's brothers Michael and Daniel picked him up and drove him back to his car on the I-390.

Newell said Daniel has been interviewed numerous times and his story has remained consistent. He dropped off his brothers and watched them run and jump over the jersey barrier. He didn't see them after that and tried calling their mobile phones several times.

"They checked out of the hospital at 9:03 (p.m.) and there was cell phone activity shortly after that and then none," Newell said. "That would be consistant with their phones going dead."

Newell said the evidence available so far is consistent with the theory that the brothers jumped the barrier without being aware of the river below.

"If you go to that spot at night and there's no street lights, you might think you can jump the jersey barrier and take five or six steps and make it to the other side," Newell said. "You wouldn't realize there's a 70- to 100-foot drop to the river."

Troopers have deployed the helicopter, sonar and divers in an effort to locate the King brothers, including a two-day search with divers, and all search results have been negative, Newell said.

A fully involved car fire is reported in the eastbound lane of the Thruway at mile marker 391.2.

It's unknown if there are any injuries, so Mercy EMS dispatched as a precaution.

Town of Batavia Fire Department dispatched.

UPDATE 7:52 a.m.: The location is just behind the Home Depot off Veterans Memorial Drive. Image Source, New York State Thruway.

UPDATE 8:37 a.m.: Town of Batavia back in service.

A one-car accident is reported on the Thruway at the 48A westbound on ramp. An occupant is complaining of unknown injuries. Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments and Mercy EMS are responding.

UPDATE 7:10 p.m.: A responder on scene says the car has heavy damage and is now in the woods after rolling over numerous times. Responders will have to go eastbound and take the Route 77 overpass to get to the location.

UPDATE 7:16 p.m.: There is one occupant, who was out of the vehicle -- walking, conscious and alert -- when medics arrived. He will be boarded and collared as per protocol and taken to a local hospital. State Troopers are also on scene.

UPDATE 7:29 p.m.: Pembroke and Indians Falls are back in service.

A car-into-pole accident is reported on Fox Road in Oakfield. The driver is not injured. The utility pole is in the roadway, prompting Oakfield Fire Police to shut down Fox at Maltby Road and at Route 262. A Sheriff's deputy is responding. Oakfield fire units are on standby in quarters. National Grid has been notified, no arrival time given.

The plan against Clymer, Elba Head Coach Tom Nowak said, was to play a fast-paced game and wear down the Clymer girls.

"We felt with them not having a lot of depth -- they didn't use a lot of depth during the season -- that we thought we would just try to up-tempo the game a little bit," Nowak said. "We thought that might create some turnovers and down the stretch maybe not be as effective on offense."

The strategy paid off and Clymer was just 3-14 from the floor in the final quarter, allowing the Lady Lancers to pull away with a 53-37 victory and a slot in the state Class D championship final four.

Clymer features some height and athleticism down front, and center Meg Stucko said the Lancers prepared well for what they were going to face.

"We practiced a lot all week for their forwards," Stucko said. "We kind of knew what they were going to do and what we were going to do, so we were ready for it."

Forced turnovers kind of told the story of the game, with Elba's defense taking the ball away a number of times, especially on transitions.

Nowak said, "that's kind of our bread and butter."

Elba is now 23-0 on the season and will face South Kortright (22-0), the state's top-ranked Class D team at 9 a.m. March 17 at Hudson Valley Community College.

"We’re all really excited because we all really want to go to state so bad," Stucko said. "That’s what we’re most excited about, just the chance to be in the state final four is really awesome."

Prints of photos from the game can be purchase by clicking here.

If you can't view the slide show below, click here.

Sparked by Tim McCulley, who scored 21 points, and Doane McCulley, who added 16, the Fighting Irish advanced to the state semi-finals Saturday with a win over Panama in a Western Regional Championship match in Buffalo.

Notre Dame won 62-51.

On Friday, the Irish will face Sackets Harbor in a state semi-finals match at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Photos from the game by Bare Antolos.

Top photo is of Doane McCulley.

Tim McCulley

Jared Thornton

Jared Midwick

Zach Hotze

A "fire explosion" is reported a quarter of a mile west of 2965 Pike Road in Alexander, which is the caller's address. Alexander and East Pembroke fire departments are responding.

UPDATE 8:13 p.m.: A firefighter is on scene and reports he's not sure what's burning there. The location is west of Upton Road.

UPDATE 8:17 p.m.: The firefighter on scene says it's a controlled burn that the fire department will have to extinguish. East Pembroke is put back in service.

UPDATE 9:11 p.m.: The location was determined to be 2929 Pike Road and the incident stemmed from a small rubbish fire. The homeowner has been apprised of new open burning laws and the Alexander Fire Department is back in service.

The Elba Girls Basketball Team won the Western New York Regional Championship match against Clymer High School this afternoon at Finger Lakes Community College with a final score of 53 to 37.

The Lady Lancers now advance to the state semi-finals in a game next week in Albany.

Pictures T/K

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame beat the Section VI champion, Panama, on Saturday by a score of 62-51 and will now advance to the state championship semi-final round.

Doane McCulley was named player of the game.

We anticipate having some pictures from the game to publish later.

Allens Inc., a food-processing company based in Arkansas, has sold four of its six frozen vegetable processing plants, including its Oakfield and Bergen plants, to Bonduelle Group, a privately held firm based in France.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The sale is expected to close by the end of the month.

The four plants employ 400 people. The number employed in just Bergen and Oakfield were not released.

Allens is reportedly using the funds generated by the sale to invest in new technology and expand its canned-food operations in Arkansas, Wisconsin and North Carolina.

"We're excited to put a renewed focus on the core of our business and the market segments we are most passionate about," said Rick Allen, president and CEO of Allens. "With this renewed concentration, we anticipate greater growth, more innovation and even better customer service and product quality. We're excited about what this will mean to the marketplace and to our customers and partners, overall."

The purchase includes the Chill Ripe brand and the frozen Garden Classics brand, as well as a license to use certain brand names owned by Allens in the frozen business for a limited transitional period.

The two Genesee County plants were acquired by Allens in 2006 from Birds Eye.

Sources: Rochester Business Journal and a press release.

In retirement, David Gann still worries about how technology will change law enforcement.

"When I started, an IBM Selectric (typewriter) was state-of-the-art technology and copy machines were still brand-new," Gann said. "Now, pretty soon, we won't have paper files any more. It's interesting to see the transformation going on, but we don't know if we will be able to access these files in 50 years. We still have files in MS-DOS and we don't know how much longer we can access those."

Former colleague Bob Zickl said in a letter recommending Gann for a major award that Gann could always talk "matter of factly about the next great technical or financial catastrophe."

The predilection to fret about looming technical difficulties is only one of the qualities of the former first assistant district attorney that enamored Gann to his colleagues.

He retired from the District Attorney's Office at the end of 2011, voluntarily giving up his position so that nobody else in the office would lose a job to satisfy the county's budget ax.

With his retirement came a statewide award from District Attorney's Association, the Robert M. Morgenthau Award, given to an assistant of the highest professional standards.

It's the first time an attorney from Genesee County received the fairly new honor.

"The greatest honor was just being nominated," Gann said. "To have my professional colleagues recommend me for such an award means a lot to me."

Besides ADA Zickl, backing Gann's nomination was District Attorney Lawrence Friedman, Genesee County Court Judge (and former District Attorney) Robert Noonan, Sheriff Gary Maha, Batavia Det. Charles Dudek and Le Roy Police Det. John Condidorio.

Gann's supporters praised his work ethic, his encyclopedic knowledge of criminal statutes and case law, his even temper (Zickl said he never once heard Gann utter a profanity in 27 years of working together), his ethics and adherence to the law and his desire to see justice done.

Besides handling all felony drug cases, Gann was the DNA expert in the office and handled the DNA portion of all murder trials from January 1997 through March 2010.

The drug work, Gann said was particularly important.

"I don't think we will ever totally eliminate drugs from the community," Gann said. "What we tried to do was make sure the guys who came out here to deal to think twice before doing it. We wanted to chase them inside so they would only deal with people they knew, so they wouldn't feel comfortable with people outside and stay off of street corners."

Condidorio praised Gann's work in helping investigators make cases against drug dealers.

"(Gann has) made a tremendous impact on Genesee County, taking significant drug dealers off the street and making it more difficult for them to spread their poisons to our youth and underprivileged," Condidorio wrote.

Noonan wrote a mock "help wanted" ad as part of his recommendation that demonstrated what big shoes the DA's office will need to fill if there's ever money in the budget to replace Gann.

Among the qualifications -- more than 30 years experience in New York's criminal justice system, scores of grand jury presentations and hundreds of briefs responding to appeals.

The candidate must also have the personal strength to deal with strong-willed police officers dealing with stressful searches in order to guide them toward the proper procedures.

"It is essential that this individual have the personal self-confidence to never gloat about an intellect that exceeds coworkers, lawyers and judges," Noonan wrote.

With the award won and no cases on the court docket, Gann's days and nights are no longer spent fretting over the proper wording of a search warrant application.

He's busy helping out with Friday fish fries at St. James Episcopal Church in Batavia, or reading, or getting out to community events with his wife, Marcia.

The Ganns have no plans to leave Genesee County.

"In Batavia, a small town, everything is smaller scale," Gann said. "You tend to know everybody and that makes it more rewarding to get involved. It's part of what makes Batavia, Batavia."

Gann's biggest plan for retirement is to do more things with Marcia.

"I have a wonderful wife and I enjoy being around her," Gann said. "That's my number-one priority."