East Avenue

Three people were arrested during a traffic stop on Clinton Street Road as well as a raid on a residence on East Avenue on Thursday night in connection with a narcotics investigation by the Local Drug Task Force.

Two people are accused of selling narcotics.

The arrest and raid were the result of a warrant issued as a result of the investigation.

The Sheriff's Office did not disclose the types of drugs potentially recovered at either scene, nor the amount of drugs recovered.

All three suspects also face weapons charges but details on the weapons recovered was not released.

Charges:

Alterique Day, 51, of Saint Casmir Street, Rochester, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, a Class B felony, and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, a Class D felony. Day was arraigned in City Court and ordered held without bail.

Joanna F. Larnder, 30, of East Avenue, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, a Class B felony, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a Class A misdemeanor, and tampering with physical evidence, a Class A misdemeanor.  Larnder was arraigned in City Court and released under supervision.

Patricia McDonald, 37, of East Avenue, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, a Class A misdemeanor, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a Class A misdemeanor.

The Sheriff's Office did not specify the alleged actions leading to the tampering with evidence charge.  The release also did not specify which suspects were taken into custody at the traffic stop and which were taken into custody at the residence.

A drug possession charge in the third degree means investigators believe the suspect was selling drugs.

The Emergency Response Team, led by Batavia PD, assisted in the raid of 15 East Ave.

The District Attorney's Office assisted in the investigation.

UPDATE: Batavia PD also issued a statement:

The City of Batavia Emergency Response Team (ERT), made up of members of the City of Batavia Police Department and Genesee County Sheriff's Office, assisted the Genesee County Local Drug Task Force, also comprised of members from both agencies, with the execution of two search warrants in the City of Batavia in relation to a narcotics trafficking investigation. 

We encourage anyone with information about ongoing criminal investigations or drug dealing in their neighborhood to contact us by submitting a tip on our confidential tip page.

Previously: Residence on East Avenue raided, neighbors report loud bangs

The Emergency Response Team, along with uniformed members of Batavia PD and the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, along with detectives from both agencies, conducted an apparent raid on 15 East Ave., Batavia, sometime after 9 p.m. Thursday.

Area residents reported hearing a loud bang and shouts of "Come out with your hands up."

Some neighboring residents seemed to think the order applied to them and so complied, residents told The Batavian.

Two neighbors told The Batavian they've long suspected drug activity at the dwelling.

One neighbor said there is often a lot of activity and loud music coming from the house in the early morning hours, such as 3 a.m.

"It's about time they did something," he said, "but they should have come later at night. They would have found more people."

There was no authority on scene authorized to speak to the press, and authorities say there will be a press release "soon" about the police activity at the residence.

CORRECTION: Initially, this report stated this was at least a two-unit complex. A person familiar with the residence states that is not the case.  Our statements were based on observations at the scene and coverage of a prior incident many years ago at the residence.  The story has been correct to remove references to apartments.

Now that he’s had a couple days to regroup after the Le Roy Village Board’s rejection of a senior housing and building lot development on East Avenue, Mayor Greg Rogers said he believes that something else is bound to come along.

Rogers, speaking today by telephone, said he’s not quite ready “to take on another challenge” but did surmise that another project could come before the board in the near future.

“What usually happens in cases like this is that something else follows,” Rogers said. “Maybe it’s just single-family homes. We’ll have to see.”

On Wednesday night, lawmakers said no to a proposal by Batavia entrepreneur Eric Biscaro to construct a 30-unit duplex community for those 50 and over on a 20-acre parcel east of East Avenue and to develop 18 single-family building lots by extending East Avenue.

Three board members were against it and two, including Rogers, were for it.

“The whole thing took a lot of energy and life out of me,” the mayor said, noting that the plan was debated (at two contentious public hearings) and reviewed by lawyers, engineers and the board for more than seven months. “But, we still need to expand our tax base; my thought process hasn’t changed.”

Rogers said he tried to look at the project from the standpoint of both the village and Biscaro, who was prepared to invest several million dollars into the development, including the bulk of the cost of extending East Avenue.

“I was hoping for a win-win (situation),” he said. “Eric was a good candidate. He needed the PUD (Planned Unit Development zoning change for the senior apartments) to offset the cost of the road and single-family lots to make it a money-maker for him.”

At Wednesday’s board meeting, both Rogers and Trustee Jim Bonacquisti spoke highly of Poplar Lane resident Tom Frew, for his “professionalism” despite his opposition to the project. Frew distributed flyers and kept residents in the neighborhood abreast of the proceedings.

Contacted yesterday, Frew reiterated what he said from the beginning – that he wasn’t against development there but not in the form of an apartment complex.

“As (Trustee) Bill Kettle said the other night, ‘Strike while the iron is hot.’ That’s prime property. Let’s get some R-1 (Residential) down there,” Frew said.

He said he “buys into” the village board’s attempt at creating more taxable property, but would like to see something without a payment in lieu of taxes agreement for the potential developer.

“Eric needed a PILOT to do that and it greatly minimized for the first 30 years the amount of tax revenue (for the village),” Frew said. “Now, Eric would argue, rightfully so, that it's still more revenue than they're getting right now. But for the first 30 years, most of the tax revenue was going to come from the lots he was going to sell and people would build houses.”

Stormwater runoff was one of the reasons for opposition to the project, and that needs to be addressed, Frew said.

“There has to be some ways to stop this water from falling into the (Le Roy) golf course and Mercy Grove,” he said. “No matter what you put back there, you’ve got to deal with the water first.”

Rogers, who has 2 ½ years left on his term as mayor, said that engineers from two different firms determined that Biscaro’s plan would help to alleviate the current runoff situation.

“They both agreed that it would take care of part of it,” he said. “It would have been an improvement, but I guess that wasn’t good enough.”

Last night on East Avenue in Batavia.

Regarding the car-into-house accident yesterday shortly before 8 p.m., City of Batavia Police Chief Shawn Heubusch says:

"We have received several inquiries regarding an update from the car/house accident last evening at 20 East Ave. At this time the incident is still under investigation and no further info will be released.

"We are asking that if any member of the public has any information to contact our dispatch center at 345-6350, and ask to speak with a supervisor, or call the confidential tip line at 345-6370."

Previous report: Car strikes house, East Ave closed

A car struck a house at East Avenue and Hull Park, knocking out part of the foundation and causing a gas leak.

Batavia fire and Batavia PD responded and are waiting for National Fuel to come and shut off the gas to the house. There is a strong smell of natural gas in the area. 

All the residents have been evacuated; no one in the home was hurt. A resident was home upstairs, he said: "It sounded like a bomb went off." 

When he went outside to see what happened he could hear the gas leaking. He did not see the car that hit the house. The car left the scene and Batavia PD is currently searching for it.

East Avenue is shut down between Ross Street and Vine Street. 

UPDATE: Gas to home is shut off. Code enforcement is on scene and electricity is being turned off.

The car was located parked in adjacent Batavia Middle School lot after striking building. 

Press release:

The City of Batavia Water Department is planning on making repairs to a water main on East Avenue on Wednesday, June 17, instead of today (June 15) as previously announced.

Work will begin at 8 a.m.

The water may be turned off on East Avenue between Holmes Avenue and Eugene Street. Homes in the area may find lower pressure, and discolored water. Please do not attempt to do laundry if the water is discolored.

We appreciate your understanding while this repair is being made. City crews will make every attempt to restore water as soon as possible.

The road will not be shut down, but travel lanes will be restricted. Please avoid the area if possible.

From Bill Davis, superintendent of Water and Wastewater:

The City of Batavia Water Department is planning on making repairs to a water main on East Avenue in Batavia on Monday June 15 beginning at 8 a.m.

The water may be turned off on East Avenue between Holmes Avenue and Eugene Street.

Homes in the area may find lower pressure, and discolored water. Please do not attempt to do laundry if the water is discolored.

We appreciate your understanding while this repair is being made. City crews will make every attempt to restore water as soon as possible.

An alarm system and quick response from the Batavia City Fire Department saved a home on East Avenue from destruction tonight when a fire started in the kitchen while the homeowners were away.

The alarm came in at 7:41 p.m. at 224 East Ave., Batavia, and when firefighters arrived on scene, according to Capt. Craig Williams, the inferno building inside wasn't obvious.

"When pulled up we could hear an audible alarm sounding but couldn’t see any smoke," Williams said. "There was nobody home at the time. It was closed up tight. When we went to the front door, we could smell something burning inside and we could see steam on the inside of all the windows, so it was pretty hot in there."

During an exterior check of the house, a firefighter saw flames through a rear window, so crews broke in through the front door.

The kitchen was quickly fully involved and firefighters began beating back the flames from a front window, pushing the fire toward the back of the house.

Chief James Maxwell credited the crews with a quick, strategic response for saving the structure. As rapidly as fire can spread, without either the alarm or the fast response, the whole structure could have become engulfed quickly.

The home, owned by Jeffery and Rebecca Oshlag, suffered $30,000 damage from what is officially classified as an accidental fire.

The kitchen was destroyed and there was heavy smoke and heat damage throughout the house.

Two cats survived the fire. One suffered from smoke inhalation and was taken to a veterinary clinic. It is expected to survive. (NOTE: See comment below from Rachel Oshlag -- one of the cats, an orange tabby, is still missing. Rachel believes it's in the neighborhood someplace.)

Rebecca Oshlag said she was grateful for the alarm system and the quick response from the fire department.

She also praised Nancy Nickerson and Sean Valdes, owners of the D&R Depot in Le Roy, where she and her husband were having dinner. 

She said they had just sat down when Jeffery received the call about the fire alarm.  Thinking that it was a false alarm, Jeffery hopped in his car and headed toward the house, planning to return to dinner.

When they found out it was a real fire, Rebecca said she approached Nancy and said she had a problem -- there was a fire at her house and Jeffery had already left. Sean drove Rebecca home.

"It was wonderful, wonderful help from the Depot," Rebecca said. "It's one of the advantages of small-town living."

(initial report)

Photo: Submitted by a reader.