batavia

The alleged scam enabled Schoen LaBombard to enjoy free meals, a free hotel room and a $500 loan.

It was only after LaBombard broke his leg while frolicking with his new friends that the scam was uncovered by hotel employees.  

The folks in Daytona Beach knew him as Alex Seppi, but while he was in the hospital, employees entered his hotel room to secure personal items on his behalf and found an identification with his real name.

There was apparently another person assisting LaBombard in the alleged scam. At one point, a manager spoke with a person who identified himself as Seppi's Navy Seal commander.

At this point, LaBombard is not facing charges in Daytona Beach, but he is in custody on a warrant out of New York (the jurisdiction is not specified in this WESH story). 

For the 1994-era scam in Batavia, LaBombard was required to pay restitution. According to news reports in 2004, he paid about $7,000, but there was still $20,000 outstanding. It's unclear if he ever completed payments.

In that case, LaBombard represented himself as a promising bobsled driver with Olympic dreams and convinced local business owners to donate money to help him pursue his dream. It turned out, he was not on the Olympic bobsled team, though he was a member of the federation.

His criminal history includes stints in prison for forgery and grand larceny, with convictions in Essex County and Albany County.

In Albany, he was once accused of impersonating a police officer to scam a prostitute out of money. According to another news report on that arrest (no link available), he was also accused of stealing more than $8,000 from business partners in the Albany area. He also accused of burglarizing his grandmother's house and stealing checks.

In 2012, the Albany Times Union ran a laudatory story about LaBombard about how he was turning his life around, getting off drugs, and leading a casting call for a reality TV series called "The Comebacks."

City firefighters rescued three people trapped in an apartment during an early morning fire at 2 Lewis Place.

The fire was put out quickly, but upon arriving at scene at 1:30 a.m., firefighters had to first use a ladder to a second-floor window to rescue two adults and one child.

City police officers got two other adults out of the lower apartment.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The fire was in the second-floor apartment.

The fire went to a second alarm because of the potential for the fire to spread into the attic of the row of apartments on Lewis Place. Town of Batavia fire was put on standby. Alexander's FAST team was requested to the scene. Darien fire was requested for their air bottle refill capabilities. Mercy EMS was on scene on standby.

Before other units arrived, they were told to back down from an emergency response because the fire was knocked down.

Four adults and one child were provided temporary housing by Red Cross.

City fire was back in service at 3:45 a.m.

Photo: Photo submitted by Kameko Barlog.

(Initial Post)

A structure fire is reported at 2 Lewis Place in the city. The third platoon is called to the scene along with Alexander's fast team and Emergency Services Unit #2. Town of Batavia is asked to stand by in its quarters.

UPDATE 1:48 a.m.: Fire is knocked down. Those en route are told they can respond non-emergency.

It looks like Dashawn Butler will get his day in court.

So far, Butler has turned down a plea offer to reduce the top charge against him from a Class C violent felony to a Class D violent felony, so today, Judge Robert C. Noonan set a trial date for Butler of Nov. 17.

Butler still has until Oct. 8 to accept the plea, under Noonan's plea-cut off rules.

The Batavia resident is charged with criminal use of a firearm, 2nd, a Class C violent felony, criminal possession of a weapon, 2nd, a Class C violent felony, and attempted assault, 1st, also a Class C violent felony. He's also accused of firing a weapon at another person Sept. 27 on State Street.

Noonan ruled against the defense on a motion to have the charges dismissed. Defense attorney Thomas Burns argued in a hearing two weeks ago that Batavia PD didn't exercise due diligence in trying to locate Butler after a warrant was issued for his arrest in October. That lack of due diligence violated Butler's right to a speedy trial, Burns said. Noonan found that there was not enough evidence that BPD did not try to locate Butler in a timely manner.

The plea offer from District Attorney Lawrence Friedman was unconditional, meaning Noonan would have all the sentencing options available for a person convicted of a Class D violent felony, including a lengthy prison term.

The skeletal remains from a residence on Seneca Avenue, Batavia, have been identified as male, 17 to 25 years of age and of Native American ancestry, Batavia PD said in a statement today.

The findings are consistent with what police were originally told by the resident who contacted BPD, that a relative had located the remains in Letchworth State Park in the 1950s while hunting for arrowheads.

The Tonawanda Seneca Nation has been contacted. The remains will receive a proper burial by the tribe.

Det. Kevin Czora led the investigation into the remains, which included numerous interviews and an examination of the remains by anthropological scientists. 

There is no evidence of injury to the individual and the remains were likely buried in the park for an extended period of time.

On a follow up to her request for smaller monthly restitution payments, Jacquetta Simmons showed up without the two things Judge Robert C. Noonan said she needed today: An attorney and a certified financial statement.

Noonan lectured her briefly on the need to have a proper financial statement, said that he wants to get restitution payments started in this case, and then gave her until Sept. 16 to get her documents together.

And perhaps show up with an attorney.

What Simmons arrived with in court today was a handwritten statement on a blue-lined piece of notebook paper.

"Ms. Simmons, what we need from you is a sworn statement of income and expenses for you and each person in your household," Noonan said. "We need an itemization of all the things you've done while looking for work, not just your conclusionary statement saying you can't find work."

When her case was called, Simmons ambled to the defense table dressed in faded blue jeans and a white T-shirt holding her piece of paper.

Asked about her attorney, Simmons told Noonan that she was under the impression that Key would be in court with her today, and that she spoke with Key after her Aug. 26 court appearance.

In June, the Buffalo News published a report about Key moving from the Buffalo area. His Web site says his office is located in Buffalo.

So when Simmons said she had spoke with him since August, Noonan expressed some surprise.

"Really?" Noonan said. "I thought he left town before that. Perhaps he kept the same cell phone."

Noonan told Simmons she could appear Sept. 16 with or without an attorney. "It's your choice," he said.

Simmons is under court order to make $100 monthly payments in restitution for $2,000 in medical expenses to Grace Souzzi, whom she punched in the face Christmas Eve 2011 after Souzzi asked for a receipt for items Simmons and her brother had purchased earlier at Walmart.

Because she's not working, Simmons has asked that the amount of monthly payments be reduced.

After the brief hearing, Simmons turned from the bench and walked away, mumbling something under her breath.

On Monday, Sept. 15, city maintenance workers will be milling a portion of the mall parking lot, weather permitting, between Dan's Tire and Auto and Genesee-Lawley Insurance. That's from Alva Place to the main driving lane. The area will be closed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 16 and 17, weather permitting, a city crew will pave this area and the parking lot will be closed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Here's what residents living in flood-prone areas in Batavia need to know: The city can help lower the cost of flood insurance, but nothing can stop it from going up.

Assistant City Manager Gretchen DiFante, hired primarily to help the city get a comprehensive flood insurance program going, said the cap on annual insurance-rate increases is 18 percent (it used to be 25 percent). If the city's program works as intended, the best result would be 15-percent lower premiums for local homeowners.

Rates will rise, she explained after the Monday City Council meeting, until an insurance company reaches 100-percent coverage for an individual property according to its actuarial tables.

"Not everybody is going to go up and not everybody will go up at the same rate," DiFante told the council.

This is an important issue, she said, because the rising cost of flood insurance will make it harder and harder for property owners to sell their homes. That leads to more sub-par rentals, more abandoned houses, higher crime and less tax money for local schools.

"When you look at the map, you have to realize, this is more than a thousand homeowners who are not going to be able to sell their homes if something doesn't change," DiFante said.

"I don't care where you live, it ought to be a concern," she added. "If it's not, it should be."

DiFante's job is to work with FEMA to get the city into community rating system (CRS) of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Cities accepted into the program get class ratings. A Class 7 community gets a 5-percent reduction in flood insurance rates, and a Class 9 community gets 15 percent.

There are two main components to the ratings:

• Reduce a community's flood exposure through mitigation activities;
• Obtain individual flood insurance reductions for residents in flood map areas.

But the process is far more complex than those two simple points, DiFante said.

"It is a daunting process, which is why I think there's only 27 communities in New York who have taken this on," DiFante said. "There's so much information you have to put together and in such a specific way you have to do it. Then every time you've got different reps from ISO who come in, everybody's kind of got their own way interpreting what you've done."

On a broad scale, the city will need to review zoning and building codes and make adjustments to mitigating flooding issues.

On an individual homeowner basis, the city can provide guidance and perhaps secure grants for elevation certificates that could lift some homes out of the flood map, or improve an individual property's rating.

The elevation certificate process can also provide property owners with guidance on improving their property from a flood exposure perspective.

It will be at least 16 months before the city realizes any benefits from its flood insurance efforts.

Red areas are floodplain.

Here are the latest indictments issued by the Genesee County Grand Jury>

Jeffrey M. Black is accused of driving while intoxicated as a Class E felony. It is alleged that on May 25, 2013, hedrove a 2000 Harley-Davidson motorcycle in the Town of Byron while intoxicated. In count two of the indictment, he is accused of driving while intoxicated, per se, as a Class E felony for allegedly having a BAC of .08 or more.

John J. Saddler is accused of criminal mischief in the second degree, a Class D felony. It is alleged that on Aug. 16 in the City of Batavia he acted with intent to damage the property of another person and, having no right to do so nor any reasonable ground to believe that he had such right, damaged the property of another person in an amount greater that $1,500. The damaged property was a glass door at the Genesee County Jail.

A single-car accident is reported at 206 E. Main St. in the city. Unknown injuries. Mercy medics are on scene and Engine #11 is responding. The vehicle is smoking.

A live wire is reportedly down and sparking at 110 S. Swan St. There is also a power outage in the area, according to callers to dispatch, including possibly the courthouse. A loud noise was also reported. City fire is responding.

Jason Daniel Lang, 30, of North Bennett Heights, Batavia, is charged with grand larceny, 4th. Lang is accused of stealing $1,260.37 in electronic equipment from Target. A caller reported seeing a male matching Lang's description hiding a storage bin filled with suspected stolen merchandise in a wooded area behind Target. Deputy Joseph Corona responded and secured the merchandise. He later located Lang hiding behind a garbage dumpster in the parking lot by the Clarion Hotel. Lang was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Kelsey Anne Sanders, 27, of Hutchins Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Sanders is accused of shoplifting from Walmart.

Daniel DelPlato, 59, of Chandler Avenue, Batavia, is charged with assault, 3rd, and unlawful imprisonment, 2nd. DelPlato is accused of striking another person in the head four or five times with a frying pan and restricting that person's movement without consent during a domestic incident.

Christina A. Deluna, 34, of Liberty Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and possession of a hypodermic instrument. Police responded to Deluna's residence at 2:12 p.m. Sept. 2 after neighbors reported that she appeared to be acting strange. Officers observed alleged drugs and paraphernalia in her home.

Tyler J. Henderson, 26, of Franklin Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear in City Court.

Joseph C. Jeffords, 23, of York Road, Leicester, is charged with petit larceny. Jeffords is accused of stealing a laptop and returning it to a local retail store in exchange for a gift card.

Ken Mistler sent in this interesting photo of the sky over Batavia yesterday evening.

A reader sent in this photo Friday (and I've not had time to post it until now) of the sun over the lake at DeWitt Recreational Area when it was 89 degrees locally.  

Transportation company RTS Genesee (formerly Batavia Bus Services) introduced three new buses yesterday, all named after local children.

Hallie Wade stands next the bus named after her.

Photo submitted by Kellie Wade.

A vehicle struck a pole and then left the scene at 305 Washington Ave. in the city. Wires are down and arcing. It is blocking traffic. City fire is on scene.

A fire in the oven is reported at 24 Buell St. City fire is responding.

UPDATE 12:52 p.m.: Firefighters on scene report light smoke is coming from the two-story frame house.

UPDATE 12:55 p.m.: Fire contained to the oven. House is charged with smoke. Now ventilating.

Great athletes and "4 actors from The Sopranos" will be at the Western New York Sports Card Expo at Batavia Downs on Sept. 20-21.

In addition to the unspecified cast members of The Sopranos, the event will feature: Dave Bing, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Lou Piniella, Jose Canseco, Gayle Sayers, and Ric Flair.

The Expo runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. Parking is free. Admission is $5 and includes $5 in free play for those 18 and older. Children under 8 get in free.