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Police Beat: Resident on State Street allegedly menaced by Rochester man

By Howard B. Owens

Robert Thigpen, III, 35, of 287 Flower City Park, Rochester, is charged with burglary, 2nd, menacing, 2nd, criminal mischief, 4th, and harassment, 2nd. Thigpen is accused of entering the apartment of an acquaintance on State Street at 10:37 p.m, Monday. He allegedly shoved the victim and threatened the person with a knife. Thigpen was located a short time later by officers Eric Hill and Kevin DeFelice and taken into custody without incident. Thigpen was jailed without bail.

Ricardo Velasquez, 21, of Elba, is charged with Aggravated DWI and speeding. Velasquez was stopped by State Police at 3:45 p.m., Sunday, for allegedly driving 96 mph in a 55-mph zone on Route 262 in Elba. Velasquez was taken to the police barracks and tested for alcohol and allegedly found to have a BAC of .28. Upon further investigation, it was determined that Velasquez is allegedly in the country illegally. Velasquez was jailed on $2,500 bail or $5,000 bond. A detainer was filed by the Border Patrol.

Gary Spencer

Robert Thigpen is yet another cat who is out on parole and still causing mayhem (I checks the DOCS website because I knew the name) send him back up state the boys miss his A*# too!

Aug 31, 2010, 8:37am Permalink
Jeremiah Pedro

Hmmm, I wonder how the State police found out he was in the country ILLEGALLY? I wonder if they contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement to inquire about his status? I wonder if they asked him for some form of identification? I bet they were just racially profiling him. Obama, Holder, Napolitano, and all the other people that oppose the AZ Law would probably disapprove of the State trooper asking this "hardworking" "undocumented" immigrant about whether he was in the country legally or not. I mean after all he is probably just a hard working young man who is only trying to make an honest living so he can send some money back to his family south of the border.

(in case it was lost on any of you out there, sarcasm is at work in this post.)

Aug 31, 2010, 2:14pm Permalink
Jeremiah Pedro

Anthony,

The first thing any LE will do is ask for some form of I.D. If you don't have I.D. then yes they will start to research where you're from. This would most likely include asking ICE if they have ever had any contact with the individual. Seeing if they have overstayed a visa.
This will happen regardless of race.
That is the point I'm trying to make for all the people who got their panties in a bunch over the Immigration law in AZ.

Aug 31, 2010, 3:39pm Permalink
Chris Charvella

Sure, but probable cause in AZ includes looking like a Mexican. This guy got pulled over for actually breaking the law, not looking like he might be.

Aug 31, 2010, 4:20pm Permalink
Richard Gahagan

So you know Howard spewing back scanner crap on here every single day is gettin old. My girl is red hot your site and doodly squat. Darien Lake teen citations, traffic violations, minor accidents, shoplifting, blah blah blah borin. Can somebody say podunk? Your like an out of control volunteer firemen with a scanner, a computer, a camera and a chubby.

Aug 31, 2010, 10:03pm Permalink
Jeremiah Pedro

Chris,

Read the law, go a head and read it. Then come back here and show me where it says anywhere in that law that "Looking like a Mexican" Constitutes probable cause.

Richard,

You don't like the site? Well no one is forcing you to read it. As a matter of fact I'm sure no one would miss your comments. By the way Howard how do you not see Richards comments for what they are? Some have been thinly veiled threats while others are just designed to piss people off. They may not be an attack on one individual but they usually never add anything resembling civilized or useful discussion. Actually now that I think about it his comments usually attack Batavia as a whole. No one asked you to move back here Richard.

Aug 31, 2010, 10:09pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

George, we have a rule against personal attacks. When they're directed at me, I try to ignore them, thinking "it just goes with the job." At some point, it's just not worth it.

If people want to critique me or the site, especially calling into question specific coverage, there can be honest debate. But broad brush attacks repeated over and over just become tiresome. It's not like such posts contribute anything.

Sep 1, 2010, 12:53pm Permalink
Lianne Gahagan White

Seriously? My brother means no harm, as you see people read this site for entertainment as well as information, my brother provided some entertainment! RELAX HOWARD! You are taking it way out of context.

Sep 1, 2010, 9:03pm Permalink
Lori Silvernail

If Howard owned a restaurant, Richard would be the type of customer who would be sitting at the table by the door telling every new customer who came in, how bad the food was, that the bathrooms were dirty, and that Howard couldn't cook. IMO, he had grown tiresome with his bashing of Batavia, The Batavian, and Howard. Personally, I found nothing he posted to be funny in the least.

Sep 1, 2010, 9:33pm Permalink
Jeremiah Pedro

George,

Az cops are NOT allowed to racially profile.
The Az immigration law does not give them the ability to racially profile. Read the law.

As for when did Richard ever threaten anyone.
He made a thinly veiled threat to Howard in a comment in response to the photos Howard took of a man going through a field sobriety test on main street.

Sep 1, 2010, 10:25pm Permalink
Frank Bartholomew

Howard,you're banning Richard from posting on the Batavian? I certainly hope you would give Thomas Mooney
the same treatment.He posted information pertaining to a juvinile, and for the most part was slanderous. I would hope that is considered worse than criticism.

Sep 1, 2010, 11:59pm Permalink
Bea McManis

Posted by Lianne Gahagan White on September 1, 2010 - 9:03pm
Seriously? My brother means no harm, as you see people read this site for entertainment as well as information, my brother provided some entertainment! RELAX HOWARD! You are taking it way out of context.

Lianne, I can appreciate your need to defend your brother. That is what family is all about.
There is a bigger family, a community to be exact, that suffered the slings and arrows your brother chose to hurl at our hometown and the people who reside here.
Not much of what he wrote about us could be considered entertainment.
By that definition, entertainment for who? His own ego?
He is now free to sit at his local watering hole and bad mouth Batavia, her citizens, and this site but we won't have to read it.
Howard has given him far more leeway than most.

Sep 2, 2010, 1:20am Permalink
Frank Bartholomew

Howard, Richard's posts seem to generate a lot of responses as well. You must have not received my 2nd E-Mail,about 15 minutes after my first, asking you to take it down.

Sep 2, 2010, 10:17am Permalink

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