Sheriff Gary Maha has issued a travel advisory for Genesee County.
"No unnecessary travel is advised," Maha said in a statement.
He noted that all roads in Genesee County suffer from poor visibility and slippery conditions due to blowing and drifting snow.
There are several working accidents in the county.
Maha noted this is an advisory and not a ban.
About two months ago, local law enforcement received a tip from an unnamed informant that methamphetamine was being manufactured and sold out of a home in Le Roy.
This morning at 6:15 the officers from Le Roy, Genesee County, State Police and the DEA raided a home at 28 Clay St. and arrested five people.
"It took some time to develop probable cause for a search warrant," Sheriff Gary Maha said at a press conference this morning.
The five people arrested at the house have not been formerly charged yet. They will be arraigned later today in Le Roy Town Court.
Taken into custody were:
Maha described the lab found in the house as a working meth lab and that it was larger than the one allegedly found in Alabama last month.
"That was a little bit of a surprise to us," Maha said. "We didn’t expect it to be as large, so that’s why it will take a little bit more time for clean up."
Agents will be on scene all day, he said, and a clean-up crew that specializes in this sort of hazardous material clean up for law enforcement will arrive from Pennsylvania this afternoon.
The alleged lab was located in the attic and, according to Maha, there was also a quantity of finished product in the house.
Le Roy Chief Chris Hayward said his department believes some of the meth was being distributed in Le Roy, but some of it may have been going into other communities as well. He said where it was being distributed is unclear at this time.
Hayward said this is the first known meth lab found in the Village.
"Over the last 18 or 24 months I've been on public record as saying we have a growing problem in this community and we've been taking steps to address it," Hayward said. "If nothing else, this demonstrates to the community that there is a problem here that we need to address."
Hayward said he believes three of the five individuals grew up in Le Roy and another has lived in the Village for a decade or so. Police have also responded to 28 Clay on calls unrelated to the suspected meth labe, Hayward said.
The Drug Enforcement Agency also participated in the investigation, but has not yet decided whether to file federal charges against the suspects. In the Alabama/Batavia case, the three individuals arrested were immediately arraigned on federal charges, which carry stiffer penalties. Maha said then that the DEA was brought in to send a clear message that meth manufacturing won't be tolerated in Genesee County.
Five people were taken into custody this morning in connection with a suspected meth lab at 28 Clay St., Le Roy, the Sheriff's Office announced this morning.
At 6:15 a.m., the Sheriff's Office, Le Roy Police Department and State Police executed a search warrant at the Clay Street address.
No further details have been released at this time. Sheriff Gary Maha and Chief Chris Hayward are holding a joint press conference at 11 a.m.
The sun is out in Oakfield, at least for now.
More pictures after the jump:
I keep hearing all over town -- "they're never going to be able to plow that thing," or "I can't wait to see a plow try to go through that thing."
Well, when I stopped by about an hour ago, it was plowed and a truck was even making it through.
I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens when there's real snow accumulation.
Also, below, picture of a woman in Batavia shoveling her walk.
A truck has been unable to get up a hill on Route 19, with cars driving to drive around it while work crews try to help the truck.
Fire Police are being dispatched to shut down Route 19 in both directions.
Two men have been arrested in connection with a series of car break-ins yesterday morning in the area of Ross Street, Batavia.
One man was taken into custody after allegedly attempting to run from the scene and the other was apprehended later yesterday.
Arrested were James E. Murray, Jr., 21, of Bethany, and Frank J. Falcone, 24, of 132 Ross St., Batavia.
Both were charged with petit larceny.
Murray was turned over to the Wyoming Sheriff's office on a warrant for alleged violation of probation. Falcone was issued an appearance ticket.
Several items allegedly taken were recovered by police, but the owners have not been identified. Police are asking that anybody who had their car broken into overnight Dec. 8/9 to contact Det. Todd Crossett at 343-6353.
Lt. Steele, Sgt. Yaeger, Officers Casper, Bolles and Coffey assisted in the investigation.
There is a report of smoke in the building and a fire alarm has been activiated at 196 Oak St., Bob Evans Restaurant.
There is no sign of fire.
City Fire has been dispatched.
First responder reports "nothing showing."
From the sounds of things on the scanner this morning, law enforcement is dealing with a lot of issues, from stuck vehicles -- including a snow plow -- around the county.
All Genesee County schools are closed.
The National Weather Service says the lake-effect snow warning remains in effect until 10 p.m.
"A ban of lake-effect snow south of Buffalo and Batavia will continue to settle southward, ans slip further southward before drifting back north into areas south of Buffalo and Batavia for a while this afternoon," says the warning.
High winds also continue to blow.
Snow fall in affected areas will hit at about 1- to 2-inches per hour.
UPDATE: Please use comments to provide information on how the storm is impacting your corner of Genesee County.
According to this interactive map from the New York Times, 8 percent of Genesee County residents receive food stamps. That's up 16 percent from 2007.
Compared to other GLOW counties:
Of the four counties, Orleans has the largest percentage of children receiving food stamps at 23 percent, which is close to the national average of 1-in-four children on assistance.
Batavia Police are responding to a report that part of the roof of Pontillo's has blown off and is currently traveling eastbound on Main Street.
UPDATE: A little while ago, a Batavia Police officer reported the roof portion was recovered and returned to the Pontillo's property.
I need to get this sweatshirt order turned in -- two people at Christmas in the City told me they intend to order them, but haven't yet.
I'm going to place our order with T-Shirts Etc. within the next few days.
Also, I'm not sure I can get hoodies. If you want a hoodie, request it in the PayPal notes box. If I can get a hoodie, I will, but otherwise, please just be happy with a regular sweatshirt!
Also, if you would rather mail a check, send it to: The Batavian, LLC, 200 E. Main St., #5, Batavian, NY 14020.
He was the last caught, the last to admit guilt, but Michael J. Wells will be first of three Elba bank robbers to go to state prison.
And he's going away for a long time.
Judge Robert Noonan did not impose the maximum sentence available to him under terms of a plea agreement, which was 15 years. But he told Wells this afternoon that under state law, he was required to impose a lengthy sentence and that he had no qualms about doing so.
The sentenced imposed on the 24-year-old was 12.5 years, followed by five years of supervised release. Under determinant sentencing rules, Wells is looking about 10 years in prison. He could serve another five if he got into any trouble after release.
Wells has no prior criminal convictions or offenses that might indicate he would try to rob a bank and, by all accounts, no history of drug use or alcohol abuse. According to his attorney Thomas Burns, Wells comes from a good family.
Even so, Noonan said he didn't understand what led Wells to participate in a viciously violent crime.
"When this case first came before me, I thought, though I didn't say it to court personnel, 'When this case plays out, I'm going to understand what this is all about,' and here we are six months later and this still all puzzles me. ...
"This is like somebody plucked a person from out of nowhere and said, 'why don't you commit some terribly violent crime?' And you, even being an intelligent human being, said, 'Sure, I'll go along with that.' This is just totally perplexing, and as I close your file, I'm just as puzzled by that today as I was on the first day."
And it was a violent crime.
Two of the women who were working in the M&T Bank branch in Elba on June 19 spoke before Noonan sentenced Wells. Both described an event of sheer terror that has left them traumatized -- both are undergoing treatment for PTSD -- and they said, scarred for life.
Patty Hackett, a 19-year employee of M&T Bank who has shown up for every court appearance for all three defendants, spoke first. She began by explaining how she and her husband worked hard to raise two children and send them to collage. When the children were babies, her husband worked three jobs -- including pumping gas at night and working on a farm on weekends -- to help make ends meet. When it came time to pay for college for their children, he again took on a second job.
"Not once did it ever cross his mind or our minds to rob a bank because we needed cash," Hackett said.
She then described in some detail the events inside the bank during the robbery. She was on a conference call when Wells, Dennis Abrams and Demone Dillon entered the bank yelling and waving guns.
"They came running through the doors Rambo-style," Hackett said.
She was going to try and grab the other teller that morning -- Alicia Nichols -- and try to make it to the bathroom where they could lock themselves in, but before she even got out of her chair, Abrams grabbed her, she said, and threw her to the ground.
"He was holding a gun at me," Hackett said. "I was terrified. I was sick. I was thinking, 'God, we’re going to be robbed and I’m going to die.'"
Later she added, "I thought, 'This is it. We're going to die. Please help me dear God,' I remember saying. I remember seeing a picture in my mind of my beautiful daughter and my beautiful son and my husband who is the love of my life."
Theresa Claybourn who was the branch manager that day, also described a scene of terror in which she thought for sure she was going to die.
"I believe that second man was intending to keep me at bay and I thought at any second he was going to come over and see my phone off the hook and think I called the cops and then shoot me dead," Claybourn said.
When it came his turn to speak, Wells, who has largely remained stone-faced every time he appears in court, didn't say much, but he did express regret for his actions.
"I made a terrible, horrible decision that day and I wish I could change it," Wells said. "I know that I can’t. If anything comes out of this, I hope that others will learn from my poor, bad example."
Both Abrams and Dillon will be sentenced at a later date.
WBTA's Dan Fischer was given permission to tape record the hearing and will have audio available online and on air later today and tomorrow. He may air the entire hearing tomorrow morning. We'll update this story with the time when that information becomes available. We'll also link to any audio he posts once they are available.
UPDATE: Audio from WBTA, Patty Hackett describes how the crime has changed her life (mp3).
In the words of the dispatcher, "Cedar Street. The usual -- semi, bridge, ripped open."
Numerous power outages have plagued Genesee County throughout the day, with the largest and longest lasting affecting more than 300 customers in the western area of Batavia (both city and town).
Power to those customers is not expected to be restored until after 3 p.m.
Five hundred customers in Alexander had power restored an hour or so ago. Many of the other power outages affect five customers or less.
National Grid provides an interactive map of power outages on its Web site. Snapshot of the map above taken about 1 p.m.
An in-store video helped a downtown liquor store owner discover that one of his customers had apparently stuck a bottle of vodka in his pocket and walked out the front door last week, so he was keeping an eye out for the suspect's return.
On Monday, a man fitting the description of the suspect David Buchholtz saw on video came into the store again, made a bee-line for the vodka shelf. Apparently thinking he was unobserved, the guy allegedly stuck another bottle in his jacket and walked out -- this time, not even making the pretense to stop and pay for the booze.
Buchholtz waited for the man to leave the store -- not wanting a scene in the store where he might get in a tussle and damage inventory -- and then grabbed him from behind. He got the suspect in a head lock and held him until police arrived, which didn't take long.
Arrested and charged with petit larceny was Steven A. Lewis II, 29, of 541 E. Main St., Batavia.
A second charge of petit larceny is pending further investigation into the original alleged theft.
In other Police Beat news:
Dennis Edson, age unknown, of Porter Avenue, Batavia, was charged with disorderly conduct this morning. Edson allegedly flipped off a police officer while he and others observed the accident activity on Ellicott Street this morning from in front of the Court House. Lt. Eugene Jankwoski described Edson as somebody known to police for allegedly making the same gesture toward cops in the past, but has generally been ignored. This morning, Edson allegedly did it in front of a crowd of people. Edson then allegedly resisted arrest. Jankowski also said that Edson "got mouthy" with City Court Judge Robert Balbick. Balbick ordered Edson held on $1,000 bail.
Johnson O. Quanton, 19, of 36 Merrimac St., Rochester, is charged with petit larceny. Quanton allegedly tried to exit the campus bookstore at Genesee Community College with books that had not been purchased.
The Daily News printing press is without power this morning. Publication of the paper has been delayed "indefinitely" according to an announcement this morning.
Strong winds and lake effect snow will combine to create "near blizzard-like conditions" tonight, according to the National Weather Service.
A winter storm watch is in effect from 7 p.m. through Thursday evening.
An arctic cold front will hit WNY later this afternoon, turning rain into snow. The back side of the storm will carry lake effect snow.
The National Weather Service warns the storm will "create very difficult driving conditions."
Heavy lake-effect snow is expected to hit Genesee County by Thursday morning. Driving conditions could be especially treacherous in parts of Erie and Genesee counties tomorrow morning.
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