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Police Beat: Depew girl accused of attacking person with a baseball bat

By Howard B. Owens

Leandra Marie Kutas, 17, of Gould Avenue, Depew, is charged with attempted assault, 2nd, criminal mischief, 3rd, and menacing, 2nd. Kutas is accused of punching, biting and hitting another person with a baseball bat during an incident in Darien on Nov. 10. Kutas allegedly left the residence after the attack and then returned a short time later and keyed the victim's car. Kutas was arraigned and released under supervision.

Tyler M. Schroder, 18, of Oak Street, Oakfield, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Schroder was allegedly found in possession of pills and marijuana while being arrested on a warrant. He was jailed on $1,500 bail.

Billie Owens

If the police release the name, it becomes part of the public record. It can be published, too. We generally don't do so, but use our discretion and make a decision on a case-by-case basis.

In this instance, Howard published the name because of the especially brutal nature of the alleged crimes.

Dec 3, 2010, 12:04pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

What prompted it? "attempted assault, 2nd, criminal mischief, 3rd, and menacing, 2nd"

That's a little more than the typical unlawful possession of marijuana, underage drinking or trespassing changes.

FWIW: The Daily always releases the names of under-18 arrests from what I can tell. That's not a criticism. Their policy is their policy. Early on, for right or wrong, I just decided we wouldn't release names of those under 18 for minor offenses, but would release them for serious offenses. We always get the names. So what often happens is we don't release the name and the Daily does, which may seem counter-productive to our policy, but unlike the Daily, our archives are always available through Google, no matter how old they might be.

Dec 3, 2010, 5:58pm Permalink

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