batavia

A young black male, possibly Hispanic, was the subject of a police pursuit after a caller told dispatch he was observed stealing gas cans from a residence on West Main Street Road and attempting to fill up a maroon two-tone pickup truck with gasoline.

He's now in custody after he hopped a fence at the Batavia Meadows apartment complex and ran behind Valu Plaza, jumped into the Tonawanda Creek and climbed up the other side.

He dropped something along the way and law enforcement is looking to recover it, possibly a blue duffle bag and some other sort of bag.

He's said to be wearing blue jeans, a black coat with yellow on the sleeves, and a black hat.

He was captured after he went up Meadowcrest Drive and "he is looking at felony charges." Multiple law enforcement units responded to the call.

Nicole M. Bilby, 26, of 3476 W. Main St. Road, Batavia, is charged with trespass and resisting arrest. Bilby was allegedly unruly and disruptive while at the Batavia PD at 9:05 p.m., Friday. Officers directed Bilby to leave several times and she allegedly refused to leave. When taken into custody, Bilby allegedly resisted arrest. Bilby was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Joshua L. Baltz, 36, no residence provided, is charged with criminal contempt, 1st, endangering the welfare of a child and harassment, 2nd. Baltz is accused of offensive conduct in violation of an order of protection. Baltz allegedly called the protected person derogatory names and postured in a threatening manner. A child was reportedly present at the time. Baltz was jailed on $5,000 bail.

Rae C. Cook, 23, of 218 Ellicott St., upper, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Cook is accused of threatening and pushing another person while at UMMC at 3 p.m., Saturday.

Tasshire T. Brown Sanders, 18, of 7 Caffery Place, Rochester, is charged with disorderly conduct. Brown Sanders is accused of standing in front of a residence on Oak Street and shouting obscenities and refusing to leave the area.

Eric D. Mancuso, 18, of 20 Woodrow Road, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Mancuso was allegedly found in possession of marijuana during at traffic stop at 10:33 p.m., Saturday, by Sgt. Dan Coffey.

Dan'l R. Fischer, 35, of 139 Jackson St., Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant after allegedly failing to appear for a court date. Fischer was incarcerated in the Livingston County Jail at the time of his arrest.

Jeffrey Lynn Hayes, 48, of Meadow Circle, Avon, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th. Hayes was turned over to the Sheriff's Office on an arrest warrant out of Town of Byron Court.

The first part of the old farmhouse at 7694 Batavia Stafford Townline Road was built before the Civil War. Today, all of those years became ashes in a controlled burn conducted by the Town of Batavia Fire Department that capped a morning training session at the structure.

Firefighters showed up at the former Dorman family farmhouse early this morning and conducted several interior firefighting exercises.

Town of Batavia Fire First Assistant Chief Nathan Fix said some of the fires really got going, and all were knocked down by interior firefighters in training.

"We had fireman who got to see real fire in real conditions for the first time," Fix said. "We had at least 10 firefighters here who never experienced real fire, real heat, before."

Volunteers from Batavia as well as Bethany, Byron, Bergen, Corfu, South Byron, Oakfield and Elba all participated in the morning exercises.

Bergen's ladder truck was then set up in position to help contain the anticipated inferno, as well as a handful of charged fire hoses, then using road flares, Fix set the structure on fire.

Once the house was ablaze, the firefighters were give a chance to do something that never happens at a real fire scene -- pose for a group photo in front of the burning building.

It took more than an hour for the structure to be completely consumed.

Mark Hare, who was about 5 when his family moved into the house in 2000, made a video of the destruction of his childhood home while his mother, Dawn Hare, looked on. Andy Hare, a retired city firefighter, is in Georgia and couldn't be here for the fire. The Hares' daughter is also out of town.

The Hares built a new home on the hill behind the old farmhouse two years ago, and it's now for sale.

Dawn said the whole family was sad to see the old house go, but it had to be done. The structure had numerous deficiencies and had deteriorated beyond repair. Even when the Hares lived in it, there was no heat on the second floor, the kitchen sink backed up every winter and the electric was out of date.

Fix said it took him six months of work to get all of the proper permissions to burn down the structure, including insurance letters, letters from every utility company that ever serviced the house, the Hares themselves and the DEC.

Since all of the proper paperwork was only recently completed, and it's the onset of winter, the fire department decided to do all of its training and the final bonfire in a single day.

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here. 

There are 10 black and white photos in the slide show. They were shot with a Nikon F4 and Illford XP2 film.

To purchase prints of these photos, click here.

A motor-vehicle accident has been reported in the area of 56 River St., Batavia.

Two vehicles involved with air bag deployment. An elderly woman has a complaint of nose pain.

Batavia fire and Mercy EMS responding.

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Town of Batavia fire is on scene of what started as an automatic alarm of fire, but upon arrival there was smoke in the building.

No flames have been reported at this point.

The location is on Route 98, but we didn't get details on the original dispatch ("alarm of fire" is pretty much always a false alarm).

Town of Batavia's ladder truck is out of service, so Le Roy's ladder is responding mutual aid.

Oakfield is requested to the Town of Batavia fire hall to fill in.

Crews are investigating the structure and there is a smell of smoke at the front of the building, but nothing has been found yet.

UPDATE 6:20 p.m.: Source located (didn't hear what it is), but all units still responding can back it down to non-emergency mode.

UPDATE 6:25 p.m.: Le Roy and Oakfield back in service.

UPDATE 6:31 p.m.: Burned out electrical strip. No damage to the structure.

When I interviewed retired State Police Investigator Leo Hunter for an article on his career and his family, Leo told me a secret and made me promise not to include it in the story: He and his fiancé Dawn Rindel were going to get married at the end of the retirement ceremony.

Judge Robert C. Noonan, who MC'd the retirement party and then officiated the wedding, quipped that Hunter didn't do a very good job at keeping a secret. At least half of the 300 or so people at the party at the Clarion Hotel on Friday night knew what was coming.

With all of Hunter's six children, his sisters and many friends present, Hunter and and Rindel exchanged vows and were pronounced by Noonan husband and wife.

After the service, each of Leo's children spoke briefly and said how proud they were to have Dawn as part of their family now and thanked their father for being a great dad.

A State Street resident involved in a brief standoff with police after he allegedly fired a shot from a .357 magnum in his rooming house is facing three criminal charges.

Dennis G. Wolfe, 51, of 218 State St., Batavia, is being held without bail on charges of criminal possession of a weapon, 3rd, reckless endangerment, 1st, and menacing a police officer.

Officers responded to 218 State St. at 3:52 p.m. after receiving two 9-1-1 calls from neighboring tenants who said they heard a single gunshot from inside the building.

Within minutes, Wolfe was located in room #10 and the responding officer radioed for backup, reporting that Wolfe was holding a gun.

According to police officials, Wolfe allegedly pointed the gun alternately at himself and a police officer.

After about 15 minutes of negotiations, Wolfe was convinced to drop the weapon.

According to police, Wolfe was involved in an ongoing dispute with a neighbor and was being evicted from the rooming house as a result.

Nobody was injured in the incident.

The investigating was conducted by Sgt. John Peck, Det. Paul Caffo, Det. Todd Crossett, Det. Kevin Czora, officers Thad Mart, Kevin DeFelice, Matt Lutey and Jamie Givens.

Also responding to the scene were deputies and troopers.

There are numerous locally owned shops in Genesee County that are ready to lift your spirits this holiday season, including our locally owned liquor stores.

Our locally owned businesses give to the community all year long. During the holiday season is a time to give back by keeping your hard-earned dollars in our local community and shopping locally as much as possible for your gift and entertaining needs.

Above, Christine Crocker, owner of YNGodess.

Chris Blossom, West Main Wine and Spirits

Priya Rathod, Mr. Wine and Liquor

A standoff is in progress wherein Batavia police are on scene at 218 State St. and a man with a gun is in Room 10, refusing to come out. Not long ago a caller to dispatch reported hearing a gunshot, possibly from a .357-caliber weapon, in that area.

City traffic on State Street is being stopped at North Street and Fairmont Avenue.

UPDATE 4:08 p.m.: The subject is now in custody. Police in the area will remain in place until it can be confirmed that the building is clear.

UPDATE 4:14 p.m.: The traffic stops are cleared and the roads reopened.

UPDATE 4:52 p.m. (by Howard) : The man who allegedly had the gun -- his name has not been released yet -- will likely be charged with reckless endangerment, according to Chief Shawn Heubusch. The suspect is at the police station being questioned by detectives.

Investigators on scene were also taking evidence kits into the building, but Heubusch said there are no details available on what kind of evidence they might be gathering.

Nobody was hurt in the incident.

When police officers arrived, Heubusch said, they found a man holding a gun and managed to talk him into surrendering the weapon.

He characterized the officers' work as exemplary.

"The officers did exactly what they needed to do protect themselves as well as all the other residents of this building as well as the suspect," Heubusch said.

UPDATED, 3:56 p.m.

A NYS Supreme Court Justice has stayed the five-year prison term of Jacquetta Simmons pending an appeal of her sentence. The 27-year-old Batavia woman was convicted of punching a 70-year-old Walmart cashier a year ago Christmas Eve.

Simmons can be released from prison on either $50,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond or other security.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman and ADA Melissa Cianfrini appeared in the chambers of Associate Justice Rose Sconiers, Appellent Division, 4th Department, this afternoon to argue against defense motions in the case.

Friedman said Sconiers isn't required to offer a reason for issuing the stay, but the argument that seem persuasive to her was the defense contention that Simmons' sentence was overly harsh.

Three attorneys represented Simmons, Friedman said, and argued that no other first-time felony offender convicted of second-degree assault in Genesee County since 2006 has received a prison term.

Two of the attorneys for Simmons said this afternoon that there were several reasons they believe the sentence was overly harsh, including all of the arguments raised by Attorney Ann Nichols in her statement to Judge Robert C. Noonan at the sentencing.

Among the factors -- she said she believes Noonan should have given more weight to Simmons' lack of documented encounters with the law, her college education, her steady employment, her volunteer work in the community and the broad range of support from "people who actually know her."

Attorney Earl Key added, "There are lots of things in our report that were raised at sentencing, but we put the law behind them and really detailed the law on what harsh and excessive is."

The defense team is also pursuing an appeal on the conviction of Simmons, and still believe they can get the conviction overturned, but Key said they led off today with the issue of the sentence.

Friedman said he and Cianfrini could have argued the case over the phone, but went to Buffalo to represent the people of Genesee County and the victim, Grace Suozzi, in person, rather than let only the defense appear in chambers.

The defense has until May 31 to finalize its motion and present its legal briefs.  Assuming Simmons makes bail, she could be out of prison until a ruling on the motion is issued.

Key said the actual order by Sconiers hasn't been signed yet, and until he has it in hand, he declined to discuss the process by which Simmons might be released from prison.

It's "all about the Beef" Saturday, Dec. 1, at Batavia Downs where there will be a benefit for popular and beloved youth sports coach James "Beef" Soggs.

He is ill and needs assistance with his medical bills.

Admission to the event, to be held in the Paddock Room, is $20 and you get $10 in free casino play upon entry.

Time is 7 to 11 p.m. and music will be provided by Unruly and venue DJs.

Attendees will get a chance to win an overnight stay at the Clarion Hotel in Batavia, a buffet meal for two at the clubhouse, and $25 in free casino play. There will also be basket raffles.

Food will include pizza and wings, pasta and meatballs, and salad.

Donations are most welcome!

The eighth race will be dedicated to Beef and a family picture will be taken.

Batavia Downs is located at 8315 Park Road in Batavia.

A Batavia resident was stopped by members of the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force while driving in Alabama on Thursday evening and allegedly found in possession of heroin and cocaine.

Joe C. Wind, 42, of Horseshoe Lake Road, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument.

Investigators allegedly found a needle with suspected heroin residue, a bag containing suspected heroin, a bag containing suspected cocaine and a glass pipe containing suspected cocaine residue.

Wind was issued an appearance ticket and released.

Uniformed deputies assisted in the traffic stop.

Raymond Lee Leach Jr., 55, of Montclaire Avenue, Batavia, is charged with aggravated sexual abuse 3rd. Leach is accused of jamming a toothbrush into the rectum of another Genesee County inmate while that person was sleeping. Bail on the new charge was set at $10,000.

John Thomas Jaccoud, 40, of Hutchins Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Jaccoud is accused of stealing from Darien Lake Theme Park while employed at the park.

Brad C. Doward, 23, of 10 Hall St., Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Doward is accused of violating a stay-away order of protection. Doward allegedly went to the residence of the protected party and called that person on the telephone.

Melissa G. Betances, 31, of 189 1/2 Pearl St., Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Betances is accused of violation an order of protection by contacting the protected party via text message.

Nicole E. Reilly, 19, of 10483 Bethany Center Road, Bethany, and Jennifer L. Judkins, 18, of Albion, are charged with petit larceny. Reilly and Judkins allegedly stole merchandise from Dollar General on East Main Street, Batavia.

Of course you can find great gifts in locally owned stores, and at prices you can afford.

Above, Rich Mortellaro and Doug Barnard of R&D Outlet Center.

Guy Clark, Cedar Street Sales and Rentals.

Barbara Rumsey and Jeanne Walton, the Artisan Shop @ The YWCA (Barbara is one of the local artisans whose work is available for purchase at the store).

 

A woman at Walmart says a car ran over her foot while she was in the parking lot.

Initially, she refused an ambulance response, but her father, at another location with a police officer, insisted that an ambulance respond to Walmart.

The suspect vehicle has apparently been located on Route 63.

A small grass fire was reported in Kibbe Park and city firefighters are on scene. It was seen behind the pavilion. A fire chief requested police to respond. The park is located at the end of Kibbe Avenue, off Oakland Avenue.

Last night, another fire like this was reported in Kibbe Park, not far from today's blaze.

Batavia PD is seeking assistance in identifying the man in this photo. He is a possible suspect in Tuesday's robbery of the Dollar General on East Main Street.

The suspect is described as a light-skinned black male, approximately 6-feet tall, wearing blue jeans and a dark Carhartt-style coat.

Anyone with information can contact the Batavia PD, Det. Todd Crossett at 345-6353, or 345-6350.

Margaret Brisbane told Trumbull Cary some time prior to 1817, if you're going to marry me, you're going to build me a mansion.

So the man who founded the Bank of Genesee and served as a NYS Senator and Batavia's first treasurer, built a mansion.

And it stood for nearly 150 years as one of Batavia's grandest structures, until the board of St. Jerome's on only about 30-days notice in 1964 tore the building down, stealing from Batavia another piece of its heritage.

Today, the once-handsome mansion and the man who built it were commemorated with a plaque on the former mansion site. The marker was paid for by the William C. Pomeroy Foundation.

Sallie Fogarty, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Trumbull and Margaret Cary was in Batavia for the dedication of the market (pictured above with City Historian Larry Barnes).

Prior to the dedication, Barnes told the assembled audience in the Go Art! building (the former Batavia Club and first permanent home of the Bank of Genesee) about Cary and his mansion.

Cary, born in 1787 in Mansfield, Conn., moved to Batavia in 1805 at age 18 to seek his fortune. He went to work for the post office, served as clerk for James Brisbane, and eventually became Batavia's postmaster.

Later, he became a local merchant and began to build his fortune.

He helped found St. James Episcopal Church.

In 1833, he helped finance the Tonawanda Railroad, the first rail line to serve Batavia.

The Carys -- Trumbull died in 1869 and Margaret in 1863 and both are buried in Batavia Cemetery --  had one child who survived into adulthood. His grandson was the last Cary to live in the mansion.

Fogarty traces her family tree back to this second Trumbull Cary, who died in 1913, and his first wife, Grace Truscott, who died in 1882.

Harry E. Turner (H.E. Turner Funeral Home) purchased the mansion in 1922.

On the demands of George Cary, brother of the second Trumbull Cary and a prominent architect in Buffalo, Turner sold it back to the Cary family. 

George Cary was determined to turn the mansion into a tourist destination owned by the city. He paid for restoration and set up a board to oversee its operation and then deeded the property to the city. After the operations ran into some financial trouble two years later, the city established a commission to determine what should be done with the mansion. The commission determined it could be run profitably, but the city council voted to give the property back to George Cary in 1936.

The property was rented by various businesses over the years and ownership passed from George Cary to his daughter Allithea Lango, Boston, Erie County.  Local businesses that had space in the mansion included Pontillo's and Valle Jewelers.

Lango sold the mansion to St. Jerome's in 1959. The hospital began building a nursing school on the back of the property and then with very little notice decided to tear down the mansion to expand the nursing school.

The board said the building was in a "dangerous" condition and had be demolished immediately. Batavia residents were given no time to weigh in on the demolition.

The nursing school closed in 1982. The building is now called Cary Hall and is owned by UMMC.

Last year, UMMC acquired the neighboring property, the former location and of the Elks Lodge building, and with little notice to the community, tore that building down.

Town of Batavia crews are still working to repair a water main break on Ellicott Street Road at Shepard Road.

The break was discovered around 5:30 a.m. when a worker noticed gauges at the water plant were giving unsatisfactory readings. He went for a drive and found a bulge in the ground at the location of the leak.

There is no ETA for the repair to be completed.

Some residents in the area are without water and others have low water pressure.UP

UPDATE: Water service is restored.