From the blotter / Niagara County police calls, July 1 to 8 July 1 July 3
• A 29-year-old man was injured while cutting down a tree on Elbert Drive in Wheatfield. Colin M. Dugan of Niagara Falls, an employee of Action Tree Care of North Tonawanda, told sheriff’s deputies that the chain saw kicked back on a branch and cut him on the right thigh. He was taken to Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston and treated for minor injuries.
• A Cedar Avenue man told Niagara Falls police that his girlfriend’s two daughters, ages 11 and 21, came to his house and threatened to beat him up for ruining their mother’s life. He said the older girl punched him in the face and arm and pushed him over the porch railing, causing him to injure his foot.
• Eagle Crest golf course workers in Pendleton reported to sheriff’s deputies that someone stole a full tank of gas from a golf ball picker, which was parked outside the clubhouse overnight. The gas was valued at $50, deputies said.
• An apartment in the 3500 block of Lower Mountain Road in Cambria was burglarized, and a laptop, $2,000 sapphire ring and a silver necklace were reported missing between 11 p. m. and 1:30 a. m. An 18-year-old man and 16-year-old woman who live in the apartment told sheriff’s deputies they had a fight, but both denied the burglary and damage to the apartment.
• A 64-year-old Barker man told sheriff’s deputies that he hosted an auction at his home in the 1900 block of Quaker Road and, sometime between 9:30 a. m. and noon, someone removed 100 flat plate scraps of metal, valued at $500, from behind the barn. The man said he believes someone may have been checking out the items prior to the auction.
• A woman who left her purse in her car while at a Newfane golf course off Lockport-Olcott Road told sheriff’s deputies that she returned and found the doors unlocked and her purse gone. Deputies said there was no sign of forced entry. The woman said she had several credit cards and her ATM card, as well as her $600 stimulus check in the purse.
• A Newfane man reported as highly intoxicated, severed his finger after falling down a flight of stairs, according to sheriff’s deputies. The 26-year-old Transit Road man was walking down a flight of stairs inside a barn in the 6000 block of East Avenue just after 5:30 p. m. when he lost his balance and fell. The man went to a neighbor’s house for help thinking he had cut his finger, and further investigation revealed that he had severed the tip after his finger was cut on a ladder rack, protruding from the wall. The homeowner said the injured man had been staying at the house and was there retrieving some belongings.
July 2
• Sheriff’s deputies said they stopped Kevin J. Young, 26, of Washington Street, Niagara Falls for having two many things hanging from his rear view mirror and obstructing his view at 2:49 a. m. on Niagara Road in Wheatfield, and then further charged him with aggravated unlicensed operation when they found he was driving with a suspended license.
• Two Niagara Falls women were charged by Niagara Falls police with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance after police found narcotics and crack cocaine. Judy C. Harpham, 30, of Spruce Avenue, and Carol A. Kraft, 22, of Seventh Street, were charged at 10:36 a. m. at Sixth and Walnut streets. Police said they found Kraft had a failure to appear warrant out of Niagara County and was found with three hydrocodone pills and a crack cocaine pipe. Harpham had a pack of gum which contained a rock of crack cocaine and a $5 bill in her bra, which was wrapped a second rock of crack, police said.
• Miguel K. Wright, 18, of Glendale Drive, Lockport, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Lockport police accused him of touching a 14-year-old Ransom Street girl “in a sexual manner” June 28, according to Officer Travis Mapes’ report.
• Jennifer J. Bower, 34, of Gooding Street, Lockport, was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Lockport police said the arrest resulted after testing of an alleged crack pipe stem Bower turned over to them during a traffic stop of her vehicle June 4. • A Welch Avenue man told Niagara Falls police that his baby’s mother slapped him, pulled him to the ground and stole his wallet about 11:30 p. m. The wallet contained $975 in cash, police said. The woman fled after the incident.
• Two tires were slashed on a car belonging to a 17th Street woman, Niagara Falls police reported. The vehicle was parked in an alley near the victim’s home when the incident occurred. Damage was estimated at $400. • A Hartland woman reported that her 18-speed bicycle, which had been locked, was stolen from the rack in front of Urban Park Towers, 77 Main St., Lockport.
July 4
• Troy P. Wheaton, 41, was arrested at 6:44 a. m. in the 1300 block of Main Street, Niagara Falls police said. The 25th Street resident was charged with felony driving while intoxicated and third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation after he turned in front of a police vehicle, causing the officer to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. Wheaton was also charged with failure to signal a turn, no seat belt and failure to yield right of way. Police said Wheaton’s blood-alcohol level was 0.25 percent, more than three times the legal limit.
• Ted F. Seelbinder, 52, of Monroe Avenue, Niagara Falls, was arrested at 5:18 p. m. in the 2400 block of Pine Avenue, Niagara Falls police reported. He was charged with felony and misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, as well as second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, unlicensed operation and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
• A 19-year-old man with cystic fibrosis told Niagara Falls police he was assaulted by a woman who became upset with him while they were walking to a friend’s home. The man, who uses a feeding tube, said he was punched three times in the stomach about 3 p. m. while walking in the 2200 block of Forest Avenue. Police said his injuries were believed to be minor. The woman fled after the incident.
• A Packard Court woman told Niagara Falls police that someone took a wallet off the kitchen table in her apartment about 8:30 p. m. The wallet contained $250, credit cards and a Social Security card. A fellow tenant is suspected in the theft.
• A Linwood Avenue man told Niagara Falls police his car was broken into while he watched the Fourth of July fireworks at Hyde Park. The vehicle was parked near Hyde Park Boulevard and Grand Avenue between 9 and 10:30 p. m. when someone broke the door lock and removed a computer module valued at $800.
July 5
• A car parked roadside on Akron Road in Royalton was vandalized about 3 a. m. Saturday, sheriff’s deputies said. The vehicle, owned by a Royalton resident, had both outer mirrors broken and also was scratched. Damage was estimated at $500.
• Sheriff’s deputies said they arrested a Michigan man following a large fight outside Dominick’s Bar on Main Street in Middleport at 3 a. m. Lawrence
W. VanBuren, 47, was charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful possession of marijuana.
• A 17-year-old woman escaped her home at 2235 Cudaback Avenue, Niagara Falls, just before 5 p. m. after being awakened by someone yelling that the house was on fire. No one was hurt in the fire. No cause or damage estimate were given.
• A near-collision with a Niagara Falls police officer landed a Tonawanda man in jail. Chanvir Singh, 42, was arrested at 7:40 p. m. at Niagara Street and Rainbow Boulevard. He was charged with DWI, failure to yield right of way to an emergency vehicle and making an unsafe lane change.
• Christy W. Woods, 42, of Main Street, Lockport, was charged with petit larceny. Lockport police accused her of stealing a cell phone belonging to Wilbert L. Covington of Main Street, from his Urban Park Towers apartment.
July 6
• A Gasport man told sheriff’s deputies another man came to his Orangeport Road home just before 11 p. m. threatening to kill him by stabbing him with a knife he was carrying in his vehicle. An application for an arrest warrant was to be filed in Royalton Town Court.
• A 20-year-old woman told a sheriff’s deputy her purse was stolen out of her vehicle about 10:30 p. m. when she was inside a Lockport-Olcott Road convenience store in Newfane. The purse contained her bank card, Social Security card and wallet.
• Rampaging crowds damaged a pickup parked outside the Club New York on Third Street, Niagara Falls, shortly before 3 a. m. Police said dozens of people were fighting outside and in the streets after the club closed. Several people jumped on the running boards of a 1998 Dodge belonging to a Park Place man, breaking both. A mirror was also damaged, with total damage estimate was listed at $1,500.
• Niagara Falls police investigated a pair of car break-ins. A Washington Street woman told police that someone entered her unlocked car between midnight and 7 a. m., taking $20 and another $2 in coin. A Jerauld Avenue man said that his car was entered while parked in his driveway. Two paychecks, various personal effects and about $15 in coin was reported stolen.
• Letana Crenshaw Jr., 46, of no permanent address, was picked up at an apartment on Ruhlman Road in Lockport and charged with fifth-and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, Lockport police reported. The arrest stemmed from an April 9 incident in which police stopped a car on Washburn Street and found cocaine, marijuana, two scales and a crack pipe inside the vehicle. Crenshaw, the passenger in that car, had run from the scene, officers said.
• Mark J. Brinson, 33, of Ridge Road, Hartland, was arrested by Lockport police on charges of fourth-degree criminal mischief, second-degree menacing and second-degree harassment. Brinson is accused of entering the Pine Street apartment of a woman whom he claimed owed him $250. He allegedly grabbed a frying pan and swung it at the woman, punched her in the chest, chased her from the kitchen into the bedroom with a butcher knife, and smashed a combination DVD player and VCR worth $229, police reported.
• George L. Dash, 42, and Paul F. Owens, 49, both of Pine Street, Lockport, were charged with disorderly conduct by city police. Residents of different apartments in the same building, they engaged in a heated verbal argument, which drew a crowd of neighbors, police said.
• James P. Doxey, 28, of John Street, Lockport, and a juvenile were charged with disorderly conduct by Lockport police after a street fight on Caledonia Street.
July 7
• A Newfane man told a sheriff’s deputy his roommate had become violent and threatened to shoot him after drinking alcohol. The Hatter Road resident said the other man had thrown a jug of urine at him during an argument. A .22-caliber rifle was confiscated from under the roommate’s pillow.
• A Wheatfield man who had his driver’s license revoked three times for refusing to submit to chemical test was arrested just after 5 a. m. after a traffic stop on Walmore Road. John J. Licata, 40, of Brookhaven Drive, was charged with second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, an alcohol-related offense. He was sent to Niagara County Jail in lieu of $250 bail.
• Johnetia D. Dix, 42, of South Street, Lockport, was charged with two counts of second-degree harassment and single counts of fourth-degree criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, second-degree obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest, Lockport police reported. Ronnie
A. Koonce, 37, of South Street, was charged with disorderly conduct. The arrests followed a fight between Dix and another woman on Locust Street, in which Officer Rodney Peters reported he saw Dix punch the other woman twice in the face. When Peters grabbed Dix, she allegedly scratched his face and tore his shirt. A third woman was involved in the fight; she reported she had been knocked cold by another woman on South Street earlier in the evening. Koonce was arrested after allegedly yelling obscenities as Dix was arrested.
• David M. Klotzbach, 28, of Fisher Road, Oakfield, was charged with second- degree criminal impersonation and third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, Lockport police reported. Police had arrested him on the latter charge on Jan. 18 and April 10, but both times he identified himself as Steven Klotzbach. The real Steven Klotzbach, David’s brother, called police to complain that Lockport City Court had suspended his driver’s license for failure to appear in court to answer those charges.
• Daniel W. Tonn, 35, of Davison Road, Lockport, was arrested at his home and charged with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, Lockport police reported. He was pulled over July 4 on Walnut Street by Lockport Officer Aaron Belling, who had arrested him earlier in the year on the same charge. Belling said Tonn told him his driver’s license had been reinstated, and Belling was summoned to another call and didn’t have time to check. When he did, he found Tonn’s license was still suspended.
• Floyd McGriff Jr., 34, of Walnut Street, Lockport, was ticketed twice for loud music from his car stereo, Lockport police said. After being stopped on Genesee Street, he drove off and cranked his music up again, leading to a subsequent arrest on Pine Street, police said.
• A Lockport man told city police that three aluminum scaffolds and three fiberglass ladders were stolen from a construction job at a home on South Bristol Avenue sometime since July 3. The loss was estimated at $1,800.
July 8
• A Niagara Falls man is facing drug possession charges after his early morning arrest behind a Main Street hotel, Niagara Falls police said. Police arrested Justin W. Budd, 21, of Ontario Avenue, after he exited a vehicle parked behind the Roadway Inn just before 4 a. m. A half-smoked marijuana blunt was found inside the car. Budd is due back in court July 16.
• Anthony C. Richardson, 21, of Gabriel Drive, Lockport, was arrested on North Transit Street and charged with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation.
