A caller spotted a car in a swamp about a quarter mile west of 7445 Griswold Road, Le Roy.
Initially, Le Roy Fire Department was dispatched, but cancelled after a deputy who responded found the car unoccupied.
UPDATE 6:38 p.m.: The tow truck company inquired about how wet the driver would get retrieving while the vehicle. Deputy: "Not wet at all."
A car-versus-pedestrian accident, believed to be with serious injuries, is reported at 13 Lake St. in the Village of Le Roy. Le Roy Fire and Ambulance Service and Le Roy police are on scene.
Mercy Flight was called and pilots advised that it needed to be dispatched now to go to Rochester or it would be unable to fly due to weather. Subsequently, Mercy Flight was cancelled.
The location is in front of the Sugar Creek convenience store.
UPDATE 8:49 p.m.: Le Roy fire is back in service.
UPDATE 9:09 p.m.: Le Roy ambulance is now at Strong Memorial Hospital after transporting one patient there.
Michael John Merrill, 46, of West Ferry Street, Buffalo, is charged with petit larceny. Merrill is accused of stealing a can of beer from 48 Deli Express at 1:53 p.m., Thursday. When confronted by the owner, Merrill allegedly ran. Merrill was jailed on $500 bail.
William Ronald Tombari, 40, of Roanoke Road, Pavilion, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater and failure to keep right. Tombari was allegedly driving drunk when he was involved in a motor-vehicle accident at 12:05 a.m., Friday, on Route 63 in Pavilion. The accident was investigated by Deputy Eric Seppala.
Shuvon "Bonnie" Williams, 35, of 5 Lewis Place, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 1st, endangering the welfare of a child and harassment, 2nd. Williams is accused of violating an order of protection by allegedly threatening the protected person with bodily harm. The incident was reported at 3:08 p.m., Thursday.
Press release:
Four Emergency Services dispatchers from the Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center, a division of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, were deployed to Broome County after the recent devastation to that area by hurricanes Irene and Lee.
Broome County Coordinator Michael Ballard requested assistance from his state counterparts to cover shifts beginning Sept. 9 through 13. Staff from Genesee County worked 12-hour shifts answering phone lines and entering calls for service into the CAD (Computer-Aided Dispatch) System to dispatch the appropriate emergency service.
Along with several Broome County Emergency Services dispatchers who were personally affected by the storms, remaining staff were becoming fatigued with the long hours and several days of continual requests from citizens for emergency services. Local authorities quickly realized that additional outside resources would be needed to staff its 9-1-1 Center.
The New York State’s Office of Emergency Management contacted local Emergency Management offices, including Genesee County Emergency Management Coordinator Tim Yaeger, for additional resources to respond to the Broome County 9-1-1 Center.
One very important stipulation was that the deployment not severely impact the operations of the local 9-1-1 centers that send aid. Without impacting operations at the Genesee County 9-1-1 Center, four Emergency Services dispatchers were deployed within 18 hours of the request.
Senior Emergency Services dispatchers Gary Diegelman, James Tripp, Daniel Rieks and Emergency Services Dispatcher Robert Tripp are certified members of the New York State Telecommunicator Emergency Response Task Force (TERT), a specialized team trained to handle large-scale incidents or disasters.
In conjunction with other Emergency Services dispatchers from Livingston, Niagara and Monroe counties, they deployed to Broome County (which includes the City of Binghamton) on Sept. 9 through 11.
This team of specialized Emergency Services dispatchers was created after the events of September 11, 2001. Several other agencies within New York State have members who are certified to handle these types of large-scale events.
Genesee County currently has nine Emergency Services dispatchers who are certified to respond in this capacity. While rare, team members could be summoned not only to handle emergencies within New York State but also to assist other participating states.
Since this program’s inception, Emergency Services dispatchers from Genesee County have been requested on two occasions. In 2006, during the floods of Broome County, Emergency Services dispatchers were put on standby, however, did not need to respond. The second was the most recent request received on Sept. 8.
Broome County has been declared a disaster area, therefore, any costs or expenses incurred by Genesee County in the deployment will be reimbursed by state and federal funds.
Photos: Top, Jim Tripp; first inset, Bob Tripp; second inset, Gary Diegelman; bottom, Dan Rieks.
The release of a surveillance tape by the Batavia PD appears to have helped lead investigators to a pair of alleged thieves.
Charges are pending against Trevor M. Pilc, 18, of 404 Jackson St., Batavia, and Michael A. Ames, 19, of 508 Dale Road, Dale.
The duo is accused of burglarizing a number of Batavia businesses during the summer and is currently being held in a Wyoming County jail on similar charges.
The videotape, published on The Batavian, didn't lead to a tip with a name attached, but it did lead to information that helped investigators put some pieces together, Sgt. Pat Corona said.
"(The video) kept people interested in the case and got people talking about it," Corona said. "As a result of that, I did get information about a person talking about one of the burglaries and a name was mentioned in that conversation."
Corona expects burglary charges against Pilc in connection with break-ins at Neptune’s Gardens, 33 Liberty St., occurring on, June 3; Blondie’s Sip and Dip, 670 E. Main St., occurring on July 8; The Batavia Youth Center, 12 MacArthur Drive, occurring on July 23; and Batavia’s Original Pizzeria, 500 E. Main St., occurring on Aug. 6.
Ames also faces probable charges in connections with break-ins and larcenies from Batavia’s Original on Aug. 6 and again on Aug. 30.
Corona said Ames and Pilc both confirmed they are the two people seen in the video.
Very few of us ever work for the same employer for 33 years, the span of a single career, but Randy Garney walked out of Genesee County Building #2 today being able to say he did it.
Garney started with the county Health Department right out of college in 1978 as a public health technician trainee. Over the next several years, he worked his way up the ranks and eventually became public health director for the county.
Never once did he leave and work for another agency.
"Work is such a large segment of your life that I feel very blessed that this segment of my life was so enjoyable," Garney said. "Have there been hard times? Absolutely. But working with the people I've worked with, and with the directors I've worked with over the years, there was never a day when I didn't look forward to coming to work. I know there are people who don't enjoy their jobs, so I feel very fortunate."
Garney, now 55, who grew up in Oakfield and attended Notre Dame High School, and his wife Deborah, sold their home and are moving to Florida to be closer to their children, Heather, 35, and Steven, 32, and their four grandchildren.
Now is the time to retire, Garney said, while he still has his health and he can use his energy for his family and for ministry.
Once in Florida, Garney said, he hopes to find a church-affiliated group that cares for the homeless and devote much of his time to helping those in need.
"We really have a burden for the poor and the indigent," said Garney, who along with Deborah have worked with Care-A-Van Ministries.
He won't miss the current budget process, acknowledging that it's become very difficult and will be a real challenge for public health in future years, but he will look back on his career with Genesee County as a good one.
"I really enjoyed public health and helping people," Garney said. "It stuck with me and I really enjoyed it. I never thought I would get the chance to be public health director, but it’s really been the highlight of my career to administer public health throughout the county. It’s been a lot of fun."
This information was provided by Genesee Community College.
Jerry Kozlowski has been appointed to the "Higher Education Work Group" of Governor Cuomo's Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council.
Kozlowski will assist the council with the development of a comprehensive, five-year strategic plan to galvanize regional and local economic development for the Finger Lakes area. The workgroup has been defined as the "heart of the Council's work" by the Governor.
New York's 10 Regional Economic Development Council's are tasked to assemble detailed strategies to capitalize on principal regional economic drivers and other opportunities, and to address critical issues that have impeded appropriate economic growth.
The timetable is ambitious and work needs to be completed by mid-November. A final decision from Albany in December will outline how almost $1 billion dollars in new state funding will be allocated to the 10 regions.
"I am honored to be a part of this important work" Kozlowski said. "Millions of dollars are at stake for the GLOW region and I look forward to helping our team identify and develop transformative projects that achieve our region's many needs."
Kozlowski currently serves as the associate vice president for Workforce Development at Genesee Community College and is the incoming chairman of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
A two-car accident with one person complaining of chest pain is reported in front of the Tonawanda Valley Federal Credit Union on Jefferson Avenue in the City of Batavia.
There was air-bag deployment and one vehicle is, or was, spewing smoke.
City fire and Mercy medics responding.
A two-car accident is reported at Martin and Bloomingdale roads in Alabama. There is believed to be one minor injury. A person is complaining of hitting her head on the dashboard. Alabama fire is responding along with a medic.
A two-car accident is reported at Liberty and Ellicott streets in the City of Batavia. There is believed to be one minor injury.
Batavia Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.
Bontrager's Third Annual Harvest Dinner Dance to benefit Genesee Cancer Assistance will be held on Saturday Sept. 24 at Bontrager's Auction Center, 8975 Wortendyke Road in the Town of Batavia.
Tickets are available the auction center or by calling Bob Stocking at 762.8585 or 409.8439.
Cost is $20 and includes a full dinner and music by the Ghost Riders. Dinner will be from 5 to 7 p.m. and dancing is from 7 to 10 p.m.
If you want to come for the dancing only, you can just show up at the door and pay $10.
A Gibson guitar that has been signed by Alan Jackson, Diamond Rio, Pam Tillis and other famous artists will be raffled off. The drawing will take place Saturday night.
No alcoholic beverages are allowed on the premises.
A Batavia man known for his love of waterfowl died Wednesday at the age of 62 at Strong Memorial Hospital after a lengthy illness.
Ronald P. “Grazo” Grazioplena, an Oak Street resident, was first featured on The Batavian in articles by Jim Nigro in the Spring of 2010 for his efforts on behalf of ducks and geese (Part 1, Part 2).
Later, Grazioplena would get caught up in a dispute with neighbors over the ducks he kept in his back yard and the general state of his property. The case would eventually go to court and in early 2011, Gazioplena was ordered to clean up his yard and make other changes to his property.
Each fall these days, as students return to school, the issuing of bullying makes the news again.
Usually, it's related to the tragic suicide of a teenager who was picked on by his peers.
This fall, the death wasn't too far from home.
Jamey Rodemeyer, a freshman at Williamsville North High School took his own life after years of being victimized by bullies.
The case has drawn the attention of Erie County law enforcment, which is a reminder that bullying isn't just cruel. It's a crime.
Yesterday morning, I spoke with Det. Rich Schauf of Batavia PD and this morning I spoke with Christopher Dailey, principal at Batavia HS, about how bullying is handled within the city. Much of the information they have to share should be applicable throughout Genesee County.
The primary laws that could be used to prosecute a bully are harassment, a violation, and aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor.
Harassment usually involves pushing and shoving or similar violent acts that do not cause serious physical injury but are intended to annoy or alarm the victim.
Aggravated harassment is phone calls, text messages and messages left in online venues that are intended to alarm and annoy the victim.
If the bully is, say, 17, and the victim is, for example, 14, a charge of endangering the welfare of a child is also possible.
The age of the bully is also a factor in what police can do with the case and how the judicial system will deal with it.
If the bully is 14 or 15, or younger, there won't be criminal charges filed. Instead intervention and counseling is used to try and change behavior.
If the bully is 16 or older, then it can become a criminal matter.
These days, bullies use electronic devices to victimize their targets -- phone calls, texting, Facebook messages and other websites are used to leave harassing notes.
In the case of Rodemeyer, the most recent abuse meted out toward him was on a blog he set up at Formspring. Among the messages left for him were:
* "Kill your self!!!! You have nothing left!"
* "Listen to us, you're a bad person, you don't belong here, jump off a bridge or something!"
* "Go kill yourself, you're worthless, ugly and don't have a point to live."
When people leave messages like that, Schauf said, even when they're determined to be criminal in nature, proving who left the message can be difficult.
"The bully might say, 'I lost my phone,' and you ask, 'Did you report it missing or stolen?' and they'll say, 'Well, a friend had it,'" Schauff said. "It's really hard sometimes to put that person in the position of having sent the messages. That's an uphill climb in these investigations."
Investigators must prove the bully was physically in control of the computer or phone used to send the messages at the time the messages were sent.
That isn't always easy, Schauf said.
However, just the intervention of law enforcement can sometimes change a bully's behavior, Schauf said, a point Dailey reiterated.
"Usually we get both parents involved (before contacting police) and that puts an end to it," Dailey said. "We get everybody together and hash it out. Usually a visit from police ends it pretty quick if our intervention doesn't work out."
Dailey said the vast majority of the time, when school officials confront a bully about hurtful and harassing cyber messages, the bully fesses up immediately.
School officials take bullying very seriously, Dailey said.
"When something like this comes up (the death of Rodemeyer), it's something all the staff talks about," Dailey said. "It's a reminder to pay attention to this. We don't want it to happen here. We don't want to be the next headline."
Four years ago, the school started a mentoring program for freshmen which includes an orientation day before classes start and mentoring for the freshmen by upperclassmen.
Since the program started, Dailey said, bullying in the school has dropped 22 percent.
"I'd be lying if I said it was gone totally, but it has gone down significantly," Dailey said.
In October, teachers and staff will receive additional training on dealing with bullying.
It's important to take seriously, Dailey said, because unlike with previous generations when somebody might get bullied at school, but then go home and be away from it, in a safe environment, now the bullying follows the victim across the internet and through mobile phones and text messages.
"If I were bullied as a kid, I could escape it," Dailey said. "Now, for these kids who get caught up in that web they cannot escape it, which is why we have to be more vigilant. The old 'boys will be boys' attitude doesn't fly any more."
Schauf said anybody can report bullying to the police, even just a witness -- such as somebody who sees harassing messages online. But in order to press charges, the victim must be willing to cooperate. If there isn't a cooperating victim, police won't be able to complete an investigation and file charges.
That can sometimes be hard to get, Schauf said, because some victims just want the problem to go away and be left alone.
(Schauff encouraged witnesses to call the BPD's confidential tip line, which will go straight to investigators, rather than emergency dispatch when reporting possible bullying. The number is 343-6370.)
The difficulties in prosecuting bullies, Schauf said, are why a good relationship between the police and the school is so important.
Investigators trust that school officials will bring serious cases to them and handle appropriately those cases they can handle internally.
"Schools have a bit more leeway to take action on the punishment aspect," Schauf said. "We work really well together to mete out the best consequences we can get, working between the two styles."
Further reading: Tips on avoiding cyber bullies.
There's a report of a slick roadway on Route 262 in the area of Route 98, possibly due to oil on the road surface.
UPDATE 3:21 p.m.: State DOT on location, putting sand down.
Overheard on the scanner...
Here's a stumper. Question put to who knows whom over the scanner a few minutes ago: "What's so wonderful about a bunch of noodles?"
The context of this provocative question is unknown and no answers were given.
Speaking strictly for myself, the wonderful thing about noodles is they are useful for thinking. If "you're off your noodle" then, presumably your thinking is screwy. If you have plenty of noodles, like Einstein, then you are considered smart.
The Genesee County Office for the Aging has announced two new transportation services for Genesee County residents, age 60 and over. The Community Action of Orleans & Genesee CATS Assisted Transportation service now includes weekly rural service for shopping trips to Batavia and medical trips to Buffalo and Rochester.
According to Coutney Iburi, specialist for Aging Services, “The purpose of the rural shopping service is to ensure that all seniors in Genesee County have access to transportation services for their grocery, pharmacy or other personal shopping needs.”
The CATS service helps people who need assistance getting out of their homes and onto the bus or need help getting their groceries loaded onto the bus and into their home.
Iburi noted that seniors wishing to use the CATS medical transportation are urged to schedule their Buffalo area appointments on Tuesday afternoons and their Rochester area appointments on Friday mornings.
The Transportation Coordination Program assists seniors and their caregivers in understanding available transportation options. The program is made possible by the Rochester Area Community Foundation’s Muriel H. Marshall Fund for the Aging.
Prior registration for use of the CATS services is necessary. Contact the Office for the Aging to register or for more information at 343-1611.
An investigator for the Sheriff's Office investigating a reported burglary on Griswold Road in Darien Center, just found out that the home next to it has been ransacked and a number of items stolen. The location is in the 10,000 block of Griswold Road.
A possible fire in the wall has been reported at 17 1/2 Central Ave., Batavia.
City of Batavia Fire Department responding.
UPDATE 10:31 p.m.: City firefighters on scene. Nothing showing. It's a two-story, wood-frame structure.
UPDATE 10:33 p.m.: Possible short in an electrical outlet. Firefighters opening up the wall to check for extension.
UPDATE 10:35 p.m.: Wall opened, no fire.
UPDATE 10:49 p.m.: Power shut off at 17 1/2 Central Ave. The residents are getting a few things and will stay at a neighbor's. Residents advised to contact the landlord. City fire back in service.
District Attorney Lawrence Friedman wasn't immediately available earlier today following the acquittal of Ronald Smith on three counts of sexual abuse in the first degree. Geoff Redick and I waited until he was available and asked him about the verdict. Rather than weave his answers into our previous post on the not-guilty verdict, here is what he had to say:
On his initial reaction:
"To state the obvious, we were disappointed. We pursued this case because we believed the defendant committed these crimes, so it’s always a disappointment."
On whether mistakes were made in the prosecution:
"I‘m not second-guessing anything about how the case was tried. I think it went well, but as I said earlier, that is our jury system, where we have to have a unanimous verdict of 12 people convinced beyond a reasonable doubt. I think that’s the best answer. We do have a heavy burden and obviously the jury felt that was not met."
On what the jury said after the verdict:
"Quite frankly, as you know, we do talk to jurors afterwards, but I guess I don’t want future jurors to be stifled thinking that we’re going to be making things public (that) they say to us.
"It’s not that there’s anything about this case that I’m holding back on, it’s just that we like to respect their privacy."
On the difficulty of proving intent for sexual gratification:
"I always think it’s interesting that the more serious sex offenses like first-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act -- crimes involving forceable compulsion, much more serious crimes -- those don’t have that element of sexual gratification. It’s really understandable why they don’t.
Really, these are crimes of violence, not necessarily being committed for sexual gratification. So to me it just always seems unusual that when you get to a lower-level offense such as sexual abuse, you’ve got that added element that we don’t have in more serious crimes. And yes it can be very difficult to prove the purpose of the act was to satisfy sexual gratification.
"Actually, in this case, I thought we were better off than most because of statements the defendant made, which were in the video, that I think reflected what he termed an accidental touching of the victim."
On the fact the jurors didn't know Smith is a Level 3 sex offender:
That’s the very reason they can’t know. In a case like this, it could effect the verdict, even with a warning from the court. That’s why they are not allowed to know, because obviously the idea is they shouldn’t be basing their verdict on what somebody has done in the past, they should be basing it on the evidence that’s presented in this trial. Granted, it adds to our frustration when we know the person’s history and the jury doesn’t."
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