Stories from

Le Roy Police have arrested a 31-year-old village resident suspected of child sexual abuse.

Gregory A. Jones, of 34 Main St., Apt. #1, Le Roy, is charged with two counts of predatory sexual assault against a child, a class A-II felony.

The alleged victim is under 13 years old.

Included in the predatory sexual assault charge are accusations of a criminal sexual act, 1st, formerly known as sodomy, and coarse sexual conduct against a child, 1st.

The alleged crimes occurred over an 11-month period at his residence on Main Street.

The investigation was conducted by Det. John Condidorio and the Department of Social Services.

Jones was jailed without bail.

Assisting in the case were the Genesee County Advocacy Center, the District Attorney’s Office and the New York State Police Computer Forensic Unit.

A driver who hit a car that stalled on Reuben Road, Alabama, after it ran out of gas, said that he looked down at his radio just before he came upon the car and didn't see it in time to stop.

Two people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the accident.

Jason G. Moneau, 33, of Summit Street, Batavia, was driving a 1991 Dodge sedan at 10:02 p.m., Friday, when he hit a car which had pulled to the side of the road in the area of 7415 Reuben Road.

A passenger of the parked car, Mae E. Hryhorenko, 30, was transported to UMMC.

Moneau was transported by ground ambulance to Erie County Medical Center.

The accident was investigated by Deputy Jason Diehl.

A handwritten note on the investigation report says, "traffic charges are pending."

A 21-year-old Lyndonville resident is charged with DWI following a one-car accident early Tuesday morning on the I-490 off-ramp in Le Roy.

Police say Alyssa Brianne Sprague was driving too fast and moved from her lane unsafely when her 2004 Chevy sedan struck the guardrail on the off-ramp, continued onto Vallance Road, spun and struck another guardrail.

Sprague was not injured in the crash.

She was, however, charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater.

The accident occurred at 1:19 a.m. and was investigated by Deputy Frank Bordonaro.

One person was injured when a car struck a deer on Bennett Road in Darien at 8:26 p.m., Monday.

Taken to UMMC with non-life-threatening injuries was 17-year-old Brittney N. Torrey.

Torrey was a passenger in a car driven by 20-year-old Matthew S. Shaffer, of Harvester Avenue, Batavia.

Neither Shaffer nor an infant in the car, Isabella A. Torrey, were injured.

No citations were issued.

The accident was investigated by Deputy Jason Diehl.

Two people were injured in a crash Monday afternoon near the intersection of routes 33 and 19 when an eastbound car reportedly turned left in front of a westbound car.

The driver of the first car, Laura A. Squier, 45, of Brasser Drive, Rochester, was cited for allegedly failing to yield the right of away.

The Sheriff's Office accident report says she was injured, but does not say what hospital she was taken to.

The driver of the other car, 54-year-old Robert J. Jurewicz, of South Swan Street, Batavia, was transported to UMMC with non-life-threatening injuries.

The accident was reported at 3:47 p.m.

It was investigated by Deputy Jason Diehl.

While the acquittal of Scott Doll on a promoting prison contraband charge is surprising, said Sheriff Gary Maha, he remains confident that it was Doll who brought a balloon filled with aspirin into the Genesee County Jail on May 20.

"You never know what goes on in a jury's mind," said Maha. "Who knows, maybe they felt sorry for him because he's been convicted of murder and they thought, 'what's this silly little charge?'"

The implication of the defense was that a member of the Sheriff's staff provided Doll with the powdered aspirin. It's a notion that Maha rejects, saying that all of the officers who came into contact with Doll the day he was convicted of killing Joseph Benaquist are professionals who know the regulations.

"We might have to look at the particulars and do some review," Maha said. "We might need to remind our guys to do a more thorough search of incoming inmates."

The initial report released by the Sheriff's Office said that Doll had the green balloon of white powder concealed on his body. But the only evidence introduced at trial was that the first time anybody saw a balloon was when it was sitting on a holding cell bed and Doll was already covered in white powder with more on the floor and the sink.

Maha said he was told from the beginning that the balloon was found on Scott Doll. He said he would ask his investigators about the discrepancy.

He doesn't believe, however, that any policies or procedures need to be changed. The fact that Doll wasn't convicted is more a matter, he indicted, that defense attorney Dan Killelea did a good job of creating reasonable doubt.

Maha agreed with Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl's closing argument that if any department official was going to give Doll aspirin, why crush it up first? Why not just hand him a bunch of tablets?

"There's no possible way one of our guys gave it to him," Maha said. "That's totally ridiculous. I think he (Killelea) probably wanted to create doubt.

"As far as I know," Maha added, "we did everything right. It should have been a slam-dunk."

Inset photo: File photo of Sheriff Gary Maha.

A light pole is reportedly down at Ellicott and Court streets, Downtown Batavia.

UPDATE 3:27 p.m.: It looks like age and wind did this pole in. City crews are on scene getting it removed.

One person suffered minor injuries in an accident Saturday at the intersection of Park Road and Veterans Memorial Drive.

The apparent cause of the accident was one driver pulling out from a stop sign who did not see the other car approaching.

Aaron N. Holley, 16, a passenger in the second vehicle, was transported to UMMC for a report of pain.

The driver of the first vehicle, D.C. Chamberlain, 16, of Route 20A, Perry, was cited for alleged failure to yield.

The driver of the second vehicle was Allen Peters, 31, of Durham Street, Rochester.

Holley was the only reported injury.

The accident occurred at 7:32 p.m.

(initial report)

This fine group of people are residents at 400 Towers. They came out today for a little lunchtime talk about The Batavian. They asked a few questions and talked about how they get their news. Bea McManis, in the back row with The Batavian sweatshirt on, organized the event and said very nice things about the site, its news and its readers.

There was a two-car accident at the corner of Main and Jackson, Batavia, this morning.

One person was taken to UMMC, as a precaution, with a complaint of chest pain.

Since the Batavia Daily News is not likely to run this correction themselves, we'll run it for them.

In the Daily's story about Chris Charvella's arrest, there is this paragraph:

"Charvella responded with an additional blog, according to state police. It included the comment 'I'm going to travel around the district and puncture Republican tires.'"

There are multiple problems with this one short paragraph.

First, the context is though Charvella is responding to events in November. But the quote above is from June 2. It was not a response to anything regarding election signs in November.

Second, it is not "an additional blog." A blog is a website with multiple entries on it. A blog post is an item posted on a blog. People can comment on blog posts. These are called comments.

In this case, Chris left a comment on a blog post. And there was nothing "additional" about it in context of current events. The comment had nothing to do with the sign issue and was not directed at Jay Grasso.

Third, the comment did not appear on Charvella's personal blog, as the story would lead you to believe. It was posted on The Batavian (something, of course, the Daily could never admit).

Fourth, it's completely out of context. Here's what Chris wrote:

Charlie, I'm going to do what any political hack worth their salt would do. Starting at midnight on November 2nd, I'm going to travel around the district and puncture Republican tires :)

Note, the emoticon at the end -- a clear signal, it's a joke, but the emoticon was not included in the Daily's quote.

UPDATE: As of 10:08 a.m., without acknowledging the error or putting the comment in context, the Daily has removed the paragraph from its story completely. It's possible, considering the timing, it may still appear in the print story.

For our previous coverage:

• Local Dem arrested after Republican legislator accuses him of harassing phone call
• DA's office moving forward with political harassment charge, but new judge needed first

There is a disabled school bus partially blocking traffic in a westbound lane of Main Street near Oak Street.

Police are on scene and a tow truck is on its way.

A student pilot apparently forgot to put down the landing gear on his plane today leading to an unintentional crash landing at the Genesee County Airport this afternoon.

While the crash, reported at 12:17 p.m., caused an estimated $40,000 damage to a 2004 Cessna, there were no injuries, fire or fuel spill.

The student pilot, according to a Sheriff's Office release, was 66-year-old Michael E. Pearson, of Pittsford.

His instructor was Robert J. Roberts, 35, of Rochester.

The student and instructor were doing "touch-and-go" training at the airport this afternoon at the time of the accident.

The plane skidded 546 feet down the runway.

The investigation is continuing, conducted by Deputy Lonnie Nati and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Assisting at the scene were Genesee County Emergency Services, Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS.

(initial report)

There's a couple of incidents going on -- amidst other heavy scanner traffic -- that I've not been able to quite nail down.

There's an apparant grass fire somewhere off Route 33, apparently in Darien's fire district.

Also, there's a car off the road in Le Roy. Their may be power lines down. A caller reports a power outage. The driver called and said he wasn't injured, but an ambulance was started. The car is in the woods.  The location sounds like "Valence Road," but I can't locate such a road anywhere in Genesee County.

UPDATE 6:14 p.m.: The fire was on a recently purchased plot of land in the area of Countyline Road and Route 33. The burn is within legal limits and the owner is planning to have more controlled burns this week.

A jury of six Batavia residents took only about five minutes to reach a not guilty verdict in the promoting prison contraband trial of Scott F. Doll.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl had little to say after the trial.

"I guess I don’t have a reaction," Zickl said. "This is divided up. Everybody has different jobs to do. They have their job, I have mine. Everybody does their job and this is where we wind up."

Doll's attorney, Dan Killelea, said Scott insisted from the beginning that he was not guilty.

"I think his faith in the jury system was very shaken by his conviction in the murder trial," said Killelea, who helped defend Doll in May against charges that he killed retired corrections officer Joseph Benaquist.

"I’m hoping, I’m really hoping, this restores some of his faith in the system, because it’s a system I believe in. I think it’s the best system we have, though it’s not perfect."

He also praised Zickl for putting on a thorough case and presenting a strong closing argument.

"Bob Zickl did, I believe, a tremendous job," Killelea said. "I thought his closing argument was outstanding. He had me worried. He gave the jurors a lot to work with if they were going to go that way. I hope I was able to point out some holes in the case and I’m hoping that’s what they hung their hat on."

As for the implication that a specific corrections officer supplied the aspirin to Doll, Killelea said it wasn't his intention to draw a bead on a specific individual.

"I think in light of the circumstantial nature of the prosecution’s case, I don’t think the facts led to only one conclusion -- that he was guilty -- and I’m hopeful the jury agreed with me and found reasonable doubt in other legitimate conclusions that could have been reached," Killelea said.

Doll, dressed in a prison-supplied pair of tan slacks and white shirt, showed no apparent reaction to the verdict.

Today's coverage:

• No proof Doll brought contraband into jail, defense contends
• Doll's attorney suggests corrections officer at jail was source of aspirin

In closing arguments in the Scott Doll prison contraband case, the key question attorneys for both sides wrangled over is who brought powdered aspirin into the Genesee County Jail.

Defense Attorney Dan Killelea made the suggestion that the aspirin was given to Doll by a corrections officer at the jail.

Repeating a phrase Doll reportedly used when speaking "officer to officer" with Corrections Officer Vincent Maurer about his state of mind after trying to ingest the aspirin, Doll reportedly said to Maurer, "an officer gave it to me."

After the aspirin was discovered by Maurer, Killelea suggested, jail officials had no choice but to prosecute him for promoting prison contraband.

"Who’s going to step up (and say) they just gave aspirin to a guy just was convicted of murder?" Killelea said. "Who is going to fess up to showing some humanity, some professional courtesy?"

Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl said that suggestion made no sense and wasn't supported by the evidence.

This is not "Law and Order Batavia," Zickl said, adding that conspiracy theories belong on TV, where they’re entertaining, but they’re not reality. Zickl said this case is reality.

"If you are a senior corrections officer are you going to risk your career by giving the defendant aspirin ground up in a balloon?" Zickl said. "If you did that, why would you say you've got to go upstairs to check on something and let somebody else watch the defendant? Why wouldn’t you stay there and watch him ingest it?"

Zickl argued that if a corrections officer wanted to give Doll aspirin, why grind it up, why not just give him a few tablets?

The evidence -- the balloon, the white powder all over the jail cell and on Doll's face -- is more consistent with the behavior of an intoxicated, despondent person who carried the alleged contraband into the jail himself.

Killelea questioned why the balloon wasn't introduced as evidence, why it wasn't tested for fingerprints or DNA. He argued that to produce the amount of white powder observed by officers, a pretty large balloon would be needed, and a balloon that size would be difficult to hide through three pat down searches.

There is no evidence, Zickl argued, that the balloon was giant. He said 20 ground-up pills could produce a good deal of powder and easily be concealed by an experienced former corrections officer who would know how to hide something not easily found in a standard pat down search.

After arguments, with the jury out of the courtroom, Killelea objected to Zickl's closing argument, saying that Zickl repeatedly made reference to the aspirin being in the balloon at one time. He said no evidence was introduced to prove the balloon ever contained aspirin, or that there even was a balloon.

Judge Robert Balbick is just completing instructions to the jurors, who will begin deliberations shortly.

There's no proof that Scott Doll carried a green balloon into the Genesee County Jail on May 20.

That's the assertion made by defense attorney Dan Killelea in an opening statement this morning in Doll's trial for allegedly introducing contraband into jail following his murder conviction.

Doll was allegedly found in a holding cell about to drink from a cup with a mixture of water and a white powdery substance.

Sgt. Greg Walker transported Doll from the courthouse, and then came back to the jail to investigate the alleged incident in the holding cell. He testified that when he looked into the holding cell, there was a white powdery substance trailing from the sink, to the floor and onto the bed.

The green balloon was laying empty on the bed.

It turned out that the white powder was aspirin.

Walker testified that he did a brief pat down search of Doll in the holding cell at the Genesee County Courthouse and found only a couple of coins in Doll's pocket, which he allowed him to keep.

The sargeant testified that Deputy Vincent Maurer also conducted a search of Doll upon his arrival at the jail.

At that time, Maurer felt something unusual along Doll's pant leg and took Doll into a holding cell for a more thorough search. Nothing was found.

Walker also testified that he arrived at the courthouse as the same time Doll was dropped off at the front door and held the door for him to enter the building.

Doll appeared intoxicated, Walker said. He could smell alcohol on his breath and he was staggering and swaying a bit.

UPDATE 12:16 p.m.: Maurer testifies that Doll told him an "officer" gave him the white powder and he didn't know what it was.

"I told him it was my birthday and I didn’t want to see him hurt himself on my birthday and have that be my memory," Maurer said. "He said it was nothing against me. I'm trying to take the edge off -- some officer gave it to me."

Maurer added that Doll said, "You don’t know what I’m going through. I’ve lost my family. I’ve lost 25 years of my career. I’ve lost everything. Officer to officer."

When Doll arrived, prior to the alleged white powder incident, Maurer observed that Doll appeared despondent and intoxicated. He recommended Doll be placed under constant supervision, but that constant supervision -- which involves an officer sitting outside his cell and logging everything he does -- would not begin until after he was fully processed.

Maurer said a document that says he should be on constant watch while in the holding cell is a typo, that he should have gone on constant watch after processing was completed.

Maurer also testified that nobody was in the holding cell prior to Doll entering and that he didn't see a balloon or white powder in the room.

As for the pat search when Doll first arrived, Maurer said when patting his pant leg, "I felt something funny" and asked him to go into a holding cell for a more thorough search. Doll was asked to drop his pants and nothing unusual was found. At that point, he said he thought that maybe he only felt the seam of Doll's pants previously.

UPDATE 12:52 p.m.: Batavia City Court Judge Robert Balbick rules that Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl could have asked his question during his initial direct examination, after Wolf had been qualified as an expert witness. Since that didn't happen, Killelea's objection is sustained.

UPDATE 12:56 p.m.: Lunch break. Prosecution will rest after lunch. The defense will not call any witnesses.