From the blotter / Niagara County police calls, July 29 to Aug. 2 July 28
State police stopped a Town of Niagara man for driving without a license on Saunders Settlement Road and said they found more than 20 ounces of marijuana, narcotics and a hypodermic needle. Michael A. Soliday, 30, of Lockport Road, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of marijuana, a Class C felony, and misdemeanor counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument, driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Troopers said they stopped Soliday at 9:30 p. m. and their investigation found that he was driving while intoxicated and his driving privileges in New York had been revoked. Found in the vehicle were 20.6 ounces of marijuana, hydrocodone tablets, codeine pills and a hypodermic needle, troopers said.
July 29
• Maureen F. McCooey, 50, of Smith Street, Buffalo, was charged by Lockport police with driving while intoxicated with a blood alcohol count above 0.18 percent and reckless driving at 1:14 a. m. on Erie Street in Lockport.
July 30
• Brandon S. Smith, 22, of Grand Street, was charged by Lockport police with two counts of equipment violation, unregistered motorcycle, failure to signal, no insurance or inspection, unreasonable speed, aggravated unlicensed operation and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. He was riding a dirt bike and seen by police with no helmet on Prospect Street. They followed him driving at a high rate of speed, according to reports. Police said the bike was found behind a garage on Grand Street and seized and Smith was later identified and charged.
• A 60-year-old Cambria man told sheriff’s deputies that his brother’s pit bull attacked and killed his cat. The man said his daughter witnessed the pit bull running loose in the area. Deputies said they attempted to interview the suspect, but no one answered the door. An investigation was continuing, deputies said.
• Anthony W. Crenshaw, 42, of Park Avenue, Lockport, was charged by Lockport police with third-degree assault. He allegedly sucker-punched a Harvey Avenue man as the man walked into the Mini Mart at Walnut and Washburn streets July 25. Darrell suffered a broken nose and a cut over the eye.
• Sheldon Cunningham, 20, of Ninth Street, Niagara Falls, was arrested by Lockport police on Price Street and charged with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation and having his view obstructed by a pine tree-shaped air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror.
• Four vehicles in Lockport were broken into overnight, two each on Prospect and North Transit streets. Stolen on Prospect Street were $60 in cash from one car and a $200 CB radio from another. On North Transit, thieves took a $400 CD player from one vehicle and a $300 car radio from another.
July 31
• Clarice L. Goldsmith, 35, of Orchard Street, Lockport, was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and driving with a suspended license and registration. The charges resulted from a July 1 traffic stop by Lockport police on Cottage Street. Officers said they found two crack pipes and a plastic container and two plastic bags containing white residue, which later tested positive for cocaine.
• Andrew W. Johnson, 21, of Spalding Street, Lockport, and Melvin U. Darrell, 29, and Nathaniel R. Ali Jr., 24, both of Waterman Street, Lockport, all were charged by Lockport police with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Johnson also was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. A passing officer said he smelled marijuana smoke coming from a house on Genesee Street, and Johnson denied smoking marijuana but said he had some in his pocket. He also had a large dagger, while Darrell had brass knuckles, and he and Ali were sitting on some steps, under which police said they found a pocket knife with white residue on it.
Aug. 1
• An argument in Buffalo turned into an assault in Niagara Falls when the suspect drove his female victim here against her will, then threw her to the ground and beat her, Niagara Falls police reported. The incident occurred in the 6700 block of Niagara Falls Boulevard at about 11 a. m.
• A Pine Avenue resident told Niagara Falls police she saw two teenage girls go onto her back deck and steal her baby stroller at about 8:30 p. m. The girls fled down a nearby alley with the $200 stroller.
• Stanley E. Kajfasz, 43, of Devlin Avenue, Niagara Falls, was arrested at 10:34 p. m. in the 200 block of 73rd Street, Niagara Falls officers reported. Police said Kajfasz crossed over the center line, forcing a patrol car to swerve to avoid a head-on collision. He then drove over the curb several times and fought with police while being placed in custody, reports said. Officers said Kajfasz also was in possession of a Loritab pill. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, resisting arrest, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, failure to signal and failure to yield right of way to an emergency vehicle.
• Scott M. Main, 24, of Transit Road, East Amherst, was arrested by Lockport police and charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, an unattended vehicle and having an open container of alcohol. Police said Main stopped his car in the middle of North Transit Street and got out to fight two other men.
• Charles T. Williams, 29, of North Transit Street, Lockport, was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and walking in the street on Locust Street just south of Walnut Street in Lockport. City police said they found cocaine in his pocket.
• Enrique Fierro, 28, of Crimson Drive, Albion, and Edward C. Simmons, 21, of Church Street, Medina, were arrested by Lockport police after a traffic stop on Grand Street. Fierro was charged with unlicensed driving, obstructed view and unlawful possession of marijuana, along with a 1997 arrest warrant from Medina police. Simmons, the passenger, was charged with false personation and having an open container of alcohol.
Aug. 2
• A Haeberle Avenue residence was burglarized via a basement window, Niagara Falls police said. The break-in occurred between 7 a. m. and 3
p. m., and a container holding about $20 worth of pennies was stolen.
• Dana V. Dunn, 26, of Washington Drive, Lewiston, was arrested at 6:15 p. m. after a domestic incident at the James Avenue home of her estranged husband, Niagara Falls police said. Dunn is accused of punching and scratching the man during an altercation, all in plain view of their 5-year-old son, and was charged with third-degree assault, fourth-degree criminal mischief, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child.
• A Pittsburgh resident told Niagara Falls police that someone broke into his car between 7:30 and 8:15 p. m. while it was parked at the Howard Johnson motel on Niagara Falls Boulevard. A door was pried and a window was smashed on the vehicle. A global positioning system was stolen out of the car, along with a bag full of football equipment. Loss was pegged at $450.
• Lockport residents Philip A. Ruiz Jr., 18, of Cottage Street, and Daniel S. Solomon, 19, of Harvey Avenue, were arrested by Lockport police after a fight at LaGrange and John streets. Ruiz was charged with disorderly conduct and attempted second-degree assault for allegedly bouncing a rock off the head of a Niagara Street man, while Solomon was charged with disorderly conduct.
• Mark F. Poole, 46, of Bowmiller Road, Lockport, was charged by Lockport police with fourth-degree criminal mischief and two counts of second- degree harassment after an altercation on Davison Road in Lockport. Police said Poole was driving when he allegedly yelled at two other men. The vehicle stopped and Poole allegedly punched one man in the face and then slugged the other when he tried to call 911 on his cell phone. The phone broke on the pavement, police said.
• Pernell L. Hobbs, 24, of Crosby Avenue, Lockport, was charged with petit larceny by Lockport police, who accused him of stealing an Xbox 360 game unit worth $560 from another Crosby Avenue home. Jessica R. Broughton, 18, of Crosby Avenue, was charged with second-degree obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest during the incident, police reported.
