batavia

Justin J. Wheeler, 37, of Attica, is charged with driving with ability impaired by drugs and failure to keep right. Wheeler is accused of being involved in an alleged hit-and-run accident on South Main Street, Batavia, and was subsequently stopped on Route 98, Town of Alexander, for allegedly operating erratically. (initial report)

Thomas Anthony Sobczak, 45, of West Main Street, Corfu, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana. Sobczak was stopped on an unidentified road in Batavia at 2:45 p.m., Nov. 15, for allegedly following too closely behind a semi-trailer by Deputy Brian Thompson. Thompson reported allegedly finding marijuana and codeine in Sobczak's possession.

Jeffrey M. Kohorst, 22, of 6105 Main Road, Stafford, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and speeding. Kohorst was stopped at 9:51 p.m., Saturday, in the City of Batavia by Officer Kevin DeFelice.

Michael Todd Dibble, 19, of Indian Falls Road, Corfu, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Dibble was stopped at 11:35 p.m., Saturday, on Route 5, Town of Batavia, for an alleged traffic violation by Deputy Kevin McCarthy.

A 16-year-old of Pratt Road, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. The youth was charged following a traffic stop on Angling Road, Pembroke, by Deputy Brian Thompson. A 16-year-old passenger in the car was also charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. The 17-year-old driver was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, reckless driving and speeding (90 mph in a 55 mph zone). The reckless driving drive stems from an alleged attempt to elude law enforcement with four passengers in the car.

Gary David Doctor, 28, of East Main Street, Corfu, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and unsafe tires. Doctor was stopped on Route 33, Pembroke by Deputy Brian Thompson.

Dylan James Hawkins, 18, of Hilltop Acres, Morrow Road, Pavilion, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Hawkins was reportedly a passenger in a vehicle stopped on East Avenue by Deputy Brian Thompson. The 17-year-old driver, of Bryant Street, Batavia, was also charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.

Teriance M. Schramm, 20, of Edwards Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of marijuana. Schramm was allegedly seen on Nov. 15 walking down Ross Street with nunchaku ("nunchucks") in his pocket. He was questioned by Deputy Matt Butler and also found to allegedly possess marijuana.

Summer Ogden, 34, of Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt and disobeying a court order. Ogden was arrested by State Police at 8:32 a.m., Saturday. No further details released.

It was interesting to see four contrails and the moon converge over Batavia tonight. This is my attempt to capture that moment.

Attica PD has been notified of a suspected hit-and-run driver heading South on Route 98 after allegedly hitting a parked car at 7 South Main St., Batavia.

The suspect truck is a red 2004 Ford F-150.

A Batavia Police officer said the same vehicle was suspected of erratic operation yesterday.

UPDATE 5:42 p.m.: Attica PD has the vehicle stopped in Attica.

UPDATE 5:46 p.m.: A Sheriff's Deputy is on his way to Attica to get the suspect.

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Santa Claus passed through Batavia today, making a stop at Oliver's Candies (I've also heard that he stopped at Present Tense Books, but I didn't find that out until later).

While Santa was in the sweetshop, the Batavia Area Jaycees were outside selling hot dogs and running a petting zoo.

Besides the three pictures on this post, a couple of additional photos are available for purchase by clicking here.

First Student, Inc., a bus company on Oak Street, held an auction today. I didn't find out about it until after it was all over, but I'm told 250 old school buses were sold.

Buyers came from Kansas, Mexico and Guatemala, among other places.

The City of Batavia has foreclosed on eight properties for failure to pay taxes.

In a report to city council, City Manager Jason Molino is recommending that six of the residential units be auctioned off, one be turned over to Habitat for Humanity and a commercial property be offered through a request-for-proposal.

The eight properties are:

• 507 Ellicott St., assessed value of $52,000 and back taxes of $19,225
• 20 Franklin St., assessed value of $65,000 and back taxes of $17,131
• 3 Manhatten Ave., assessed value of $71,000 and back taxes of $25,903
• 48 Riverview Parkway, assessed value of $1,500 and back taxes of $572
• 21 South Lyon St., assessed value of $53,400 and back taxes of $26,359
• 308 Washington Ave., assessed value of $12,400 and back taxes of $5,448
• 11-13 Raymond Ave., assessed value of $52,000 and back taxes of $20,803
• 13-15 Jackson St., assessed value of $15,000 and back taxes of $3,411

The Riverview Parkway and Washington Avenue properties are vacant land and are zoned residential.

The property recommended for Habitat is 11-13 Raymond Ave. The property has been vacant for more than a year and has water and mold damage. Habitat identified the property as suitable for revitalization and turning over to a low-income family. The local chapter would be asked to pay the $20,803 in back taxes for the property.

As for the commercial property on Jackson Street, it is a warehouse in the alley. Molino is recommending that the city put out a request-for-proposal asking potential buyers provide a plan for the property before it is sold.

It's not that the Falleti Ice Arena can't be sold, but restrictions from the grant money used to build it create one more barrier for the city to overcome before it can jettison the facility, according to a report released by the City Manager's office.

After some preliminary discussions with state and federal officials, it appears that if the city were to sell the ice rink, any proceeds would need to be used only on other parks and recreation facilities, or to benefit low- and moderate-income residents.

And how the money is used would also need to be approved by either the federal agency or the state agency that now administers Community Development Block Grants (CDBG).

The proceeds could not be used to pay down any current debt on the facility.

The city manager's report was released to city council members on Thursday and the findings will be discussed at Monday's council conference meeting.

The report notes that before these findings are confirmed, more talks need to take place with the federal Housing and Urban Development Department and the state's Office of Community Renewal.

The arena was originally built with CDBG funds in 1978, and it came with strings attached, including specifying what the city can do with the arena.

The existing debt on the rink is $400,000 and it is being paid by the current operator.

In 2006, the city received $1.2 million in low-interest loans from the state to improve energy efficiency at city facilities, including the ice arena. The operator will pay about $25,000 this year as reimbursement for the arena's share of those improvements.

The Holland Land Office Museum's ninth annual Wonderland of Trees opened Friday evening with a gala that included food (even a chocolate fountain), a silent auction, a chance to vote on your favorite tree and an opportunity to mingle with friends and neighbors.

About 40 local businesses and organizations participated in sponsoring trees this year, and the themes are quite creative.

The Christmas trees will be on display at HLOM through Jan. 8.

A car is reported to have struck a pedestrian on State Street near Alva Place in the City of Batavia.

We have no further information at this time.

UPDATE 4:14 p.m.: According to Sgt. John Peck, it appears that a bicyclist was crossing Alva Place, head down, earphones on, and was struck by a car. Since bicyclists do not have the right-of-way in a crosswalk, the rider is most likely at fault. The driver said she wasn't going that fast. He just darted in front of her. The rider was transported to UMMC, complaining of pain in his leg and hip.

Michael Richard Mack, 24, of 72 Main St., Le Roy, is charged with two counts of menacing, 2nd, criminal possession of a weapon, 4th, and criminal mischief, 4th. Mack was arrested by Le Roy Police Officer Kyle Slocum following the report of a disturbance at Mack's residence. Mack is accused of twice threatening a guest at his apartment and damaging the victim's mobile phone. Mack was arraigned and released under supervision of Genesee Justice.

David James Dole, 28, of 610 Kennedy Road, Cheektowaga, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property. Dole is accused of attempting to use a stolen credit card at two retail locations on Veterans Memorial Drive.

At least one of the six jurors who found Scott Doll not guilty of promoting prison contraband earlier this week is pretty certain Doll did, in fact, transport a balloon of crushed aspirin into the Genesee County Jail.

The proof, however, just wasn't there, she said.

Doll was accused of bringing the aspirin into the jail in violation of law following his conviction of murder for killing Pembroke resident Joseph Benaquist. 

Corrections officers testified to finding Doll in a holding cell on May 20 covered in white powder, with white powder on a sink, the floor and the bed, along with a green balloon sitting on the bed.

The juror -- whom we agreed to identify only as Juror #2 -- called The Batavian today because she was bothered by a statement from Sheriff Gary Maha about the verdict.

"Who knows, maybe they felt sorry for him because he's been convicted of murder and they thought, 'what's this silly little charge?'" Maha told The Batavian.

Nothing could be further from the truth, said Juror #2.

While the juror said she agrees with Maha that it makes no sense to believe anybody with the jail staff gave Doll the aspirin, she just didn't feel the case was made that Doll had the aspirin on his body when he entered the jail.

How it got there, she doesn't know, and Doll is the most likely culprit, but she just couldn't vote to convict him on the available evidence.

"We’re not saying there isn’t anybody who didn’t do their job," the juror said. "We’re not saying that at all. There was just no proof that he brought it in."

She said she was bothered by the fact that the prosecution did not offer the balloon into evidence, that there was no DNA evidence that might show Doll "stuck the balloon up his bum" or no photos were shown to put in perspective how much white powder was found in the jail cell.

The description of the amount of white powder found in the cell, Juror #2 said, left the impression that the amount of aspirin must have made the balloon "the size of a baseball."

She just didn't see how Doll could have hidden a balloon that size on his body and have it go undiscovered through three pat down searches.

The first vote, by secret written ballot, was 5-1 for acquittal. The one juror who favored guilty then asked the other jurors to explain their reasoning. After a short discussion, another vote was taken and "not guilty" was the unanimous decision.

Juror #2 said as far as she's concerned, it never crossed anybody's mine to let Doll off out of some sort of sympathy or that the case seemed too trival to bother with compared to his murder conviction.

"We took the case very serious," she said.

She also admitted that when she was first seated on the jury, she was sure Doll was guilty.

"You just don’t know," she said. "Things totally change when you are sitting in the jury box and you’re listening to all the evidence and you’re listen to all that testimony and you’re like, ‘wait a minute, I didn’t think of that.’"

Sure there's a free speech consideration, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said when discussing the arrest of local Democrat activist Chris Charvella on a charge of aggravated harassment, 2nd.

But the statute he's charged under has nothing to do with the content of the phone message Charvella left for Republican Legislator Jay Grasso.

The statute is about making a phone call "for no legitimate purpose other than to harass or annoy," Friedman said.

The content of the message matters only in helping to establish intent, and intent is a matter, ultimately, only a judge or jury can decide.

"That's always true," Friedman said.

Critics of Charvella's arrest have expressed concern that the 30-year-old Batavia resident won't get a fair hearing in Genesee County because of his political affiliation.

Friedman, a Republican, said politics plays no part of it.

"I've been in this job 29 years and I challenge anyone to say politics has played a part in my decision making," Friedman said.

The case is being handled by one of Friedman's five assistant attorneys, and as is often the case, he said he isn't personally involved. Friedman said how the case is handled is entirely up to Assistant District Attorney Kevin Finnell.

Because of the jurisdiction of the case -- a town court, where ADAs handle the caseload -- and the nature of the charges, it's a case that he does not routinely follow.

"I don’t intend to get personally involved in this case, so my political affiliation is irrelevant," Friedman said. "My political affiliation is always irrelevant. I don’t look at anybody’s politics when I get involved in a case, neither the victims nor the defendants nor the witnesses nor anybody else."

He added, "I don't get involved just because a case is in the media."

Friedman said he hasn't read the case file and only knows about Charvella's arrest from what he's read in media reports. 

For previous coverage of Charvella's arrest for allegedly harassing Grasso, click here.

Photo: File photo.

Officials at UMMC  have requested the fire department to go to 127 North St., Batavia, to investigate the smell of chemicals on the second floor of the building.

UPDATE 11:36 a.m.: Tim Yaeger, emergeny services coordinator, is on scene to assist city fire. We've heard no other updates. There's no indication from radio traffic that this is a serious situation.

UPDATE 1:14 p.m.: City fire units which responded are back in service.

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While the acquittal of Scott Doll on a promoting prison contraband charge is surprising, said Sheriff Gary Maha, he remains confident that it was Doll who brought a balloon filled with aspirin into the Genesee County Jail on May 20.

"You never know what goes on in a jury's mind," said Maha. "Who knows, maybe they felt sorry for him because he's been convicted of murder and they thought, 'what's this silly little charge?'"

The implication of the defense was that a member of the Sheriff's staff provided Doll with the powdered aspirin. It's a notion that Maha rejects, saying that all of the officers who came into contact with Doll the day he was convicted of killing Joseph Benaquist are professionals who know the regulations.

"We might have to look at the particulars and do some review," Maha said. "We might need to remind our guys to do a more thorough search of incoming inmates."

The initial report released by the Sheriff's Office said that Doll had the green balloon of white powder concealed on his body. But the only evidence introduced at trial was that the first time anybody saw a balloon was when it was sitting on a holding cell bed and Doll was already covered in white powder with more on the floor and the sink.

Maha said he was told from the beginning that the balloon was found on Scott Doll. He said he would ask his investigators about the discrepancy.

He doesn't believe, however, that any policies or procedures need to be changed. The fact that Doll wasn't convicted is more a matter, he indicted, that defense attorney Dan Killelea did a good job of creating reasonable doubt.

Maha agreed with Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl's closing argument that if any department official was going to give Doll aspirin, why crush it up first? Why not just hand him a bunch of tablets?

"There's no possible way one of our guys gave it to him," Maha said. "That's totally ridiculous. I think he (Killelea) probably wanted to create doubt.

"As far as I know," Maha added, "we did everything right. It should have been a slam-dunk."

Inset photo: File photo of Sheriff Gary Maha.

A light pole is reportedly down at Ellicott and Court streets, Downtown Batavia.

UPDATE 3:27 p.m.: It looks like age and wind did this pole in. City crews are on scene getting it removed.

One person suffered minor injuries in an accident Saturday at the intersection of Park Road and Veterans Memorial Drive.

The apparent cause of the accident was one driver pulling out from a stop sign who did not see the other car approaching.

Aaron N. Holley, 16, a passenger in the second vehicle, was transported to UMMC for a report of pain.

The driver of the first vehicle, D.C. Chamberlain, 16, of Route 20A, Perry, was cited for alleged failure to yield.

The driver of the second vehicle was Allen Peters, 31, of Durham Street, Rochester.

Holley was the only reported injury.

The accident occurred at 7:32 p.m.

(initial report)

This fine group of people are residents at 400 Towers. They came out today for a little lunchtime talk about The Batavian. They asked a few questions and talked about how they get their news. Bea McManis, in the back row with The Batavian sweatshirt on, organized the event and said very nice things about the site, its news and its readers.

It is reported that traffic lights are out on Vine, Summit and Ross at the Main Street intersection. Power is also out in that area.

A utility pole is also arcing, but is not a hazard, at Summit and Washington.

National Grid has been notified.

UPDATE 11:42 a.m.: National Grid reports 274 customers on the north and south sides of Main Street are without power.