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Police checkpoints in Genesee County lead to 14 arrests

By Howard B. Owens

Checkpoints were set up in Genesee County yesterday by the Batavia Police Department and the New York State Police, leading to the arrests of 14 people.

The checkpoints were at Clinton Street, as well as in the Town of Darien and on Colby Road in Pembroke.

Sally C. Dixon, 39, of 5801 Byron-Holley Road, Byron, is charged with DWI. Dixon was stopped on Clinton Street by Batavia police.

The following arrests were made by State Police:

Robert Davis, 24, of N. Tonawanda, NY,  charged with DWI, allegedly driving with a BAC of .10 percent.

John Blackmore, 36, of Ewing, N.J., charged with three counts of criminal possession controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Michael Hirsch, 26, of Tonawanda, charged with DWI for allegedly driving with a BAC of .14 percent.

Richard Gentilozzi, 25, of Fairfield, Conn., charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.

Ryan Rich, 23, of Norwalk, Conn., charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.

Lawrence Taylor, 36, of Depew, charged with DWI for allegedly driving with a BAC of .08 percent.

Bret Cimerman, 27, of Buffalo, charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.

Hunter Ciliberti, 20, of Redwood, charged with DWI for allegedly driving with a BAC .13 percent.

Adam Drexler, 30, of Rochester, charged with DWI for allegedly driving with a BAC of .10 percent.

Thomas Lalomia, 26, of Getzville, charged with DWI for allegedly driving with a BAC of .16 percent.

Gregory Martin, 31, of Niagara Falls, charged with DWI for allegedly driving with a BAC of .09 percent.

Michael Sargent, 29, of Rochester, charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs.

Jason Murray

i went past the clinton st checkpoint just as they were finishing up and even though they werent stopping people as they were leaving they were pulling people over. here's what i wanna know, im sure not all the pot arrest were done because people were toking up in the car, so how did the police know they were in possession. thats they only charge so why they search if the car. i could see if they were drinking and smelt the alcohol then they could search but it seems to me some of them are unlawful searches.

Aug 14, 2009, 10:40am Permalink
Chelsea O'Brien

Can you be "charged" with not having an up-to-date inspection and registration sticker? I thought those were just ticket-able items. Once they have some type of offense, they can continue to search the car. There is also plain-sight laws, if they can see the pot sitting in the back seat, they can search the rest of the car.

Aug 14, 2009, 11:08am Permalink
John Woodworth JR

Hey Jason, if a police officer stops you at a checkpoint or even a routine traffic stop and he/she smells what they believe to be marijuana, then by federal and state laws have probable cause. Even if they weren't smoking and had a pipe or clip laying out would also give them probable cause to search for illegal drugs.

Aug 14, 2009, 5:16pm Permalink
Janice Stenman

I have to say something about the checkpoints and arrests for the DUIs. First of all, the owners of "The Hill" ASKED the police many times to arrest UNDER-AGED drinkers. I live boardering the Darien Lake concert parking lot and it is a problem there too. Pre-concert parking is party time, no matter if they park inside Darien Lake or the lots on Sumner Rd.

With thousands of people attending these events, it is nearly impossible to control the drinking. No one encourages or condones unlawful behavior.

Second, many concert goers beg to stay long enough after the concerts to sleep off too much alcohol consumption. The Genesee County Health Department has threatened all of the people on Sumner Road who park cars not to allow over-night parking or camping. [The owners of "The Hill" have been trying to get a camping permit for several years now.] Instead, drunk drivers are forced out onto the roads to face sobriety check points, or worse, become involved in an accident.

Where is the fairness in all this?

Aug 14, 2009, 11:13pm Permalink

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