Jamestown fire crews make quick work of first-floor apartment house fire on Crescent St....
Quick response from Jamestown firefighters prevented extensive damage to a two-family, 2-1/2 story home on the city's eastside Sunday night. However... an elderly, disabled woman living on the first floor had to be rescued from the home. City Fire Chief Ryan Rousch says crews were called to 523 Crescent St. just before 7:30 p.m., and, found flames coming from the front of the first floor... adding there was heavy fire in the center of that apartment. They were also told of possible entrapment with an elderly, disabled woman on the first floor. Rousch says firefighters were able to find the woman on the floor of the apartment and quickly got her outside. He says she was still being treated at UPMC Chautauqua Hospital last night. Rousch says they also had to treat a responding Jamestown police officer for some smoke inhalation. He says it took about 30-minutes to get the blaze under control and out... and damage was confined to the area of origin. Rousch says an off-duty shift was called in... along with two fire investigators. He says the cause was determined to be accidental.
Celoron man arrested following vehicle pursuit, and reckless driving in city, and village...
A Celoron man faces multiple charges after allegedly leading police on a vehicle chase on Jamestown's westside following an unwanted person complaint. City police were called to the unidentified location about 1 p.m. Sunday... but, as officers arrived... they say 30 year-old Gregory Messere, Junior fled the area in a truck and led officers on the pursuit. Officers say Messere failed to stop as he traveled through the city's westside... and, back into the village of Celoron. He's then accused of driving back into the city along Jones and Gifford Avenue. Police say he then continued onto Lister Street before traveling westbound toward Celoron again, where he ultimately abandoned the vehicle behind a village-owned property. During the pursuit... police say Messere nearly drove head-on into a JPD vehicle at a high rate of speed... and, nearly lost control of the vehicle while navigating an intersection at high speed. Messere fled the truck on foot but was later taken into custody without incident with coordinating police including the Sheriff's Office... and, State Police. He's is charged with fourth-degree grand larceny... first-degree reckless endangerment... unlicensed operation... reckless driving... and several others. He was jailed pending arraignment.
Pair of snowmobile accidents in town of Chautauqua Saturday send both operators to the hospital...
Two snowmobile accidents in Chautauqua County last weekend sent two men to an Erie, Pennsylvania hospital with injuries. The most serious was called in at 7 p.m. Saturday when a southbound sled slammed into a tree... and the operator was ejected. Sheriff's officers say 38 year-old Donald Foley of Willoughby, Ohio was rounding a curve when the crash occured. Officers say Foley was taken to UPMC Hamot Medical Center in Erie for treatment. No charges were filed.
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The other snowmobile accident occured earlier in the day in the town of Chautauqua... with one person was taken to UPMC Hamot in Erie with non-life-threatening injuries. Sheriff's officers say they and North Lake Fire District members were called to the area of McKay Road for the accident just after 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Officials say an unidentified male was transported to Hamot for treatment. No charges have been filed.
Three arrested late last week in Jamestown for alleged possession of signficant amount of drugs...
Three people from Jamestown face several charges after allegedly being found with a significant amount of illegal drugs during a traffic stop on the city's eastside. Jamestown police say they stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation shortly after Midnight last Friday in the area of Harrison and Winsor Streets. Officers say their investigation found that 31 year-old Taylor Hernandez was in possession of nearly 68-grams of methamphetamine... and 42.7-grams of Fentanyl. In addition... they found 31 year-old Bradley McKay in possession of 40-grams of meth... and, a quantity of Fentanyl. The third suspect... 57 year-old Zachary Clark... was allegedly driving the car... and, found in possession of 10 grams of meth. All three were arrested and jailed pending arraignment. Hernandez is charged with second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... and, two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. McKay faces two counts of third-and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... and, Clark is charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... and, was issued two traffic citations.
County Legislature sworn-in during Friday night reorganziational meeting, Chagnon again elected chairman...
The Chautauqua County Legislature -- and it's four new members -- have been sworn-in for 2026. Assistant County Attorney Nate Harp administered the oath at last Friday night's meeting. Lawmakers then approved the re-election of Ellery's Pierre Chagnon as Legislature Chairman. Chagnon has served in the post the past few years... and, said he is both "honored and humbled" to again be what he termed a "servant leader" of the legislature. Chagnon reiterated that he would not focus on "what is wrong" with the county... but, wanted to work towards "how we improve" county services. He says that will be challenging in the new year with likely "cost shifts" from both New York state and the federal governments... but, vowed to help protect county property taxpayers and protect essential services from those shifts. During his brief address... Chagnon also welcomed the four new legislators -- Democrats Vince DeJoy... Sandra Lewis... and Bob Whitney... and, one Republican... Jay Merritt.
