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A two-car accident with injuries, blocking traffic, has been reported at Route 98 and Batavia-Elba Townline Road.

Mercy EMS and Town of Batavia Fire are responding.

The injuries do not sound serious at this time.

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Christopher Paul Rutherford, 26 of Cowen Road, Piffard, is charged with petit larceny. Rutherford is accused of giving a free oil change and tire rotation and balance to a friend. The alleged incident occurred at 2:04 p.m., Aug. 20.

Thomas Michael Ford, 21, of Brockport-Spencerport Road, Brockport, is charged with petit larceny. Ford allegedly stole engine oil and a tire rotation and balance from Walmart. Ford is accused of receiving the service on April 1.

Edward M. Davis, Jr., 45, of 23 Oak St., Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Davis is accused of sending text messages to a person he was ordered not to contact. Davis was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Ashley Evette Mercado, 20, Watson St., Batavia, was picked up on a bench warrant from a previous trespass charge. Mercado was allegedly involved in an unrelated incident, leading to police contact and discovery of the warrant. Mercado was jailed on $250 bail.

Tonight's Batavia City Council meeting was a conference meeting. The following items were discussed (no votes were taken):

Cedar Street reconstruction

In September 2009, the City Council authorized the Cedar Street reconstruction project. It is being paid for by federal highway money and will cost $2.8 million.

A total of 15 engineering firms were considered for a contract to provide engineering services for the project. A committee is recommending that Buffalo-based Erdman Anthony get the contract for $220,000 in engineering services.

Redevelopment

The Batavia Planning and Development Committee approved a residential redevelopment plan previously recommended by the City Council. At its next business meeting, the council will be asked to pass a resolution authorizing the plan.

It calls for foreclosed properties to be transferred to the Batavia Housing Authority so that the property can be deeded, under specific conditions, to qualified low-income families.

City budget

In keeping with Batavia's budget audit consultant, the City Council will need to adopt a resolution at its next business meeting to set up several reserve funds. These include: employee benefit accrued liability; self-insurance health benefit plan; workers' compensation; retirement contribution; and reserves for Dwyer Stadium repair.

The city has $3.5 million in compensated absence liability, with $1.3 million potentially due immediately, if the high number of employees eligible to retire actually did so. The resolution would authorize a transfer of $150,000 to the benefit accrued liability fund.

Another resolution would authorize the transfer of $100,000 to the self-insurance fund.

With $284,000 in potential workers' comp liability, another resolution would transfer $200,000 from the general reserve fund to the workers' comp liability fund.

Another resolution would transfer $150,000 for public works equipment and $50,000 for fire department equipment for future purchases.

The council is also being asked to transfer $200,000 to the retirement reserve fund.

Finally, the council is being asked to transfer $60,000 to the Dwyer Stadium repair reserve fund.

Friday night, lights are on, stadium is packed and it's Homecoming Week. It couldn't have been a better scenario for the Batavia Blue Devils football team as they upset visiting Penfield 20-14 Friday night in high school football action for their first victory of the season.

Senior running back, Ryan Pyatt led the offense for Batavia by rushing for a career high of 124 yards on 17 carries in his first varsity start.

Quarterback Aaron Gugel rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries and he completed 4 of 10 passes for 44 yards and a touchdown.

Sophomore wide-out Justin Washington had two receptions for 34 yards including a 10-yard touchdown reception. Mitch Francis added two receptions for 10 yards and another reception on a 2-point conversion. Francis also had a big day on defense by intercepting a pass and returning it for a 70-yard touchdown. He also had a kick return for 45 yards.

Kyle King led the defense for Batavia with 9 tackles, 2 for a loss. Kris Jones added 7 tackles, 2 for a loss. John DiFante added 4 tackles for Batavia and recorded an interception as well.

Nick Costanza scored for Penfield on a 32-yard run and David Roque caught a 37-yard reception from from QB Kyle Covley to give Penfield their 14 points.

Batavia improves to 1-3 while Penfield falls to 0-4.

Batavia PD is asking for help in identifying the man in this picture. Investigators wish to speak to him related to a possible larceny at Tops Market. No further details were released.

A Covington man is being accused of trying to convince Walmart employees that he was a federal law enforcement agent.

Why isn't clear, but Nikko C. Gambino allegedly entered the Batavia Walmart on two occasions wearing clothing with law enforcement markings, displaying a badge and saying, the first time, that he was looking for robbery suspects, and a second time saying he was looking for a fugitives.

Following an investigation, members of the Genesee County Local Drug Task Force along with officers from the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office, conducted a search of Gambino's Covington home and reportedly found articles of clothing with law enforcement markings and a metal badge.

Gambino was charged with two counts of criminal impersonation, 2nd, and one count of falsely reporting an incident.

He was jailed on $5,000 bail and additional charges may be pending.

The case against Ronald J. Wendt II continued today in Genesee County Court with testimony from Deputy Tim Westcott and then Sgt. Brian Frieday.

Deputy Westcott was asked questions by the District Attorney Lawrence Friedman regarding the condition of Wendt at the time of the arrest. When asked if Wendt showed any indications of injury at the time of the accident, he replied with "no."

Wescott stated he was not aware of Wendt's purported forearm injury until after the arrest. When asked about whether he was aware of a pre-existing knee injury, saw any signs of allergies or knew of any allergies that Wendt had, Deputy Westcott responded with "no."

Friedman then asked Deputy Westcott if he had any doubts in his mind about the accuracy of the details in the arrest report and again the response was "no."

It was stated in the report that the last drink that Wendt consumed was at 10:50 p.m. and the accident occured at 11:08 p.m.

Westcott added testimony that when he asked Wendt, after he was under arrest, to submit to a chemical test, Wendt replied with "I don't know" and later consented after he was informed of the consequences if he did not.

Deputy Westcott also testified that, in his opinion, the flashing lights from the emergency vehicles would not have had any effect on Wendt's eyes while performing field sobriety tests, since the officer was facing the lights, not Wendt.

Frieday was called to the stand next. He supervises the midnight shift for the Genesee County Sheriff's Department and is the department's breath analyst advisor. He maintains the records of DataMaster breath tests, including the one given to Wendt the night of the accident.

Frieday testified that the DataMaster is sent to Albany once a year to be re-calibrated and tested to maintain its accuracy. Plus, every six months tests are performed on the machine over a phone line. He added that the supervisor also gives weekly simulated tests.

Assistant District Attorney Kevin Finnell then asked him how a BAC is reported on the DataMaster. Frieday said it is recorded in the machine up to three decimal places, but is only displayed on the machine in two. Thus, if a BAC was recorded in the DataMaster at 0.099 it would only be seen on the display and recorded as a 0.09 BAC.

Finnell then provided Frieday with documentation showing that the machine was calibrated accurately and Frieday testified that it was and that the DataMaster also operated properly the night of the crash.

During cross-examination, Defense Attorney Thomas Burns questioned Frieday about the accuracy of the results. Frieday stated that the DataMaster takes breath samples and uses mathematic equations to calculate the BAC, since actual blood samples are not tested.

Burns argued that the equation, which is based on the average person, is not the same for each person, therefore it could not be 100-percent accurate. Frieday subsequently testified that the fixed ratio is higher than the average person, therefore the BAC reading would actually tend to show lower than it really was.

Frieday said that the time that it takes to absorb alcohol into the blood stream depends on different variables including the amount of food in a person's stomach and how much they have eaten.

He testified that after 15 minutes it "would not be absorbed into the blood stream fully."

When asked by Burns if it could take upwards of two to three hours to fully absorb alcohol in the body, Frieday stated that it was possible and would be on the upward side of the absorption.

When asked if it could still be absorbing into the blood stream even after four hours, Frieday responded by saying "I have heard that number, I recall that number, yes."

The judge then dismissed the case until 2 p.m.

The expert witness for the defense in the Ronald J. Wendt II trial was grilled Thursday afternoon by the prosecution, which brought out some discrepancies in testimony given years ago in other trials.

Fran Gengo, Ph.D, is a clinical pharmacologist at the DENT Neurological Institute and currently serves as an associate professor of Pharmacy and Neurology and a clinical assistant professor of Neurosurgery at the SUNYAB School of Medicine. He now practices neuropharmacology research and pharmacotherapy.

His testimony yesterday concerned the rate of alcohol absorption in the body, the accuracy of breath analysis devices, specifically the DataMaster, and criteria for determining a person's level of intoxication.

Assistant District Attorney Kevin Finnell asked if alcohol can have an impact on a person's perception, eye-tracking ability, motor skills and cognition.

Gengo said he had to qualify his answer, "depending on the concentration amount."

According to testimony given in a trial on April 10, 2007 in Michigan, Finnell told Gengo, "you said you believe you can look at a person and determine if he's been drinking."

Gengo said, yes, but not whether that person was intoxicated. Finnell countered by saying Gengo back then said he could tell someone's BAC by looking at them, which Gengo flatly denied.

Back and forth they went, with Finnell asking a question and saying "that's a yes or no," and Gengo hesitating and saying the prosecutor was "mischaracterizing his words."

Finnell also asked him about his voluntary participation in unpaid activities, specifically  "grand rounds," a sort of group discussion with students and other professionals about medical, pharmacologic and related topics.

The witness on several occasions, including this inquiry, looked puzzled by Finnell's questions, as though he could not ascertain their relevance.

Finnell asked him if he was paid for his testimony, yes, Gengo replied, $500 to research and decide whether to take a case, and $3,500 for preparation and testimony.

Finnell pointed out that his prices had gone up since 2004, when he charged $2,000 for preparation and testimony. Finnell asked Gengo if favorable defense testimony resulted in more clients, therefore more money in his pockets.

Gengo replied that no, it didn't, his career was more dependant upon his credibility regardless of a trial's outcome, and furthermore, he accepts on only one of every six cases he encounters.

Then they parsed over how correct the calibration was of the DataMaster breathylizer once it left the factory with a rate of .002 accuracy in detecting the amount of alcohol in a person's system. Gengo maintained that, although that standard was higher than the state's .005 standard, the "instrument alone" shouldn't be the determining factor, rather a person's biology, whether they have eaten, their body-mass index, gender, are part of the picture as well.

"The mathematical calculations in some instances are arbitrary," Gengo said.

Inevitably, they went into the inscrutable territory of "partition co-efficients," citing an esteemed Swissman, Dr. Allen Jones's body of work and when and how Gengo's statements differed with this colleague, a man Gengo "had the pleasure of dining with on at least three occasions."

Jones has written, according to Finnell, that the body's rate of alcohol absorption is between five minutes to two hours. Gengo said that was wrong, he believes it to be 45 minutes to two to three hours. The provider of the course materials used to train officers, Intoxometer Co., claims it is 15 minutes to two hours.

"But that is not complete absorption," Gengo said. "It is the time of peak absorption. (In detecting alcohol levels) breath overtakes blood until absorption is complete."

On re-direct examination, Defense Attorney Thomas Burns asked Gengo if he was aware of any jurisdiction where two blows into a breathylizer are mandated. Yes, Dengo replied, but not in New York.

"I don't recall any case where they had the same numbers twice," Gengo said, although they are usually "within a narrow margin."

Gengo was able to explain that a "partition co-efficient" says that for every 2,100 molecules of alcohol in one's breath, there is one molecule in the blood.

This tends to "grossly underestimate the variance of alcohol levels of subjects in the field versus the laboratory."

For example, he said, if a person is running a fever, that can result in a higher number of molecules of alcohol in the blood.

After Gengo's testimony, Sheriff's Deputy Tim Wescott was recalled to the stand. Under questioning by Burns, the officer said he did not ask Wendt at the accident scene about his physical condition, whether or when he had eaten or slept, if he wore contacts and if he was injured.

But when placing handcuffs on him later, Wendt told the officer his left forearm was injured in the accident. Asked if that could have had an impact on his balance during the field sobriety tests, the officer said, yes, if could have.

Asked if he had looked inside Wendt's truck to ascertain any damage inside the cabin on the driver's side, Wescott said no, because he's "not the tallest man in the world" and it would have been difficult to do from a street level.

Tonight, as part of its home coming game at VanDetta Stadium, the Batavia Blue Devils will honor its 2010 Hall of Fame inductees.

The ninth annual inductees are:

• Don Cerefin, 1947
• Bruce Beswick, 1970
• Sharon Leising, 1964
• Ernest Found Jr., 1970
• Barry Sheldon, 1967
• Matthew Doward, 1986
• James Briggs, 1969
• Teal Fowler, 1989
• James Dzierzanowski, 1969

Tonight's game is at 7 against Penfield.

The inductees will be recognized during a half-time ceremony.

Following the game, there will be a reception at Ri-Dan's Sports Park, 3755 West Main St. Road, Batavia.

The induction dinner is Saturday at Terry Hills. A social hour begins at 5 p.m., and dinner is served at 6 p.m., with the ceremony immediately after dinner.

Tickets are available at the Batavia High athletic director's office, or call 343-2480, ext. 2003.

More inductee pictures after the jump:

Contractors began milling Ellicott Street this morning in preparation for repaving next week.

Over the next three days, the milling tractors -- which cost $750,000 each -- will remove 750,000 tons of top asphalt.

The milling begins down the center of Ellicott today, with traffic being diverted to the outside lanes from Main to Cedar. Once the center of the roadway is milled, traffic will be routed to the center and workers will mill to the curbs.

A test strip of paving will be laid on Wednesday, with actual paving scheduled to begin on Friday.

Two bus loads of area residents departed from the Batavia Downs parking lot this morning for "Patriot Trip III," the annual trek to Washington, D.C., organized by Assemblyman Steve Hawley.

The trip includes tours of the WWII, Vietnam, Korean and FDR Memorials as well as the Nation’s Capitol, Arlington Cemetery, and Udvar Hazy Aerospace
Museum. Each traveler paid $325 to join the group and they will stay at Fort Belvior Army Base in Virginia.

For many of the people joining the tour this year, it is their third time making the trip to D.C., and some first-timers said they were excited to be going in this year.

David Timothy Neuhaus, 23, of North Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Neuhaus is accused of stealing property from another person in Bergen. The time of the alleged incident was 5:20 a.m., Tuesday.

Randy Lawrence Sanfratello, 40, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Sanfratello allegedly remained on the property of another person whom he was ordered not to be near.

William J. Christner, 55, of Batavia, is charged with DWI and aggravated DWI. Christner was stopped by State Police at 9:07 p.m., Tuesday, on Route 5 in the Town of Batavia.

A fire is reported at an apartment building at 42 Spencer Court in the City of Batavia. The possible structure fire is reported to be in an end building and there is some traffic congestion due to people trying to leave the scene or move their cars.

Firefighters on scene report smoke showing.

UPDATE (9:58 p.m.): The smoke is said to be coming from a BBQ grill and fire units are back in service.

Batavia Police are on scene of an accident at Park and Richmond. No word on injuries.

A second accident at Park and Oak has just been called in. It's reportedly a rear-end accident. No word on injuries.