elba

Apparently, an aurora borealis was visible in Genesee County, at least in Elba, on Monday night. Fran Woodworth submitted this photo.

The driver of a sedan that smashed into a tree on Route 262 in Elba shortly after 5:30 a.m. may face a DWI charge.

Corey Hemmer, 25, of Elba, was taken by Mercy Flight to ECMC.

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said a blood sample was taken from Hemmer and additional charges may be pending.

Hemmer is in intensive care.

Also injured where Megan Ann Gregg, 18. She is listed in guarded condition at Strong Memorial Hospital. Strong's policy is to list anybody in intensive care as "guarded."

The third victim in the crash is Aaron Pahuta, 19. He underwent emergency surgery at ECMC this morning.

Hemmer was reportedly driving westbound on Route 262 just east of Route 98 when his Pontiac drifted off the north side of the roadway. The car struck a tree head on.

Sgt. Brian Frieday said at the scene that a passerby found the wreckage some time after the accident. Investigators were unsure at that time how much earlier the accident had occurred.

All three occupants had to be extricated and transported to hospitals by Mercy Flight.

The accident is under investigation by the Crash Management Team of the Sheriff's Office.

Elba Fire Department and Mercy EMS responded to the scene and Town of Batavia Fire Department was dispatched to provide additional extrication tools and manpower.

Note: Upon request of the Sheriff's Office, publication of photos withheld until victim notifications completed.

A car has hit a tree on Route 262, just east of Route 98 in Elba.

Three people were in the car and one person is entrapped.

Mercy Flight is on in-air standby.

Three Mercy EMS ambulances have been dispatched.

Elba Fire Department is on scene.

UPDATE 5:52 a.m.: Two Mercy Flight helicopters requested to the scene. A landing zone will be set up at the fire department rec hall.

UPDATE 5:54 a.m.:  Third Mercy Flight helicopter requested to the scene.

UPDATE 5:57 a.m.: All three occupants are trapped in the vehicle.

UPDATE 6:01 a.m.: First Mercy Flight bird on the ground. A second has been dispatched. Dispatchers are checking on availability of a third helicopter.

UPDATE 6:06 a.m.: Town of Batavia Fire's extrication equipment requested to the scene. Oakfield Fire requested to standby at Elba Fire Hall.

UPDATE 6:08 a.m.: Third helicopter in route with a 20 to 25 minute ETA.

UPDATE 6:27 a.m.: Second helicopter on the ground.

UPDATE 7:02 a.m.: All three victims have been extricated. The third helicopter is at the scene.

A man driving a Ford van lost control of it while on North Byron Road, Elba, this morning, causing it to go into a ditch and overturn.

The driver, Elmer Perez-Garcia, 17, of Morristown, Tenn., suffered only minor injuries in the accident and did not require hospital treatment.

Perez-Garcia was cited for alleged failure to maintain lane and driving without a license.

A witness told Deputy Chris Parker that he saw Perez-Garcia's van cross into the eastbound lane and the driver appeared to be "doing something" inside the van prior to losing control.

Within days, the Town of Batavia will complete the purchase of 19 acres of land from the City of Batavia ostensibly to clear the way for a new courts facility.

The facility, the story line has gone, would enable the Town of Batavia to merge court functions with the towns of Oakfield and Elba.

What has been little known while this process has gone forward is that neither Oakfield nor Elba ever agreed to such a court consolidation.

In fact, the Oakfield Town Board voted several months ago to reject court consolidation with Batavia.

As for Elba, the board has never taken action to either approve or disapprove consolidation, but the town did apply for and receive a $10,000 state grant to remodel its court bench a year ago and invested another $5,000 of town money in other courtroom upgrades.

Greg Post, supervisor for the Town of Batavia, said that two years ago, when the project was first proposed, there was more momentum behind the idea of consolidation, but over time the other towns have shifted gears.

It's not even a project, he said, that he's paid much attention to recently.

"It's off the top of the pile of my (to-do) list," Post said. "I have a fire district contract to deal with, a budget, infrastructure issues, Alpina coming in. This is something that will be considered in time, but I have other projects to deal with."

Although it's not at the top of Post's to-do list, it is apparently high on the town attorney's list.

On Tuesday, Batavia City Manager Jason Moliono said he had spoke with the town's attorney that day.

"I've been corresponding with the attorney and everything seems to be in place for us to sign the purchase agreement in the next couple of days and then proceed to escrow," Molino said.

The town is paying $150,000 for the property and one of the conditions of the purchase is that the town build a $140,000 sidewalk on Park Road and Richmond Avenue.

At a time when the idea of consolidation between the town and city is still, at least technically, an unresolved issue, City Council President Marianne Clattenburg -- the only council member to vote against selling the 19 acres to the town -- questions why the project has proceeded as far as it has.

She had no idea until Tuesday evening that neither Oakfield nor Elba had signed off on a court consolidation proposal.

"The wise course of action is to put these plans on hold until the citizens vote on consolidation," Clattenburg said. "Why expend any amount of dollars on this until then?"

The city has a fairly new court in the Genesee County Court building on at 10 W. Main St.

Post said that with or without consolidation, the town needs a new court facility.  The current Town Hall, opened about seven years ago, is running out of office space, Post said.

The town board considered expanding the building, but decided it made more sense to build a new court facility.

"I feel strongly that unless something has changed that I don't know about, we will need to expand  space for our courts and it would be beneficial for our communities," Post said.

About the time the town was making its decision to build a new court facility, Post said he heard that Oakfield and Elba had talked about consolidating. He said it made sense to offer those towns the opportunity to move its courts to the new town court building.

In this same time period, Post said, he heard the chamber of commerce was looking for a new facility, so space was offered to the chamber as well.

The site selected is bounded on two sides by Park Road and just west of Oak Street. It's a wetlands area with an open pond popular with ducks and geese that is nearly hidden from view and hard for people to access. The city acquired the land from the federal government in 1968 and in order to get approval from the Veterans Administration to buy the land, the town had to agree to protect and mitigate the wetlands and build the sidewalks on Park and Richmond.

"We elected to make the purchase and offer the facility up to other communities as an opportunity," Post said.

While Oakfield Town Supervisor Micheal Cianfrini believes town court consolidation is likely and even beneficial, Oakfield, he said, will not consolidate with Batavia.

He said the town board decided Batavia wasn't a good fit with Oakfield. It would make more sense, he said, to consolidate with towns closer to Oakfield's size, such as Alabama and Elba.

The following indictments were issued last week by the Genesee County Grand Jury.

Rodney A. Barber is charged with one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd, a Class B felony, after he was allegedly found on March 17 to possess the narcotic cocaine with the intent to sell it. The location was 3967 W. Main St. in the Town of Batavia. He is also charged with one count of criminal possession of a controlled subtance, 4th, for allegedly knowingly and unlawfully possessing one or more preparations, compounds, mixtures or substances containing cocaine which had an aggregate weight of an eighth of an ounce or more.

Mark C. Gregori is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd, a Class B felony, after he was allegedly found on Nov. 3, 2010 in the Town of Elba in possession of the narcotic cocaine with the intent to sell it.

Michael B. Pfaff is charged with one count of driving while intoxicated, a Class E felony, after he was allegedly found driving a 2008 Suburu on Myrtle Street in Le Roy on April 17 while intoxicated. He is also charged with one count of driving while intoxicated with a BAC of .08 or greater, a Class E felony.

Thomas J. Torres is charged with one count of driving while intoxicated, a Class D felony, after he was allegedly found driving a 2004 Chevrolet on Route 237 in Stafford while intoxicated on April 23. He is also charged with one count of aggravated driving while intoxicated, also a Class D felony, for allegedly having a BAC of .18 or greater.

Jamie L. Broadbent is charged with criminal possession of stolen property, a Class E felony, for allegedly knowingly possessing stolen property with the intention of benefitting herself or a person other than the owner. She was allegedly found in possession of a public benefit card belonging to someone else while in the City of Batavia on May 9.

Chester L. Sherman II is charged with one count of driving a 1998 Chevy pickup truck while intoxicated and one count of driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. The charges stem from his arrest April 20 on Route 262 in Byron.

Jonathan J. Langenfeld is charged with one count of burglary in the first degree, a Class B violent felony, after he allegedly entered private property on Ellicott Street Road in Pavilion on April 17 with the intent to cause, then actually causing, physical injury to a person who was not a participant in the crime. He is also charged with burglary, 2nd, a Class C violent felony, for allegedly entering private property with the intent to commit a crime. And he is charged with assault, 2nd, a Class D violent felony, for allegedly intending to seriously injure a person and then causing serious injury to that person.

This morning with some splinters of blue sky among the clouds, I thought I'd take a short drive and see if I could find any worthwhile fall pictures.

I wound up at the Springvale Cemetery on Edgerton Road in Elba.

While there, a reader called and mentioned there was a rollover accident on Ford Road, which wasn't far from where I was, so I headed to the accident and wound up with some spot news coverage and a barn photo.

The driver of this Ford pickup truck walked away from this accident with hardly a scratch.

According to a State Trooper on scene, the driver was eastbound on Ford Road in Elba when he apparently fell asleep. He woke up, the trooper said, and over corrected, sending the truck into a ditch on the south side of the road.

Elba Fire Department and Mercy EMS responded to the scene. The call came in shortly after 9:30 a.m.

No further details available at this time.

An accident with at least one person injured has been reported at routes 98 and 262, Elba.

Elba Fire Department and Mercy EMS responding.

Joshua Gerald Bachorsk, 26, of South Spruce Street, Batavia, is charged with three counts of criminal possession of stolen property, 4th, and petit larceny. Bachorsk is accused of possessing a Pembroke woman's credit card without her consent and using it on three separate dates to purchase gift cards at a retail store on Veterans Memorial Drive. Bachorsk also allegedly removed a washer and dryer set from the basement of the same woman's home and sold them without her consent. Bachorsk was jailed on $10,000 bail.

Aaron Walter Pahuta, 19, of Route 20A, Warsaw, is charged with petit larceny. Pahuta is accused of shoplifting from Kmart.

Matthew Scott Williams, 23, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with aggravated harassment, 2nd. Williams is accused of sending threatening text messages to another person.

Matthew S. Williams, 23, of Hundredmark Road, Elba, is charged with grand larceny, 4th. Williams is accused of stealing his father's RG Industries .22 caliber revolver from their residence. Williams was jailed on $10,000 bail.

William Heany, 75, of 400 E. Main St., Batavia, is charged with forcible touching. Heany is accused of touching the intimate parts of a woman by force.

name redacted, 25, of Tracy Avenue, is charged with petit larceny. redacted is accused of shoplifting from Kmart.

Kelly M. Stalker, 33, of Indian Falls Road, Pembroke, is charged with burglary, 3rd. Stalker allegedly broke into a locked storage area in a trailer on Indian Falls Road and removed prescription medication and money belonging to somebody else. Stalker was jailed on $5,000 bail.

A two-car accident is reported in Elba at the intersection of Ford Road and Old Ford Road. One vehicle rolled over. Elba Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding. Injuries are believed to be minor. One vehicle is blocking traffic. Two flatbed tow trucks are requested.

UPDATE 2:16: Mercy Flight is responding to the scene.

UPDATE 2:21 p.m.: Mercy Flight has landed.

UPDATE 2:28 p.m.: Mercy Flight is airborne with a patient and heading to Strong Memorial Hospital.

UPDATE 2:35 p.m.: Mercy medics are transporting one patient via ambulance to Strong.

According to a press release issued earlier this week by the Wyoming County Sheriff's Department, Elba resident Adam McGill, 33, was arrested and charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, both class B felonies.

McGill allegedly sold a narcotic drug to an undercover officer with the Wyoming County Drug Task Force on two occasions in the Village of Attica.

He was arrested Sept. 30 along with Shelby resident Diane Gallagher, 42, who was charged with one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance and one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance. Gallagher allegedly sold a narcotic drug to an undercover officer in the Town of Orangeville.

McGill is being held in Wyoming County Jail without bail and Gallagher is also being held there in lieu of $15,000 cash bail.

Members of the Attica Police Department assisted the other agencies in making the arrests.

To report possible illegal drug activity in Wyoming County, call 786-8965.

Here's a pair of pictures I took on my way back from Elba yesterday morning. The top is on Norton Road near Route 262, Elba, and the bottom is on Bank Street Road, Batavia.

More than 150 people turned out in Elba today for the Genesee ARC 5K run and walk race.

The overall winner was Michael Richenberg, of Elba, with a time of 17:45, a course record in the seventh year of the race. It's Richenberg's ninth 5K win of the season.

Fifty-one-year-old David O'Leary was second overall and first in the 50-59 age group with a time of 18:43.

Third overall was Michael Skowkronski, 14, of Rochester, with a time of 20:32. Skowkronski won the 13-18 category. The next best time in that age group was 23:05.

The top female runner was Jill Graney, 26, of Buffalo, at 21:57.

Click on the following links for complete results: Overall Results, Award Winners by Age Group, Complete Age Group Results, Walk Results

If you have trouble viewing the slide show, click here.

There's a report of a slick roadway on Route 262 in the area of Route 98, possibly due to oil on the road surface.

UPDATE 3:21 p.m.: State DOT on location, putting sand down.

A two-car, personal injury accident has been reported at the intersection of Lockport Road and Route 98.

Fire police are shutting down traffic on Route 98 and Old Route 98.

Elba Fire Department and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 5:35 p.m.: More EMTs requested to the scene.

Jeffrey J. Cervone, 43, no permanent address, is charged with petit larceny. Cervone is accused of stealing a bottle of Bacardi from Mr. Wine and Liquor at 5 p.m., Wednesday. Cervone reportedly left the scene in a pickup truck, which was later stopped on Lewiston Road by a Sheriff's deputy. Cervone was a passenger in the truck and was placed in Batavia Police custody. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Scott G. Tooley, 26, of 199 S. Main St., Batavia, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Tooley is accused of pushing a woman to the ground while she was holding a child. Neither the woman nor the child were injured. The incident was reported at 10 a.m., Tuesday.

Rebecca Nicole Bethune, 22, of Hundredmark Road, Elba, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Bethune is accused of hitting another person in the head with her fist. The incident was reported at 2:10 a.m., Tuesday.

Jeffrey David Whitmore, 21, of Sandpit Road, Alexander, is charged with menacing. Whitmore is accused of pointing a shotgun at a person during a car repossession. The incident was reported at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday.

Michael Abdullah Jamil, 27, of School Road, Byron, is charged with unlawful imprisonment, 2nd, criminal mischief, endangering the welfare of a child, petit larceny and harassment, 2nd. Jamil was arrested following an alleged domestic incident at 5 a.m., Wednesday. Among the accusations are that he disabled a phone in an attempt to prevent a call to police.