Bergen

A possible grass fire in two spots is reported in the woods off westbound Route 490 in the area of mile marker 0.9. Bergen and Le Roy fire departments are called to investigate.

UPDATE 12:23 p.m.: Firefighters found five or six large controlled burns. The farmer had notified the Emergency Dispatch Center beforehand about the planned burns. However, authorities decided because of their location, they should be looked at for safety reasons. The responders are back in service. And the property owner, who is actually on Lake Street Road, is "highly agitated" with the situation.

The annual Bergen community picnic was held Saturday in the town park. The event featured live music, games, food and what you would expect to find at a picnic -- pick-up football and basketball games. After sunset, there was a fireworks show.

If you're unable to view the slide show, click here. To purchase prints, click here.

A small brush fire is reported off the eastbound lanes of Route 490. Bergen Fire Department is on scene but since it's determined to be in Churchville's district, that fire department is handling it.

A two-car accident is reported at the intersection of routes 19 and 33. One person is believed to be injured and the accident is not blocking. Bergen Fire Department and Mercy EMS are responding.

UPDATE 4:11 p.m.: A responder on scene reports there are two people injured. One is complaining of head pain and the other has general pain. A second ambulance is dispatched.

UPDATE 4:34 p.m.: One patient is being transported to Strong Memorial Hospital.

UPDATE 4:39 p.m.: The second patient is being taken to UMMC.

UPDATE 4:45 p.m.: Bergen fire is back in service.

A Bergen resident who inflated payroll claims and was convicted by a jury of grand larceny will have to repay at least $3,000, Judge Robert C. Noonan ruled today. But whether she will be required to pay back the remainder of the more than $14,000 her former employer claims she stole is still an open question.

Michele Ann Case, 46, of North Bergen Road, Bergen, may have to pay an additional $7,000, but that question also is yet to be answered.

Case's potential total restitution is complicated by two factors.

First, on the grand larceny charge, the statute only requires the jury to determine the defendant stole at least $3,000, so without reviewing the evidence Noonan cannot order a restitution amount greater than $3,000.

Second, Homecare and Hospice is asking for restitution on the $7,000 it spent in uncovering Case's inflated payroll claims. Noonan isn't sure he has the authority to order restitution for such a claim.

Meanwhile, Public Defender Gary Horton made it clear, Case currently has no resources to repay any amount of money, even the $1,000 deductible on the insurance policy that covered Homecare and Hospice's losses.

When asked by Noonan how much Case could pay in monthly installments, Horton said Case is currently unemployed. Her only income is $600 in child support payments. Her house in foreclosure, the gas and phone have been turned off. The electricity was off, but has been restored.

"Her situation is financially desperate and on the edge of disaster," Horton said. "I can't in good conscience, with her only income coming from child support payments, suggest any amount for installment payments."

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman told Noonan there had been no evidence submitted to substantiate Case's financial condition and he wondered what sort of effort Case has put forward to find a job -- any job -- to help make payments.

Noonan agreed that it was difficult to require Case to make payments from her child support, but also suggested Case needs to find a job. He ordered Case back to court in 30 days to review her ability to make payments.

Meanwhile, Noonan will await the preparation of trial transcripts (necessary for Case's appeal as well) so he can determine if the prosecution submitted sufficient evidence to support a restitution claim of $14,600. 

He also asked Horton to prepare a memo, supported by case law, on why Homecare and Hospice isn't entitled an additional $7,000.

If Noonan determines he can order the additional restitution, there would be a restitution hearing and Horton indicated that Case -- who didn't testify at her criminal trial -- would testify at that hearing on her own behalf.

When Noonan sentenced Case on May 22, he kept her out of prison, he said, for the sake of her two children, age 10 and 15. Case was sentenced to four months of weekends in jail followed by five years probation.

There were several Memorial Day observances throughout Genesee County today.  Here are photos from the Genesee County Park, Williams Park, the VA Center, the Bergen parade, the Batavia parade and the St. Jerome's ceremony.

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

To purchase prints of these photos, click here.

Michele Ann Case, the registered nurse who was convicted by a jury in March of third-degree grand larceny, maintains she never stood a chance at real justice.

This was the overarching message written in a single-spaced, one-page letter the Bergen resident (or former Bergen resident) read before being sentenced this afternoon in Genesee County Court to four months of intermittent jail time and five years probation.

The matter of restitution was held over until next Wednesday morning.

Case was found guilty of submitting inflated mileage claims and fraudulent "call-in" claims whereby $14,650 was diverted from her employer, a hospice care agency. The claims were submitted from January 2009 through January 2011.

Before imposing sentence, Judge Robert C. Noonan noted that the court received a total of 11 letters in support of Case and a slew of emails, too. He said there were also a number of emails showing communications between the emailers and Case.

"Maybe she's convinced herself that she's not guilty, and she's apparently convinced others she's not guilty, but a unanimous jury of 12 found her guilty and she continues to refuse to take responsibility for what she's done," District Attorney Lawrence Friedman told the court.

Public Defender Gary Horton told Noonan he studied the evidence thoroughly and deemed the particulars difficult to understand and likewise the basis on which the claims were made. Horton said his client is "merciful" and has a "history of dedication" and disagreed with portions of the pre-sentencing report.

"I see nothing in Michele Case that indicates she doesn't understand right from wrong -- her sense of right and wrong is highly developed," Horton said, adding that it's not true she that has no conscience, she has a highly developed conscience.

"I do not believe Michele Case had an intention to defraud," Horton said, "...I do not see her as a criminal."

With the exception of a DWI conviction, she has a clean record, Horton said, and in this matter, she misunderstood what she was entitled to claim and the requirements of logging mileage.

When it came time for her to say something on her own behalf, she held forth, detailing all the ways in which she had been wronged.

Wearing brown polyester slacks and a short-sleeved floral knit top, the stout nurse took no prisoners.

In her opinion everyone from Noonan himself, whom she claims ruled inappropriately on a motion and "denied" her defense, and Mr. Friedman "who had it in for me," to the blackballing work supervisor and the "clouded judgment" of Det. Charles F. Dudek of the Batavia Police Department -- each played a role in denying her true justice. Furthermore, the matter was filed purposely in Genesee County because the likelihood she would be convicted here was greater, thanks in no small part to "assumptions" by Dudek and Friedman.

Her letter detailed what "didn't come out at trial": how she stepped up to the challenge of working 70 hours a week when staff was short and the turnover rate was high; how her children's absent father made false statements about her on the record; how she was in an auto accident and yet she was not compensated for the eight days she was absent, moreover, how she was subsequently forced to work for 20 hours despite her injuries; "how hospice really works" and how the organization inflated its findings against her.

As for the record keeping "a real forensic audit was warranted because a computer does not lie."

But in the end "the court only cares about convictions," she said, adding that her's ought to be overturned and a mistrial declared. She indicated she hopes to raise the funds to appeal.

This was a case for the State Labor Board and it should have been left to the State Labor Board, according to Case.

Still, she can take comfort in the many cards and letters from patients and supporters who she said "are dear to my heart."

"I was wrongfully accused of a crime I didn't commit," she told the court, and in the wake she can't find a job, is losing her house, suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome and her two children, ages 10 and 15, are devastated. "I cannot move on with my life."

When she finally finished, Noonan said he would first specify what this case is not about.

"It's not about your nursing skills, or your strong work ethic, as evidenced by the letters and emails," Noonan said. "You should sit back and ask yourself how of all the people responsible for your conviction, there's only one person who has not had a hand in it and that's Michele Case.

"The evidence clearly, clearly indicates you were enhancing your income by the documents submitted. You pumped up the documentation. Perhaps you needed more income. You should reflect on that."

And so the judge decided "some incarceration is appropriate" but "because of the children," it should be intermittent in 48-hour intervals, beginning this Friday at 6 p.m. Case was also told of four orders of protection against her and told that during her probation she cannot hold a job or otherwise be in a position to exercise fiduciary responsibility.

A car fire is reported at Route 19 and the railroad tracks in the Village of Bergen. Bergen Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 12:48 p.m.: The owner of the vehicle called dispatch and said the car is not on fire it has just overheated. Engine 27 is on location to check things out nonetheless.

UPDATE 12:51 p.m.: A firefighter confirms the car is overheated. Engine 27 is back in service.

Press release:

Assistant County Manager Frank Ciaccia announced he is retiring after 20 years with Genesee County government.

His retirement is effective May 30.

He stated his decision to retire was motivated by his desire to escape these Western New York winters and spend more time in warmer climates to enjoy the outdoor activities and sports he says are too hard to squeeze into three months up here with his present schedule.

He explained, "I am retiring more from the winters than I am from the job."

He also said this will give him more time to visit his brother and his nieces and nephews in Tennessee.

Mr. Ciaccia said while his current position is challenging, he wants to pursue new challenges. One of those challenges is he has accepted an appointment to teach a graduate course in Public Policy and Administration at Buffalo State starting in the Fall semester. He said he is "pretty excited" about starting a new career of teaching at the college level.

Mr. Ciaccia, a Bergen resident, is Genesee County's first and only assistant county manager.

He came to Genesee County in 1992 after 15 years in Monroe County government. With his election to the Rochester School Board in 1972, he is completing a 40-year career in public service.

In addition to his responsibilities as assistant county manager, Mr. Ciaccia is also the county's STOP-DWI coordinator, director of the county's Facilities Management Department, the county's ADA coordinator, fair housing officer and corporate compliance officer. 

County Manager Jay Gsell said he will begin the process to fill Mr. Ciaccia's position.

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,I,C-Batavia) recently announced the recipients of this year’s Public Library Construction Grants. More than $327,000 has been committed for projects at the Byron-Bergen, Lee-Wheldon Memorial and Swan libraries, serving as sorely needed support for facility improvements. 

“In a time of staggering unemployment and fiscal crisis that is crippling our educational institutions, these library construction grants will be a boon for the community,” Hawley said.

“Our local libraries deserve the support necessary to provide up-to-date tools and services to the public, and that’s exactly what these grants will do. I know these libraries will put this funding to great use and become an even more integral part of our community.”

In Genesee County, the Byron-Bergen Public Library will receive $7,325 to open the wall via a French door to provide easy and secure access to an additional programming and educational resource space, thereby increasing the effectiveness of library service.

A controlled burn is apparently out of control at 873 Johnson Road in Bergen.

Bergen Fire Department is responding.

Mutual aid requested from South Byron, Le Roy and Churchville.

Approximately one-half acre is burning.

UPDATE 12:05 p.m.: Grass truck from Chili requested to the scene. A chief says the fire is going pretty good, but current response should be sufficient.

UPDATE 12:16 p.m.: Chili response cancelled.

UPDATE 12:20 p.m.: Stafford requested to standby in the Stafford Hall as a fill-in for Le Roy while Le Roy is on scene in Bergen.

UPDATE 12:35 p.m.: Stafford back in service. Le Roy returning shortly.

UPDATE: Bergen was back in service at 1:06 p.m.

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A teenage boy was assaulted and suffered a head laceration at Byron-Bergen Central School. Sheriff's deputies are responding along with Mercy medics. The bleeding is controlled now. The student is in the art room.

The school is located at 6917 W. Bergen Road in Bergen.

UPDATE 3:17 p.m.: The student is 16 years old and he is being transported to United Memorial Medical Center. He has a 6 centimeter slash (which is 2.36 inches) in the back of his head. He is alert and oriented and suffered no loss of consciousness.

A car has reportedly hit a pole in the area of 7404 W. Bergen Road, Bergen.

Injuries are reported.

Bergen Fire Department and ambulance along with Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 3:55 p.m.: One patient complains of a hand injury.

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A Batavia resident suffered a minor injury in an accident Friday on Route 33 in Bergen after another car reportedly pulled in front of her car.

Hurt was Kelly J. Poole-Davis, 39, of North Lyon Street, Batavia. She was taken by ground ambulance to UMMC.

The other driver, Loretta E. Miller, 71, of Buffalo Street, Bergen, was uninjured, but was issued a traffic citation.

According to Deputy John L. Baiocco, Miller said she was exiting the Sugar Creek parking lot and never saw Poole-Davis's car. Miller was attempting to make a left-hand turn onto Route 33.

On the way out of Bergen this morning I spotted this horse eating dandelions in front of one our area's more attractive barns, so stopped and made this picture.