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Police Beat: Batavia woman accused of vandalizing estranged husband's truck

By Howard B. Owens

Deborah An Dixon-Thatcher, 52, of North Lyons Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief, 3rd. Dixon-Thatcher is accused of breaking the windows, headlights and taillights out of her estranged husband's 1997 Nissan pickup truck while it was parked at a residence in Bergen at 1:55 a.m., Monday.

Hope Renee Conibear, 37, of Gibson Avenue, Oakfield, is charged with felony DWI, felony driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, failure to keep right and consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle. Conibear was reportedly involved in a motor vehicle accident April 23 on Hutton Road, Town of Oakfield. The accident was investigated by Deputy Jason Saile.

Joseph Robert Waala, 38, of North Randolph Street, Arlington, Va., is charged with criminal mischief, 4th. Waala allegedly damaged a metal fire hose box at 8250 Park Road, Batavia. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.

The following individuals were arrested and charged with trespassing for allegedly being on privately owned property at 5447 Main Road, Stafford, without permission: Ryan W. Caltagirone, 20, of Ellicott Street Road, East Bethany, Donald M. Fagan, 19, and Joshua T. Gilbert, 18, both of Ellicott Street Road, Batavia, and two 17-year-olds and three 16-year-olds, all from Batavia.

Katrina Le Brandes, 20, of South Main Street, Perry, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or higher. Brandes was arrested following an investigation of a reported domestic incident at 3:55 a.m. on Buckman Road, Bethany, by Deputy Jason Saile.

UPDATED: Search of Oatka Creek suspended until daylight

By Howard B. Owens

UPDATE 7:25 a.m.: Chief Chris Hayward said Dustin G. Nicometo, 24, called his mother at 4 a.m. and said he was OK, but would not divulge his location. The search for this morning was cancelled.

UPDATE 5:17 a.m.: A family member just sent a text message: "The young man has been found and is OK." No further details available at this time.

The search for a missing Le Roy man who apparently walked into Oatka Creek shortly after 10 p.m. has been suspended for the night.

The young man, whose identify has not been released, was last seen by a Le Roy police officer floating in the creek. All of his clothing -- except for his underwear -- were found downstream on an island in the creek.

"Our best hope is that he got himself out and doesn't want to be found yet," said Le Roy Police Chief Chris Hayward.

The missing man was described as intoxicated at the time he went into the water.

Hayward said the search was suspended because of concerns for the safety of rescue personnel. It's a moonless night and Oatka Creek is running high and swift.

Shortly before 11:30 p.m., Le Roy Fire Department was put back in service, though a Geneseo K-9 unit continued to try and track the man along the banks.

The search will resume at 6:30 a.m., if he hasn't turned up by that time.

Several family members were on scene and expressed both disappointment and understanding at the search being called off.

Mercy Flight was called in to for an air-to-ground search with spotlights, but could not locate him.

Le Roy fire personnel responded first with generators and lights and their own powerful flashlights, searching along the banks from the area of the footbridge down past the graveyard.

Bergen fire was dispatched to the area of Buttermilk Falls to keep an eye on the creek. Buttermilk Falls is approximately 1.2 miles down stream from where the search was centered.

When the search resumes in the morning -- if the young man doesn't turn up before then -- a State Police helicopter will be brought in to assist.

(Initial report)

Photos: Mad hatter in Batavia Cemetery

By Howard B. Owens

While at the Batavia Cemetery today, I met three young women doing a photo shoot.  

The group leader was Jessica Wheeler (second picture, white shirt), whose degree in journalism hasn't led to a job -- not uncommon these days -- so she's going to beauty school. She's entering a national contest in hairstyling and the rules stipulate a character from a movie be used, so she decided on a female Madhatter from "Alice in Wonderland."

Wheeler is attending Salon Professional Academy in Buffalo.

The Madhatter is played by Lacey Christner, a recent grad of GCC who will be attending UB as a photography major.

The photographer is Danielle Schaffer, a Batavia resident.

Three more pictures after the jump:

 

Person may be in Oatka Creek in Le Roy, may have jumped off foot bridge

By Howard B. Owens

A person is believed to have jumped off the footbridge over the Oatka Creek in Le Roy.

Le Roy Police are on scene. The person was last seen in the water, but it's unclear if he's still in the water.

Le Roy firefighters are asked to respond with a boat.

Le Roy Ambulance dispatched.

The subject went into the water "by the bike rack south of the footbridge." Unclear if he jumped or just went into the water.

UPDATE 10:15 p.m.: Chief requests generator and lights to the scene.

UPDATE 10:23 p.m.: Lights and thermal camera set up at Church Street. Nothing visible.

UPDATE 10:24 p.m.: A Le Roy officer has apparently found some of the person's clothing on an island in the creek.

UPDATE 10:28 p.m.: State Police helicopter requested to the scene.

UPDATE 10:30 p.m.: Bergen requested mutual aid to stage in the area of Buttermilk Falls.

UPDATE 10:37 p.m.: No confirmation yet of State Police helicopter being available. A Mercy Flight helicopter requested to the scene. 

UPDATE 10:39 p.m.: Caledonia requested to stand by at Le Roy's fire hall.

UPDATE 10:43 p.m.: Mercy Flight in route.

UPDATE 10:46 p.m.: Geneseo K-9 in route.

Photos: Roadside flowers in Genesee County

By Howard B. Owens

When I decided to take a little time this morning to drive outside the city and see what kind of pictures I could take, I didn't set out to take pictures of roadside flowers, but when I started going through my photos tonight I discovered that's the main thing I did.

One of the great things about Genesee County in the spring is the explosion of color we see along our roadways.

Many of these species, I have no idea what they're called, so the more botanically aware readers are welcome to weigh in (the orange poppy and dandelions, I got, and above is some sort of daisy, I suppose). The bush with the white flowers at the bottom of this post is of particular interest -- I see them all over town, but have no idea what kind of bush it is.


 

Photos: Batavia Memorial Day Parade 2011

By Howard B. Owens

A threat of rain (that never materialized) couldn't keep hundreds of people from descending on Main Street this morning for the annual Memorial Day parade.  

The parade featured the Batavia High School marching band and flag team, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the city and town fire departments, Sheriff's Office and Police Department, along with local veterans groups and elected officials, among other groups.

More pictures after the jump.

And even more pictures on our photo purchase site. To purchase these or choose from the additional pictures at affordable rates, click here.

 

 

Photos: Memorial Day, Batavia Cemetery

By Howard B. Owens

We are fortunate today to be enjoying a pleasant Memorial Day, a little overcast early but now the sun is out.

These photos are from the Batavia Cemetery. I'll have Batavia parade photos and some photos of Genesee County later today.

Six small power outages reported in Genesee County

By Howard B. Owens

There are six small power outages -- all affecting fewer than five customers each -- in Genesee County.

There are three in Alexander in the area of Route 20 between Brookville and Putnam roads, and three in Pavilion in the area of Hawks Road.

UPDATE 11:12 p.m.: The size of the outages has expanded. The Alexander outage now effects 84 customers and the Hawks Road outage effects 211 customers.

Unknown type fire reported in back yard on Cole Road, Le Roy

By Howard B. Owens

An unknown type of fire has been reported in the back yard of 6972 Cole Road, Le Roy.

Le Roy Fire Department responding.

UPDATE 11:01 p.m.: Landowner on scene tells a chief he thinks it may be over by Bernd Road, so the chief is checking that area.

UPDATE 11:02 p.m.: Assignment being held to one truck for now.

UPDATE 11:03 p.m.: It appears to be a campfire.

UPDATE 11:05 p.m.: Le Roy assignment back in service.


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Severe thunderstorm warning issued

By Howard B. Owens

At 10:26 p.m., doppler radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms had formed and it was moving east at 40 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm is capable of producing cloud-to-ground lightning and people outdoors should seek shelter immediately. 

The storms are along a line extending from Point Breeze to six miles east of Darien or along a line extending from 11 miles north of Albion to nine miles southwest of Batavia.

The storm is capable of producing damaging winds up to 60 mph and potentially damaging hail.

"These are dangerous storms," the weather service warns. "If you are in the path, prepare immediately for damaging winds, destructive hail and deadly cloud-to-ground lightening."

If indoors, the weather service warns people to stay away from windows.

The warning is effect until 11:45 p.m., a thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 1 a.m.

UPDATE 10:57 p.m.: The fast moving storm has passed through southern Genesee County and the warning for southern Genesee County is cancelled.

UPDATE 11:05 p.m.: The warning is now cancelled for all of Genesee County. A watch remains in effect until 1 a.m.

Dryer fire reported on Myrtle Street, Le Roy

By Howard B. Owens

A dryer fire was reported at 61 Myrtle St., Le Roy, in the basement.

Flames were showing.

An assistent chief responded to the scene and knocked the flames down with an extinguisher.

Le Roy Fire is responding and Bergen is responding mutual aid, non-emergency.


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Photos: Michael Napoleone Memorial Baseball Tournament

By Howard B. Owens

During the annual Michael Napoleone Memorial Baseball Tournament in Batavia, the Michael Napoleone Foundation presented a $12,000 check to the Center for Pediatric Biomedical Research at URMC.

Accepting the check above are, from right, Kathleen McGrath, Paul Kingsley and Alec Kingsley.

McGrath said the money is being used to cover the expense of more powerful computers. As part of the center's research, scientists take pictures of blood cells to study. The sophisticated camera equipment creates massive files that took the old computers hours to process. The new computers do the same work in minutes. The center also replaced worn out centrifuges. 

Michael Napoleone died in 2006 from Burkitt's Lymphoma/Leukemia, an aggressive form of blood cancer.

Mark and Laurie (second picture, left, with her brother, Dave Pero) Napoleone set up the fondation to give back to the community after so many people helped them during their son's illness.

Teams from as far away as Fairport are competing in the tournament, which runs through tomorrow.

Griffin Dellapenna, who was friends with Michael, reads a statement about how he misses Michael and what the tournament means to him. 

Griffin met Michael when they were both battling cancer. Next week, Griffin marks his fourth year in remission.

Jeremy Boyle and Matt Roach hit back-to-back home runs during Batavia's game against Oakfield-Alabama.

To buy quality, affordable prints from this event, click here.

More pictures after the jump:

 

To buy quality, affordable prints from this event, click here.

Driver hospitalized after losing control of car on wet road in Darien

By Howard B. Owens

A driver was taken to ECMC with a complaint of neck pain yesterday following a one-car rollover accident at 4:54 p.m. on Route 77, Darien.

Nickol R. Burnett, 20, of Horseshoe Lake Road, Stafford, was cited for allegedly driving too fast for conditions.

Deputy Chris Parker, in his report, said the roads were slick with rain and Burnett lost control of her vehicle. Her 2004 Chevy sedan began to spin clockwise and traveled off the roadway and struck a culvert at the end of a driveway causing it to overturn.

Police Beat: Man accused of urinating in girlfriend's car during a domestic dispute

By Howard B. Owens

Daniel Roger Sumeriski, 25, of State Street Road, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny, harassment, 2nd, and criminal tampering, 3rd. The charges against Sumeriski stem from an alleged domestic incident on May 18 when Sumeriski allegedly took the victim's cell phone and urinated on the interior of her car. Sumeriski was put in the Genesee County Jail where he is being held on a parole warrant.

Robert David Cummings III, 24, of Akron Road, Corfu, is charged with aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd, unlawful possession of marijuana and no seatbelt. Cummings was stopped at 1:34 p.m. Thursday on Bloomingdale Road, Basom, for an alleged seat belt violation. Drug paraphernalia and marijuana were allegedly found in his car. He was jailed on $100 bail. The stop was made by Deputy Chris Parker, who was assisted by Deputy Lonnie Nati and Deputy Brian Thompson with K-9 Pharaoh.

Stephen Vance Recco, 20, of Hemlock Ridge Road, Medina, is charged with criminal impersonation, improper use of a mobile phone and unlicensed operation. Recco was stopped at 4:09 p.m. on Route 77, Alabama, by Deputy Chris Parker for allegedly driving while talking on a mobile phone. Recco allegedly gave a false name and date of birth during the traffic stop.

Jason Howard Freeman, 29, of Bush Gardens, Marilla, is accused of promoting prison contraband. Freeman was allegedly found in possession of a lighter and tobacco while housed as an inmate at the Genesee County Jail.

Thomas Jesse Mullen, 45, of Thorncliff Road, Spencerport, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and speeding. Mullen was stopped at 11:57 p.m. Friday on North Byron Road, Elba, by Deputy Jason Saile.

Kate Elizabeth Brozic, 28, of Trimmer Road, Spencerport, was arrested on a bench warrant related to a DWI charge. Brozic was picked up by Spencerport Police and turned over to the Genesee County Sheriff's Office on a warrant out of Stafford Town Court. She was jailed on $500 bail.

Grand Jury Report: Registered sex offender accused of sending explicit texts to teenage girl

By Howard B. Owens

Marlek E. Holmes is indicted on charges of failure to register change of address, failure to personally verify his address, disseminating indecent material to a minor, 1st degree, and endangering the welfare of a child. Holmes, a registered sex offender, is accused of not notifying authorities of his new address after relocating from 516 E. Main St., Batavia, on Feb. 19. Holmes is also accused of sending sexually explicit text messages to a 16-year-old girl in December 2010. 

Chester Dortch is indicted on a charge of aggravated unlicensed operation, 1st. Dortch is accused of driving on the Thruway in Batavia on Nov. 20 while knowing his license was suspended. Dortch reportedly had 10 prior suspensions for failure to answer and failure to pay fine.

Joshua Carney and Holly Carney are indicted on 11 counts of offering a false instrument for filing, 1st, and grand larceny, 3rd. The Carneys are accused of filing false statements related to Joshua's employment in order to receive food stamps and Medicaid. The Carneys are accused of stealing $7,453 in food stamp assistance and $6,564.14 in Medicaid.

Tonya M. Weber is indicted on a felony DWI charge and aggravated DWI, also a felony, for having a child under 15 in the car and endangering the welfare of a child. Weber is accused of driving drunk Nov. 29 in the Town of Oakfield.

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