batavia

A male, whose identity is not being released yet, succumbed to injuries sustained during a fight at 111 Liberty St., Batavia, at 11:15 p.m., Tuesday.

Police are looking for a person who might be a suspect in the case.

The first officers on the scene found a male in one of the rooms at the residence and EMS was summoned. The victim died at the scene.

Officers obtained a suspect description and, with the assistance of the State Police K-9, searched the area for the suspect.

The police are not releasing that information while the investigation is pending.

The identity of the victim is not being released pending notification of relatives. His body was transported to the Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office where an autopsy will be conducted on Thursday. In a statement, police said more information about the investigation will be released after the autopsy is complete.

"Through our investigation thus far it is believed that this was not a random act of violence and that the suspect and victim knew each other," police said in a statement.

Anyone with any info regarding this incident is asked to call police at (585) 345-6350, information may also be submitted via the confidential tip line at (585) 345-6370.

A brawl involving several households is reported on Walnut Street in the city. Batavia PD are on scene at 18 Walnut St. because of the altercation. The location is near Walnut Place. A subject has a head injury.

UPDATE 7:35 p.m.: Mercy medics are responding, too.

UPDATE 7:42 p.m.: Command requests a second ambulance to the scene. Dispatchers call Alexander ambulance for an unknown injury.

UPDATE 7:51 p.m.: A patient has a hand injury but is refusing treatment, so Alexander is told to stand down.

UPDATE 7:59 p.m.: It is Le Roy's ambulance transporting a male from the scene to UMMC who has an obvious deformity to his nose and pain estimated to be a 7 out of 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.

A car vs. pedestrian accident is reported at 24 Franklin St. in the city. The location is between Davis Avenue and Pearl Street. City fire and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 2:50 p.m.: One patient is being transported to UMMC.

A pedestrian was struck by a gray four-door sedan at Washington and Thomas avenues in the city. The vehicle continued on Washington eastbound. City fire and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 1:12 p.m.: Dispatch has updated the discription of the vehicle. It is silver or light blue in color and an older model. Male driver had brown hair and a mustache; female passenger had large sunglasses and dark wavy hair, according to a witness. A trooper may be behind the suspect vehicle now.

UPDATE 1:30 p.m.: A police officer at the scene says there are "several security cameras here at the intersection" and he may be able to get the vehicle's license plate after viewing the footage. An officer is possibly out with the vehicle matching the description at the West End Mobile Home Park.

UPDATE 1:32 p.m.: The victim/witness is not sure what damage is visible on the suspect vehicle. The officer says there's no evidence of vehicle damage left behind at the scene. There may have been a dog in the vehicle. The female passenger's sunglasses were heavily tinted.

Samantha L. Wroblewski, 29, of Medina, is charged with driving while impaired by drugs, DWI, criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and moving from lane unsafely. Troopers were dispatched to a report of a property-damage accident on Route 33 in Stafford and Wroblewski was allegedly found asleep at the wheel with a hypodermic needle in her arm. Wroblewski allegedly admitted to possession of heroin and additional needles. She was arrested after failing to pass multiple field sobriety tests and she submitted to a chemical test.

Tyler Austin Stoddard, 23, of Meiser Road, Corfu, is charged with bail jumping, 3rd. Stoddard was located in Indian Falls and taken into custody. He allegedly failed to appear in Integrated Domestic Violence Court on Nov. 18. He was ordered held in jail.

Amanda K. Shufelt, 31, of Locust Street, Lockport, is charged with petit larceny. Shufelt allegedly stole merchandise from a gift shop at Darien Lake Theme Park.

Brandon L. Kenney-Westfall, 25, of Bergen, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Kenney-Westfall was stopped by State Police at 8:18 p.m. Saturday in Bergen.

• Algebra 1
• Geometry
• Global History
• Living Environment
• Earth Science
• English Language Arts
• Chemistry

The classes will be held on Aug. 13, 14, and 15, from 1-3 p.m. at BHS, 260 State St. in the City of Batavia.

Register by Aug. 10 by calling the Batavia High School Counseling Office at 343-2480, ext. 2002.

Cynthia M. Mack, 51, of South Swan Street, Batavia, is charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree criminal assault. She was arrested at 8 p.m. on July 20 on South Swan Street after she allegedly struck another person with an ashtray, causing injury. She was jailed without bail and was due back in City Court this afternoon (July 23). The case was investigated by Batavia Police Officer Matthew Wojtaszczyk, assisted by Officer Nicole McGinnis.

Amy Marie Guiles, 47, of North Main St., Warsaw, is charged with second-degree harassment. The defendant was issued an appearance ticket following a report of a physical distrubance at an address on Route 19 in the Village of Bergen at 12:30 a.m. on July 7. The defendant allegedly struck the victim multiple times with closed fists. She is due in Town of Bergen Court on Aug. 15. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Ryan DeLong.

Katlyn Marie Buzzell, 18, of Burke Drive, Batavia, is charged with fourth-degree grand larceny. She was arrested at 2:17 p.m. on July 20 at a discount department store on Veterans Memorial Drive, Batavia. It is alleged that she stole property exceeding $1,000 while employed there. The case was investigated by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Travis DeMuth, assisted by Deputy Chad Minuto.

Lisa Darline Ayres, 52, of Garfield Street, Newark, is charged with: felony DWI -- with two prior convictions with the last 10 years; felony DWI -- operating a motor vehicle while having a BAC of .08 percent or more; aggravated unlicensed operation in the firt degree; operating a motor vehicle without an interlock device; and refusing to take a breath test. Ayres was arrested following a traffic stop on McGregor Road in the Town of Darien at 11:06 p.m. on July 21. In addition, she is charged with: unsafe turn without signal; interferance with safe operation when passing on the left, and failure to yield the right on way on a left turn. She was arrainged in Town of Darien Court and jailed in lieu of $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond. Ayres is due in Town of Darien Court on July 24. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Eric Meyer, assisted by Deputy Christopher Parker.

Kaitlin Marie Penko, 22, of Ocean Reef, Willoughby, Ohio, is charged with: DWI; aggravated DWI with a BAC of .18 percent or more; failure to dim headlights; obstructed plate, stopping or standing on a highway. She was arrested at 11:35 p.m. on July 22 on Colby Road in Darien following an investigation into a vehicle stopped on the roadway. She was issued an appearance ticket and is due on Town of Darien Court on Aug. 21. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Eric Meyer, assisted by Deputy Kevin Forsyth.

Ricki Leigh Nersinger, 66, of Ireland Road, Brockport, is charged with DWI, operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of .08 percent or more, and following too closely. Nersinger was arrested after deputies responded to Route 5 in the Town of Pembroke at 10:22 p.m. on July 21 for a property damage accident. The defendant was issued an appearance ticket and is due in Town of Pembroke Court on Aug. 28.

Jonathan Chris Shirley, 36, of Council House Road, Tonawanda Indian Reservation, is charged with two counts of second-degree criminal trespass. Shirley was arrested at 6:29 a.m. on July 21 following the complaint of a trespasser at an address on Bloomingdale Road. The defendant allegedly entered a dwelling twice unlawfully without the property owner's permission. The defendant was arraigned in Town of Alabama Court and jailed in lieu of $2,500 cash or $5,000 bond. In addition, an order of protection was issued on behalf of the victim. The investigation was conducted by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Ryan DeLong, assisted by Deputy Ryan Young, Deputy Eric Meyer and Investigator Chad Minuto.

Jessica L. Deridder, 30, of 160 State St., Batavia, is charged with resisting arrest. She was arrested, arraigned and jailed without bail at 10:20 a.m. on July 17. It is alleged that on Ellicott Street in Batavia she ran from a Batavia Police Officer, knowing she was wanted for another crime. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Catherine Mucha, assisted by Officer Frank Klimjack.

Andre L. Dupra, 49, of Rochester, was arrested by troopers out of SP Batavia at 10:55 p.m. on July 21. He is charged with DWI, refusal to take a breath test, aggravated unlicensed operation in the second degree, and numerous traffic violations. Troopers stopped Dupra on Swan Street in the City of Batavia for failing to yield to oncoming traffic, a loud muffler, and no passenger side headlight. While speaking to Dupra, the operator, troopers allegedly detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage. Dupra was placed under arrest after failing multiple SFSTs and transported to SP Batavia where he refused to provide a breath sample.
Dupra was arraigned in the City of Batavia Court and released on his own recognizance. Dupra is to return to the City of Batavia Court later in July.

Christina M. Kowalcyk, 48, of Fairway Drive, Batavia, is charged with DWI -- first offense, and operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of .08 or more. She was arrested at 1 a.m. on West Main Street, Batavia. She was allegedly driving a vehicle that had a flat tire while she was intoxicated. A concerned citizen initially reported this to police. She was issued an appearance ticket and released. She is due in City Court on Aug. 8. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Matthew Wojtaszyzyk

Patricia L. Gertis, 58, of 48 Mt. View Drive, Arcade, is charged with petit larceny. She was arrested at 12:25 p.m. on July 21 at Tops Friendly Market in Batavia. She was issued an appearance ticket and is due in City Court July 24. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Catherine Mucha, assisted by Officer Frank Klimjack.

A 16-year-old resident of Oak Street in Batavia was arrested and charged with petit larceny at 3 p.m. on July 13. It is alleged that the youth stole money from a cash register while working at Walmart. The defendant is due in Batavia Town Court on July 30 to answer the charge. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Chad Minuto, assisted by Deputy Travis DeMuth.

Jennifer Ann Roskey, 37, of South Main Street, Oakfield, is charged with second-degree criminal contempt. It is alleged that at 5:18 p.m. on July 19 on South Main Street in Oakfield that the defendant violated a mandate of the court -- a stay away order of protection. She was issued an appearance ticket. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Travis DeMuth.

Jason A. McFollins, 40, of Union Street, Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant and arraigned in City Court at 8:15 a.m. on July 22. He was jailed on $1,000 cash or bond and was due back in City Court this afternoon (July 23). The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Matthew Wojtaszyzyk.

Dekota Leiser, 26, of an unspecified address in Batavia, was arrested July 18 on a Wyoming Superior Court warrant after turning herself in at the Genesee County Jail in Batavia. She was transported back to Warsaw and put in Wyoming County Jail with no bail until the next court session for her arraignment. The case was handled by Wyoming County Sheriff's Office Investigator Aaron Anderson.

Batavia High School's football Head Coach Brennan Briggs ran a football camp last week and 40 young players turned out to learn more about the game. Current Blue Devils staff, along with former and current players, assisted with the camp.

Submitted photo.

A hay bale in a farm field off of Bank Street Road, Batavia, this afternoon.

A two-vehicle accident with injuries is reported in the city at Oak Street and Richmond Avenue. One vehicle is blocking traffic. City fire and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 3:03 p.m.: No injuries.

A Batavia man appeared in Genesee County Court this morning to answer to a sealed Grand Jury indictment charging him with attempted first-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse.

Adam H. Brokaw, a resident of Northern Boulevard, is accused of attempting to have sexual intercourse with a person incapable of consent by reason of physical helplessness and subjecting that person to sexual contact in the City of Batavia.

The alleged incident reportedly took place at 2 a.m., Nov. 11, after a party at a residence on Northern Boulevard, Batavia.

Brokaw is a New York State corrections officer employed in Albion. 

Members of both Brokaw's family and the alleged victim's family were in court this morning for his arraignment before Judge Charles Zambito.

First Assistant District Attorney Melissa Cianfrini asked Zambito to set bail at $10,000.

Brokaw's attorney, Stephen Leonardo, argued that the 43-year-old defendant is not a flight risk because he's lived in Genesee County his entire life, except his service in the Navy, is married to his wife of 11 years and they have a juvenile daughter, and he is gainfully employed as a corrections officer.

Leonardo also noted that Brokaw appeared for his arraignment today voluntarily even though, by the nature of the investigation, he was well aware of the potential charges.

Zambito released Brokaw on his own recognizance.

His next scheduled appearance is at 9:15 a.m., Sept 25.

A car-pedestrian accident is reported at Main and Jackson streets in Downtown Batavia. City fire and Mercy medics are responding.

A caller to dispatch says her children called her and said a male, unknown description since her children provided none, was looking into the windows of their home in the 3200 block of W. Main Street Road. He was last seen eastbound on foot on Route 5.

Sheriff's deputies are responding. The mother is returning home in her vehicle.

When Ted and Patricia Hawley launched New York Craft Malt in 2013, it could have been characterized as an experiment. It was certainly speculative.

The State Legislature had recently passed a law that opened the door to commercial craft brewing and distilling, but it required 90 percent of the ingredients of any craft brew to come from New York.

Malt, created from barley, is a critical ingredient in beer but what legislators apparently didn't realize was that malting barley hadn't been grown in New York for nearly 100 years.

The Hawleys recognized an opportunity and they opened New York Craft Malt in Batavia.

"It was very experimental," Ted Hawley said after giving a tour of his malthouse to about 100 people on Wednesday, including beer enthusiasts, farmers, other malters, and brewers. "I had to educate myself on how to malt. I had to learn how to malt with this equipment. I had to learn the equipment and learn the trade, so I've come a long way in a short time."

Today, New York Craft Malt offers more than 40 varieties of malt with an emphasis on flavor and color, the unique attributes of craft malts. Brewers from throughout New York buy Hawley's malts and he now has customers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Oregon and California.

"The circle is growing," Hawley said.

New York Craft Malt is also no longer the only malthouse in New York. There are 12 now, and each is unique, according to Gary C. Bergstrom, chair of Cornell University's Plant Pathology Department.

"I’ve seen every one of them and I can tell you, every one of them does things a little differently," Bergstrom said. "The word craft really applies here."

The tour of Hawley's operations started with Bergstrom and other members of Cornell's team in a farm field off of Assemblyman R. Stephen Hawley Drive in Batavia where Hawley and Cornell work together to grow experimental barley strains as they try to develop varieties that can not only thrive in New York but also provide what craft malters seek -- a choice of flavors and colors.

Malting in New York fell victim 100 years ago to market forces, the climate (it's not easy to grow barely in New York), and Prohibition. The effort to bring barley back has concentrated on developing strains that can grow well and be disease free in this climate.

"After the legislation passed, we quickly realized that we didn't grow what the whole industry depends on, which is malting barley," Bergstrom said. "We hadn't grown it since Prohibition. We had an immediate challenge and a positive challenge."

Cornell scientists swiftly started studying all of the varieties grown throughout the world to find which might best be adapted to New York.

"We started a breeding project to find our own unique variety of barley," Bergstrom said. "In the meantime, we learned about varieties that do well enough here to grow them and how to adapt them, how to reduce the risks and toxins on them, and how to harvest them to get the best quality we can produce right now."

Hawley has been an integral part of that barley trials, Bergstrom said.

"Ted has been a great partner with Cornell," Bergstrom said. "He's cooperated on trials; he's opened his facility to tours; at the state level he's been a good person to network and share his knowledge with others. He's helped on the education front as well as the research."

After the field tour and the malthouse tour, the group headed over to Eli Fish Brewing Company where master brewer Jon Mager gave a tour of his operation and guests could sample some locally brewed beers.

With a craft beer in hand, Jason Crossett, lead brewer for the New York Beer Project in Lockport, said coming on the tour was an important part of seeing how the whole value chain of craft beer works in New York. It was a chance to meet growers and even though he knows how malting works, he wanted to see how a craft malthouse did it.

"For me, I've done a few beers with Ted's malts but I always wanted to check out his facilities and see how a small malting operation works," Crossett said. "It was very important for me to see how the grain gets from the farmer to the malter to the brewer. To me, it's a cycle. Beer can't be made without the malters doing what they do and the farmers doing what they do and the brewers doing what we do. It takes all of us to make a good product for consumers."

Hawley also emphasized the importance of those cooperative relationships. They are, he said, what has enabled his business to grow and thrive. Early on, a few brewers trusted him enough to work with him and help him develop his product.

"In the beginning, I had bad supplies," Hawley said. "I was learning the trade and now those brewers trust me for quality malt because, without their feedback, I wouldn’t know if I was making something that was good or not. I needed their feedback, their honest, constructive criticism and it has made me where I am today."

More than 90 children from age 4 to age 8 turned out at the Batavia Sports Park on Friday for Ricky Palermo's annual soccer clinic.

This was the 15th year Palermo hosted the clinic.

"It grows a little bit every year and that's exciting," Palermo said.

The clinic helps raise awareness about spinal injury, Palermo said, and shows the kids that even a person with a spinal injury can still do things.