August 2008

Concord Financing - Tracy Baxter @ 2:13 pm EST
It is a major step forward in making the new Concord Resort and Convention Center a reality. The Sullivan County Industrial Development Agency has announced the first major financing for the redevelopment project. Entertainment Properties Trust, a Kansas City-based Real Estate Firm, is providing 225 million dollars in financing. That, combined with the existing investment of 100 million dollars from Cappelli Enterprises, completes the equity of 300 million dollars required under the state's guidelines. Plans include a 750-room hotel, relocation of Monticello Raceway and convention center as well as commerical and retail space. Town of Thompson Supervisor Tony Cellini expects concrete foundation work for the new hotel and convention center to begin almost immediately.

Stadium Burglary - Tracy Baxter @ 11:26 am EST
A father and son and another teen have been charged in connection with the theft of copper pipe from Baxter baseball stadium in Mountaindale. On Monday, Sullivan County Sheriff's deputies got information of a burglary in progress at the stadium on County Route 56. When officers arrived they saw two teens trying to break through the wall of one of the buildings. With them was copper pipe that had been stolen. 18 year old Brian Strunk of Mountaindale was arrested along with a 14 year old. Police have since arrested the father of the 14 year old, 36 year old Brian Bergeron of Mountaindale. Police say he drove the boys, along with the burglars tools, to the stadium.

Felony Sale - Tracy Baxter @ 10:47 am EST
His nickname is "Ziti" and he lives on Burlingham Road in Pine Bush and police got a tip that he was going to be making a sizeable delivery of cocaine to local dealers in the Town of New Paltz Tuesday afternoon. Ulster County narcotics officers intercepted 28 year old Nezir Huseinovic in the area of Route 32 South in New Paltz. Police say he was carrying more than 5 ounces of cocaine and 5 thousand dollars. Huseinovic has been charged with felony sale and possession.

Student Death - Tracy Baxter @ 10:43 am EST
A college student from Poughkeepsie collapsed and died while playing basketball at the college he was attending in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office said 19 year old Michael Bird of Poughkeepsie died of a congenital heart defect. Bird was a student at LaRoche College in Pittsburgh.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Burglary Charges - Tracy Baxter @ 12:12 pm EST
A traffic stop turned out to be more than expected for officers with the Town of Newburgh police department. They pulled over a car and found ...what they say..was property stolen from a house burglary in the Town of Plattekill just hours earlier. Newburgh residents David Spencer, Deirdre McKoy, and Darren McKoy were charged with second degree burglary. Police say they had the cash and coins that were taken in the home break-in. All 3 were sent to Ulster County Jail.

Wardrobe Malfunction - Tracy Baxter @ 12:09 pm EST
You might say it was a wardrobe malfunction that helped Monticello police catch a burglary suspect. The story began when DeFillipi's Bakery on Broadway was broken into last Thursday. The burglar made off with more than 400 dollars in cash after breaking through a rear door. But the store's surveillance camera system caught the suspect in the act and it turned out he was easy to trace. He was wearing a shirt with the logo of a Liberty-area pizzeria on it. That's where police arrested 41 year old Jimmy Pagan of Liberty....a pizzeria employee. He's being held on a charge of felony burglary.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Sullivan Fatalities - Tracy Baxter @ 12:39 pm EST
Two people have died in separate traffic accidents in Sullivan county. County Sheriff's Deputies are investigating the circumstances surrounding a motorcycle crash that killed a Narrowsburg man Wednesday afternoon. 38 year old Michael Messina died when his motorcycle went out of control on a curve and ran off Route 55 near Eldred. Wednesday night, a man from the State of Florida died when his car swerved and crashed into parked vehicles along Dahlia Road in the Town of Rockland. 33 year old Michael Wood of Palm Bay Florida was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sex Offender Law - Tracy Baxter @ 12:33 pm EST
Local Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther says the outcome of a Sullivan County criminal case has prompted her to try to change the state's sex offender law. Gunther says she's introducing legislation aimed at better protecting mentally disabled victims of sexual abuse. Her bill, if adopted, would add a person with mental disease or defect as a victim under sexual abuse in the first degree. Gunther is using a recent Sullivan county case as an example. She says Daniel MacLean, a former official with the Liberty Little League, should have served more than a year in jail for abusing a mentally impaired 15 year old girl. Gunther says prosecutors could not get a conviction for first degree sexual abuse under the provisions of current state law.

Guards Arrested - Tracy Baxter @ 12:29 pm EST
Three security guards at the Crystal Run Galleria Mall have been charged with burglarizing mall stores that they had been hired to protect. State Police say 36 year old Jorge Irizarry of Westwood New Jersey, 21 year old Ruben Ramos of Middletown and 21 year old Daniel Loeb of Sparrowbush face burglary charges for thefts from mall businesses that began last Fall. Police say in some cases the guards used keys that they had access to. Among the stolen items...an elliptical workout machine from Dick's Sporting Goods and a mall powerwasher. About 7 thousand dollars worth of stolen property has been recovered. Investigators also believe the trio is linked to the theft of money from purses turned into the security office and the theft of G-P-S devices from cars parked at the Crystal Run Galleria.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Driver Identified - Tracy Baxter @ 12:04 pm EST
State Police have released the identity of the man who died Tuesday while apparently checking out a mechanical problem with his car. Investigators say 48 year old Michael Pitt of Loch Sheldrake died after pulling his S-U-V over on the Route 17 westbound off-ramp at Exit 113 in the Town of Mamakating. State Police believe Pitt got pinned between the vehicle and a guardrail after the S-U-V went out of gear.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

BOCES Audit - Tracy Baxter @ 12:41 pm EST
Orange-Ulster BOCES officials need to improve controls over purchasing. That statement coming from the State Comptroller's Office following an audit that dealt with internal purchasing. The report mentioned a lack of proper documentation in some cases and payments of 105 thousand dollars to 21 vendors that were not reported to the I-R-S as required. BOCES officials have indicated that they plan to take corrective action.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Vandalism - Tracy Baxter @ 3:44 pm EST
An Orange County grand jury has indicted an Otisville man for vandalizing a local gas station in June. 19 year old Benjamin Otero is facing two counts of criminal mischief and continues to be held on five thousand dollars bail in Orange County jail. Town of Mount Hope police say Otero damaged two gas pumps and burned three American flags at the Citgo Station on Sanatorium Road. He was arrested about three weeks after the incident.

Body Identified - Tracy Baxter @ 3:39 pm EST
Police in Ulster County have confirmed the identity of the man whose burned body was found in the cab of a truck that had been set on fire. D-N-A testing has confirmed that the victim was 59 year old Michael Kleiman of Kerhonkson. His body was found inside the burning truck July 25th in woods off First Avenue in East Kingston. Police are investigating the death as a homicide. Town of Ulster police have said Kleiman was killed before the truck went up in flames.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Suspect Sought - Tracy Baxter @ 10:11 am EST
He left behind a knife and one of his sneakers and now Monticello police hope they can find the man who broke into an occupied bungalow on Carpenter Place in the village early Thursday morning. Police say the suspect was in the process of stealing a pocketbook when the man in the bungalow woke up. They struggled and the occupant was able to wrestle the knife away from the burglar and chase him off. Monticello police say several other bungalows in the area had money and property stolen during the early morning hours Thursday.

Grand Larceny Arrest - Tracy Baxter @ 10:08 am EST
State Police have charged a Sullivan county man with grand larceny after...investigators say...he pocketed money that was supposed to be used for an improvement project. 42 year old Randy Wood from the Town of Fremont took more than 12 hundred dollars from a man to order an air conditioner and install it in his recreational vehicle. But police say Wood used the money to pay off his personal bills and then moved to Pennsylvania. Wood will be in Town of Rockland court August 21st.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Escape Charge - Tracy Baxter @ 11:51 am EST
Things went from bad to worse for a Sullivan county man this week. 20 year old Robert Jones of Loch Sheldrake was initially charged with felony grand larceny for allegedly stealing more than 2 thousand dollars worth of batteries from vehicles at a garage business in Loch Sheldrake. But when Town of Fallsburg police brought Jones to the station, he reportedly ripped a handcuff ring off the wall and jumped out a window. He was later found and the charge of felony escape was added. Fallsburg police say Jones will also be charged with the recent burglary of a Loch Sheldrake residence.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Shawangunk Fatal - Tracy Baxter @ 3:38 pm EST
A man from the hamlet of Wallkill died Tuesday night following a motorcycle accident in the Town of Shawangunk. Town police say 37 year old Sean Quinn lost control of his motorcycle on Decker Road. It ran off the road and slammed into a tree. Decker was rushed to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie with head and internal injuries. He died about 90 minutes after the crash.

Marine Honored - Tracy Baxter @ 12:00 pm EST
A member of the Marine Corps. was honored Tuesday at the Stewart Air National Guard base for his heroism in helping save the life of Marine Sargeant Eddie Ryan of Ellenville in Iraq in 2005. Congressman Maurice Hinchey presented the Navy Commendation Medal for Valor to Marine Sargeant Kenny Burdine for his actions following the near-fatal shooting of Ryan who was shot in the head by what turned out to be friendly fire. Another comrade, Sargeant Karl Schaffer, is also in line for the same award for helping save Ryan's life.

Rape Verdict - Tracy Baxter @ 11:56 am EST
An Orange County Court jury has convicted a Port Jervis man on rape charges. 54 year old Ronald Shaw was convicted of 3 counts of first degree rape as well as sexual abuse and assault in connection with the repeated rape of a Pennsylvania woman in his apartment on Pike Street in April. Shaw faces up to 75 years in prison when he's sentenced next month. He's being held on 100 thousand dollars bail in Orange County Jail.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Standoff - Tracy Baxter @ 2:43 pm EST
An Ulster County man was arrested early Tuesday following a brief armed standoff with police at his residence in Mount Marion. Town of Saugerties police say 36 year old Jimmy Quick had gotten into a violent domestic dispute with a woman inside their Center Road home. After threatoning her with a shotgun, police say Quick allowed the woman and her 4 children to leave. He stayed inside but later surrendered after police surrounded the house. Quick was charged with reckless endangerment, menacing, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of a weapon.

Foreclosure Bill - Tracy Baxter @ 2:40 pm EST
Governor David Paterson signed legislation Tuesday that gives state residents an extra 90 days to save their homes from foreclosure. The new law aims to help homeowners who sought subprime loans. The 90-day grace period is being added to what is typically a 440-day foreclosure process in the state...the longest in the nation. There have been about 50 thousand home foreclosures in New York State this year. Estimates are another 38 thousand homeowners could face foreclosure by the end of the year.

Friday, August 01, 2008

Parking Lot Rage - Tracy Baxter @ 12:57 pm EST
Officials with the Ulster County Sheriff's Department are calling it a case of "parking lot rage". It happened Tuesday night at the Ulster County Fairgrounds in New Paltz. A Poughkeepsie couple got upset with a parking attendant while waiting in traffic to leave the fair. William Smack got out of the car to argue with the attendant and then told his wife to drive around him. Instead, she hit the attendant. Stephanie Stoneham was charged with reckless endangerment. Smack was charged with disorderly conduct. The parking lot attendant wasn't injured.

Insurance Fraud - Tracy Baxter @ 12:52 pm EST
Investigators say an Ulster County woman arranged to have her S-U-V set ablaze in an apple orchard while she visited Atlantic City casinos...so she could collect on insurance. 25 year old Rebecca Williams of Lake Katrine has been charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy and falsely reporting an incident. Two alleged accomplises were arrested as well. 27 year old Roy Nugent of Kingston is charged with arson and conspiracy and 25 year old Jeremy Cullen of Gardiner was charged with conspiracy. According to the State Insurance Department Fraud Bureau, Williams gave Nugent 500 dollars to stage the theft of her vehicle. She left the keys in it at Kings Mall in the Town of Ulster. Cullen then drove it to a rural area in Southern Ulster County where it was set ablaze. Williams was never paid for the insurance claim.