Fire damages stand-alone garage in Jamestown...
Fire has damaged an unattached garage on Jamestown's northside, the cause of which remains under investigation. Fire Battalion Chief Brian Acterberg says crews were called to the scene at 21 Euclid Ave. shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday, and found flames showing from the roof, and, crews stretched two handlines to battle the blaze. Acterberg says firefighters had the blaze under control in about 10 minutes.. and, completely out in about half-an-hour. No one was inside the garage at the time the fire started, and no one was hurt. An off-duty shift was called in to assist.
Jamestown man arrested for alleged hate crimes following incident with juvenile along the Chadakoin...
A city man has been arrested for hate crimes for allegedly harassing and assaulting a juvenile who was fishing along the Chadakoin River... and, the man believed he was an illegal immigrant. Jamestown Police were called to the scene on North Main Street shortly after 5:30 p.m. Monday, and spoke to the victim, who said he was fishing by himself, when the man approached him and called him an "immigrant." The victim said 30 year-old Christopher Conklin claimed he was a police officer... and, that he had a warrant and yelled at the victim to get on the ground. The victim says Conklin continued yelling at him... and, he told a passerby that the victim was an immigrant. The victim said the suspect charged him... and tackled him to the ground and yelled for him to stay there. However... Conklin then allegedly got up and told the victim that he wanted to fight and got into a fighting stance. The victim called 911 and the suspect continued to yell at him to get on the ground, and then charged and tackled the victim a second time... injuring him. The victim dropped his cell phone and Conklin picked it up and threw it in the river when he saw the victim was calling police. He then ran off before police arrived... but, the victim gave a description... and Conklin was later found on the northside. He was arrested for third-degree robbery... third-degree assault... and, third-and fourth-degree criminal mischief -- each of those as hate crimes... and, first-degree criminal imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child. Conklin was jailed pending arraignment.
Two Jamestown brothers arrested during raid on drug and weapons charges...
Two city men have been arrested on drug and weapons possession charges following a raid Tuesday morning at an apartment on Jamestown's northside. City police say members of the Jamestown Metro Drug Task Force... and, the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force... executed a search warrant at 212 Price St. about 10 a.m. with the help of the JPD SWAT Team. After making entry... the SWAT Team found three people inside the residence... and detectives found 34-grams of fentanyl... $427 in cash... scales... cutting agents, and packaging materials. They also found Alprazolam, a stolen rifle, and a shotgun. Officers arrested two brothers... 36 year-old Juan and 35 year-old Francisco Gutierrez. Juan faces two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... one count of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... three counts of second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia... and, one of fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. Francisco was charged with one count of fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property... and one of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon for being a Felony in possession of a rifle. Both were jailed pending arraignment.
Jamestown man arrested on warrants after being found with switchblade knife and drugs...
A city man is accused of being in possession of illegal drugs... and, a switchblade knife during a street check on Jamestown's southside early Wednesday morning. City police say they saw 40 year-old Tyler Perez inside the 7-Eleven store at 321 Hazeltine Ave. just after 4 a.m., and, knew there were active warrants for his arrest. Police took Perez into custody... and, found him in possession of the knife... along with quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine. Due to a previous conviction in New York... he was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon... and, two counts seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Perez was jailed pending arraignment.
Borrello believes new state budget will be late...
It doesn't appear likely that there will be an on-time budget in New York state this year. Those are the feelings of State Senator George Borrello with less than a month to go before the Apr. 1 deadline. Borrello says he's hopeful a new plan will be crafted by Monday, April 1st... but, adds that's the day after Easter... and, that will make it very difficult to complete by then. The Sunset Bay Republican says the biggest problem is that the spending plan includes policy measures... and he's part of a bi-partisan group working on legislation to end that practice. He says he spent 10 years in county government and it was "all about numbers..." not policy. At this point... Borrello says the leadership in both the Senate and Assembly are working on their "one-house" bills... which will then be negotiated with Governor Kathy Hochul. However... he says there are still some significant disagreements over policy... education aid... and, providing New York city with another $2.4-billion to deal with the migrant crisis. He made his comments for last weekend's "Community Spotlight" program on the six Media One Radio Group stations.
