January 2008

Bigamy Arrest - Tracy Baxter @ 12:13 pm EST
A woman is facing a charge of bigamy in Port Jervis for having 4 husbands. 60 year old Dorothy Wunders was arrested after the Port Jervis City Clerk's office noticed something funny with the paperwork for her marriage in early January to Kevin Lamb. Port Jervis police say Wunders was already married when she married Lamb and that she had two other valid marriages on file in Port Jervis and another in Middletown. Police say she's a bigamist because none of the prior marriages were ever officially dissolved. Wunders has also been charged with falsifying business records, forgery and perjury.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Copper Pipe Thefts - Tracy Baxter @ 11:52 am EST
It has become a lucrative business and State Police in Ulster county report the arrest of 4 people for stealing more than 400 pounds of copper piping during a series of burglaries in Ulster and Sullivan counties. Investigators say the thefts occurred over several weeks at a summer camp in Kerhonkson and at the former Grossingers Resort in Liberty. The suspects forcibly entered the buildings and sawed the pipes from ceilings and walls and then sold the copper to scrap yards in Ulster and Orange counties. Those arrested for burglary were identified as 36 year old John Crispell, 28 year old Frank Hasenflue and 27 year old Tammy Gritman...all of Kingston and 21 year old Richard Allen of Port Ewen.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Mistrial - Tracy Baxter @ 11:54 am EST
There was an unanticipated ending to an attempted murder trial in Orange County Court Monday morning. Judge Jeffrey Berry declared a mistrial in the Raymond Zayas case. He's the Middletown man who was on trial for the shooting of Middletown police officer Christopher Dolan during a police department response to a domestic dispute at Zayas' home last July. The judge declared the mistrial after the jury resumed deliberations this morning. He cited an "unresolved problem" with the jury as the reason for his decision. There was a report that jurors made an unauthorized visit to Zayas' Wawayanda Avenue home over the weekend. A conference will be held February 15th to begin the process of re-trying the attempted murder case.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Fire Victim - Tracy Baxter @ 1:56 pm EST
State Police in Ulster county say an electrical malfunction triggered the fire that took the life of a young girl Thursday afternoon in a mobile home on Marcott Road in the Town of Marbletown. The victim has been identified as 2 year old Lyla Berryann. She and her mother were the only ones in the home when the fire broke out in the child's bedroom and State Police say the victim's mother was not able to reach her. Investigators say the fire was caused by a faulty extension cord and power strip in the bedroom. State Police also say there was no water to the mobile home because the pipes had frozen.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Maximum Sentence - Tracy Baxter @ 1:05 pm EST
A Warwick man got the maximum prison sentence Wednesday for fatally stabbing another man last March in Warwick. Orange County Court Judge Nicholas DeRosa sentenced 31 year old Dwayne Brooks to 25 years in prison. A jury had convicted him of first degree manslaughter but found him not guilty of murder for the fatal stabbing of Michael Bristow of Middletown. Bristow died of a single stab wound to the chest. Warwick police say the attack grew out of an argument over a woman.

Scrap Metal Law - Tracy Baxter @ 1:02 pm EST
A new state law that went into effect last week is designed to make it harder for thieves to sell stolen copper and other scrap metals. As of now, anyone selling scrap metal worth at least 50 dollars to a dealer must provide photo identification. Scrap dealers will have to keep copies of the I-D on file for two years or face a 200 dollar fine. Theft of copper piping from houses has become a growing problem for police due to rising prices and rising demand.

Child Killed - Tracy Baxter @ 12:56 pm EST
Town of New Windsor police are continueing to investigate a two-car crash Tuesday evening that took the life of an 8 year old girl. Bryanna Holland of New Windsor was killed when the car she was in, collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Route 300 and Old Temple Hill Road. The girl's mother...Cassandra Brown...was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatoning. The other driver...Francis Circosta of New Windsor...suffered severe head injuries and was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center.

Burglary Arrests - Tracy Baxter @ 12:52 pm EST
State Police in Dutchess County say the pair was responsible for about 30 house burglaries in 9 different towns and after a two month investigation, police arrested them on felony burglary charges. Investigators acted on tips that led them to the homes of 29 year old John Vantassell of Pleasant Valley and 30 year old Benjamin Race of LaGrange. Stolen electronic equipment was discovered during the police searches. Both men had done time in prison....Vantassell for grand larceny and burglary and Race for criminal possession of stolen property.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Assault Sentence - Tracy Baxter @ 1:34 pm EST
A man from Liberty was sentenced to 9 years in prison Friday for assaulting and seriously injuring his mother inside her Liberty home....in an attack that police said was fueled by alcohol. 26 year old Paul Burrous was sentenced by Sullivan County Court Judge Frank LaBuda for the November 1st assault. Police say Burrous initially held his mother and father inside their Grand Street home then hit his mother in the head with a wall plaque. Rosalinda Burrous is continueing her recovery from a brain hemorrhage.

Stolen Service - Tracy Baxter @ 1:20 pm EST
Investigators with the Ulster County Sheriff's Department say 69 year old Norman Depuy of Accord went to great lengths to steal telephone service...or in this case...great heights. The caretaker of a residence on Stony Kill Road in Accord called police to say there was a man on the roof and that he had cut the phone service to the residence. An investigation determined that Depuy had gotten on the roof, cut the phone line, spliced into the line and ran his own phone line from the residence to his camp in the woods behind the victim's house. Depuy will now have to answer charges of criminal tampering and trespass.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Armed Robbery Arrests - Tracy Baxter @ 12:30 pm EST
State Police in Ulster County have arrested 5 people for a violent armed robbery at an apartment in Accord Sunday night. Police say 3 men...wearing masks and holding weapons...forced their way into an apartment at the Evergreen Apartment complex. Once inside, they pistol-whipped the tenant and assaulted a pregnant woman. Neither suffered life-threatoning injuries. They left with an undisclosed amount of property. Investigators later arrested the trio along with two accomplises who were waiting outside. The 5 face charges of first degree robbery and first degree burglary. 17 year old Ellenville residents Luis Torres and Stacie Armbruster were picked up...along with 22 year old Lucas Renfrow of Wurtsboro, 19 year old Luis Santiago of Kerhonkson and 20 year old Alexander Padilla of Woodbourne. They're all being held on 50 thousand dollars bail.

Yes Vote - Tracy Baxter @ 12:20 pm EST
Voters in the Valley Central School District have OK'ed a 7 million dollar bond issue that'll provide money for a series of improvements including heating and insulation upgrades at the high school and middle school. The bond issue passed Tuesday 669 to 183. Most of the money will be provided by state aid and through the state's Excel grant program. Local taxpayer impact will amount to about 2 dollars per 100 thousand dollars of assessed valuation.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Attempted Murder Trial - Tracy Baxter @ 11:22 am EST
Jury selection will continue Monday in Orange County Court in the case of Raymond Zayas, the Middletown man charged with attempted murder for the shooting of a Middletown City police officer last July. Zayas will stand trial in Goshen on charges contained in a 17-count indictment including attempted murder of a police officer. He's accused of shooting Officer Christopher Dolan twice when he responded to a reported domestic dispute at Zayas' Wawayanda Avenue residence. Dolan was shot in the forearm and pelvis. A 12 member jury has been seated but the process will continue Monday to select 4 alternate jurors. Zayas faces a possible 20 years to life prison sentence if he's convicted.

Charges Reduced - Tracy Baxter @ 11:14 am EST
A grand jury has dismissed the most serious charges against 6 Kingston High School students who had been accused of raping a 15 year old girl in a school bathroom last week. The reduced charges instead accuse the teens of misdemeanors. Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright says all 6 male students admitted to some form of sexual contact with the girl. A grand jury Thursday charged the suspects with misdemeanor sexual misconduct. One of the suspects was also charged with misdemeanor unlawful imprisonment. The suspects range in age from 16 to 19.

Insurance Fraud Arrest - Tracy Baxter @ 11:10 am EST
A self-employed computer consultant from Dutchess county has been charged with using a client's computer system to get a phony insurance certificate for his part-time snowplowing business. 43 year old Joseph Mori of Fishkill was charged with insurance fraud and criminal possession of a forged instrument. Investigators say Mori used the computer system of the Kaplan Insurance Agency in Wappingers Falls to print an insurance certificate that's required for snowplowing work.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Officer Maced - Tracy Baxter @ 12:02 pm EST
Police in Ulster County and vicinity are on the look-out for the man who assaulted a Town of Saugerties police officer during a traffic stop early Wednesday morning. The officer noticed a car with no front or rear license plates on Route 32. After he pulled the car over, the driver sprayed mace or pepper spray in the officer's eyes, then got out of the car and punched him in the head. The driver and his male passenger then drove off towards the Greene County line. The officer is expected to make a full recovery.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Industrial Accident - Tracy Baxter @ 12:03 pm EST
State Police have not filed any criminal charges in connection with an industrial accident that injured 3 workers in the Village of Florida, one of them seriously. They were injured Monday at Pharmline Incorporated when a stuck freight elevator broke loose and fell from the third floor. 39 year old German Henriquez of Middletown is in stable condition at Westchester Medical Center with head and internal injuries. Pharmline is a vitamin manufacturing company. An investigation into the cause of the accident is continueing.

Gang Assault - Tracy Baxter @ 11:59 am EST
A night club in the Town of Thompson was the scene of reported gang violence early Sunday morning that involved knives and baseball bats. Sullivan County Sheriff's deputies say 20 to 25 members of the Newburgh chapter of the Mexican Mafia street gang came to the Cinco Estrella Honduran Club on East Broadway and attacked members of a rival Monticello-area gang. Two of the 4 victims are in serious condition. 18 year old Alex Flores, 19 year old Alberto Silva and 20 year old Emanuel Flores were charged with first degree gang assault.

D-N-A Arrest - Tracy Baxter @ 11:54 am EST
State Police say they've solved a 4 year old burglary case...thanks to a match made in the state's DNA system. Investigators say 21 year old Dexter Kilbride of Port Jervis was the person who broke into the Port Jervis High School back in December of 2003. The school was ransacked and electronic equipment was stolen. But blood evidence recovered from the crime scene was entered into the state's DNA databank and last month it resulted in a match with a convicted offender specimen on file, connecting Kilbride with the break-in. He's been charged with burglary and criminal mischief.