January 2007

18 Years - Tracy Baxter @ 2:54 pm EST
Two men got 18 year prison sentences for their unrelated sexual attacks involving children in Sullivan County Court Wednesday. Miguel Casanova of Liberty had pleaded guilty to first degree rape for assaulting a 12 year old girl in the Town of Liberty. Donald Carner will also serve 18 years behind bars for his guilty plea to the charge of criminal sexual act against a child. Carner had admitted to sexually abusing a 9 year old girl in Livingston Manor.

Pipe Thefts - Tracy Baxter @ 10:48 am EST
Two brothers and their cousin have been charged with burglary in connection with the theft of copper piping from abandoned houses in Livingston Manor. 17 year old Matthew Perry of Livingston Manor and brothers Brad and Steven Perry of South Plymouth New York are accused of using bolt cutters to get copper pipe out of at least two buildings. The pipe was later sold for cash at a local recycling company. State Police say copper pipe has a current value of 1.75 to 2 dollars per pound.

Armed Robbery - Tracy Baxter @ 10:44 am EST
In the Town of Newburgh, the search is on for the man who robbed a business on South Plank Road at gunpoint Tuesday night. Police say the man walked into Tarsio Wine and Liquor Store...pulled a handgun...and took the female clerk to a back room. He then took between 300 and 400 dollars from the cash register before running out. The clerk wasn't hurt. He was confronted by two men who were walking out of a nearby bowling alley but he got away when he pulled out the gun, jumped in a car and drove off. Part of the Town of Newburgh police investigation is a search for a gray Volkeswagon Jetta.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Deposit Thefts - Tracy Baxter @ 11:01 am EST
A former employee of a company in Monticello has been charged with stealing thousands of dollars from her employer. Village police have charged 51 year old Debra Wright of Monticello with felony grand larceny. Investigators say Wright stole more than 4 thousand dollars worth of business deposits from Stow Mini-Storage on Jefferson Street where she worked. Wright reportedly stole 11 business deposits back in July. Police say she was responsible for making the bank deposits but pocketed the money instead.

Hiker Found - Tracy Baxter @ 10:58 am EST
Some anxious moments at Bear Mountain State Park Wednesday night. A 24 year old woman from New City was reported missing by her father after she failed to return home from a hike after dark. Search teams moved into the Stony Point section of the park and State Police launched two helicopters. At about 2am Thursday morning the disoriented woman ran out of the woods when she spotted the headlights of a police car. The woman is said to be OK.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Quickway Fatal - Tracy Baxter @ 3:05 pm EST
A Middletown woman died Wednesday morning when the S-U-V she was driving....veered across a grassy median on Route 17 and collided with another S-U-V. The crash occurred shortly before 10am in the westbound lanes of Route 17 in the Town of Chester. 45 year old Colleen Banks was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the other Ford Explorer...30 year old Amy Fulton of Harriman....was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center. Her two children...ages 4 and 9 months...were taken by ambulance to Westchester Medical. The westbound lanes of Route 17 were closed for about three and a half hours.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Burn Victim - Tracy Baxter @ 10:47 am EST
A 36 year old disabled woman from the Fostertown section of the Town of Newburgh was burned over 85 percent of her body during a kitchen fire at her home on Ruggerio Road Monday. The woman...who police did not identify...was able to call 9-1-1 after her pajamas caught fire while she was leaning over her stove. The woman was listed in critical condition in the burn unit at Westchester Medical Center.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Vandalism Arrests - Tracy Baxter @ 11:53 am EST
Town of Newburgh police say the 4 local teens charged with vandalizing at least 100 parked cars over the weekend will also be linked to other acts of vandalism that occurred beginning Christmas Eve. An eyewitness helped police arrest 17 year olds Travis Ingram, William Gannon, Daniel Alvarado and James Gida. All 4 face criminal mischief charges for shooting out car windows with a B-B gun in both the Town of Newburgh and the Town of New Windsor. Early damage estimates were between 30 and 40 thousand dollars. Newburgh town police say the suspects may have also committed similar acts of vandalism in the City of Newburgh and they say more arrests could be made.

Not Suspicious - Tracy Baxter @ 11:47 am EST
Town of Newburgh police say no foul play is suspected in connection with the discovery of a body Sunday in an old concession stand building at the former Middle Hope Drive-In. Lieutenant Michael Clancy says the homeless man...50 year old Alfy Buzzano...had apparently gone into the building to sleep. Preliminary findings were that Buzzano was probably sick...possibly with pneumonia...and died in the small building.

Homicide Trial - Tracy Baxter @ 11:45 am EST
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday for the teacher from the Monroe-Woodbury school district who is accused of killing a Long Island man while moonlighting as a bouncer at a bar near Hunter Mountain in Greene County last February. 29 year old Thomas Sebald of New Paltz faces a charge of criminally negligent homicide. He reportedly shoved an intoxicated bar patron out onto a porch. Peter Shine died shortly after the incident. Sebald's attorney called it a tragic accident. Sebald has been on paid leave from Monroe-Woodbury since the February 5th incident.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Infant Seats - Tracy Baxter @ 1:13 pm EST
Chilling results from crash tests of infant car seats by Consumer Reports. The non-profit testing organization says it can recommend only two of the 12 it tested....the Baby Trend Flex-Loc and the Graco Snugride. Consumer Reports says in frontal crashes of 35 miles per hour and side crashes of 38 miles per hour, most of the infant car seats it tested "failed disastrously". They came off their bases or twisted in place. And the magazine thinks the poorest performing seat...the Evenflo Discovery...should be urgently recalled. Evenflo is disputing the validity of the testing. The magazine says its unconscionable that infant seats aren't routinely tested the same as new cars.

Hospital Talks - Tracy Baxter @ 1:07 pm EST
Officials from Orange Regional Medical Center and Catskill Regional met Thursday to continue discussions about the possibility of sharing health care services. It was the second such meeting that administrators are calling, exploratory. Catskill Regional has been trying to get itself out from under a financial deficit.

Gang Assault Case - Tracy Baxter @ 1:04 pm EST
Town of Wallkill police are calling thursday's attack, a gang assault. It happened on Sarah Lane when a 15 year old boy was beaten, kicked and slashed in the cheek with a box-cutter knife. Police say 5 or 6 teen suspects were wearing black and red gang colors and drove off after the attack. The victim was treated and later released from the hospital.

Manslaughter - Tracy Baxter @ 1:02 pm EST
An Orange County grand jury has indicted two men on manslaughter charges for causing the death of another man while they were drag racing. In the indictment, 20 year old Brandon Ruud of the Town of Newburgh and 22 year old Ryan Woods of Walden are accused of speed racing on Route 17K back in May. One of the cars hit a vehicle driven by 76 year old Ralph West of the Town of Newburgh as he was trying to make a turn off 17K. West died of his injuries about a week later.