Buffalo Police Then and Now
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Getaway
car driver pleads guilty in double slaying By
Matt Gryta - News Staff Reporter A
man who drove the getaway car following a double homicide earlier this
year in front of an Johnny
Ray McDuffie, 22, of Prosecutor
James F. Bargnesi told the judge the families of the teenaged murder
victims agreed to the plea deal. Buscaglia told McDuffie, jailed since
Sept. 13, that he faces a prison term of 15 years when he is sentenced
Feb. 26. During the mid-morning plea proceeding Paul S. Piotrowski, McDuffie's attorney, confirmed that his jailed client drove the getaway car. |
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BUFFALO
NEWS Updated: A gas station worker was cut Tuesday night when he tried to stop a man from leaving with a stolen beer, police said. The victim, who works at the Alero gas station at 1225
Broadway, suffered a cut on his forearm at about Police reported that the man stole a beer, but when the worker tried to stop him from leaving the store, the man retaliated by cutting him so that he could escape. The fleeing man entered a gray car, which had been waiting outside the gas station with a woman sitting in the driver's seat. The man and woman then drove away. |
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Two men unhurt as shots hit
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West Seneca police seek crew of thieves
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Police
say city homicide victim was targeted
A
28-year-old man was likely targeted when two armed home invaders shot
and killed him in his Bailey-Delavan area home early today, Buffalo
police reported. Kevin
J. Carter was taken to Erie County Medical Center, where he died at 1:01
a.m., about half an hour after the shooting. Police said the two men
forcibly entered the home on Navel Avenue and demanded money, at about
12:30 a.m. Following the shooting, they made off with an unknown amount
of money, fleeing in a four-door, gray 2000 Chrysler 300, with the
license plate EDC-8798. Other
people were in the house at the time, but no one else was injured. "We
believe he was targeted," said Buffalo Police spokesman Michael J.
DeGeorge. "The fact that he is known to police, leads us to believe
that he may have been targetted." Records
show that Kevin Carter has at least 18 convictions in Buffalo City Court
for crimes including harassment, disorderly conduct and driving without
a license. He
also was convicted of felony attempted criminal sale of a controlled
substance in 1997, according to those records. Anyone
with information on the homicide is asked to call the Buffalo Police
confidential tip line at 847-2255, or tips can be sent by e-mail by
visiting www.bpdny.org and clicking on "Report a Tip." |
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Intruders
shoot pair after pistol-whipping one
A
man and woman were shot early this morning during an apparent robbery
attempt inside a DeWayne
Gray, 23, suffered a gunshot wound to his arm and thigh and was also
pistol-whipped. He was treated in the emergency room at April
Moore, 23, of The
double shooting occurred at about The
assailants used duct tape to tie up According
to police reports, Gray also was shot last year. He was shot in the left
hip by an unknown gunman at Gibson and Peckham streets about |
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Man 'critical' following shooting after house party
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Name released of man killed while sitting in carBUFFALO
NEWS Updated:
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Teen shot trying to stop attack
on boy An 18-year-old Niagara Street man
and a male youth were shot early Saturday near the intersection of
Breckenridge and Herkimer streets, police said. At about 1:15 a.m., a group of four
males attacked the youth, pistol-whipping him to the ground. Fay Street man charged with
robbery A Fay Street man was charged with
first-degree robbery overnight Friday after he forced a man to strip and
took cash from him late Wednesday, police said. The victim told Ferry-Fillmore
District police that he was at a house on Warren Street when Edwin
Garner, 26, and a second unidentified man who was armed with a handgun
forced him into a room. There, the victim was told to remove his
clothes. The men took cash from the victim
and made him lie on the ground for hours, threatening to shoot him if he
moved. Man
shot 3 times at bus stop, survives A
27-year-old Stockbridge Street man was shot three times late Friday
while standing at a bus stop at 60 Grider Street, police said. Lamier
Wilson, who was treated at and released from Erie County Medical Center
Saturday, told Northeast District police that he was at the bus stop at
about 11:30 p.m. when a man running on Scajaquda Street toward Grider
opened fire, striking him n in the upper left shoulder blade, upper left
biceps and left buttock. Wilson
was taken to ECMC. Police said his injuries were not considered
life-threatening. Six
teens charged with robbery, may be tied to rash of burglaries Updated:
Investigators
with the Northwest District are trying to determine whether the six
teens are connected to a rash of burglaries and at least one home
invasion in the Parkside area last week. At
about As
officers from a special burglary detail arrived, a neighbor told them he
had seen a group of youths jump into a convertible that had been parked
on A
Arrested
were Melvin J. Young, 16; Phillip Q. Armistead, 18; Brandon C. Williams,
17; Richard C. Young, 17; and two juveniles. They
have been charged with first-degree attempted robbery and fourth-degree
criminal mischief. Officer
Robert Yeates, Lt. Michael March, Officer Darwin Jones, Officer Kenneth
Barney, Detective Magarate Dragone and Detective Patricia Wrest. |
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Officer
Down: 2007 Deadly Year for Police 170
Law Enforcement Officers Died in 2007 in Line of Duty By
PIERRE THOMAS ABC NEWS The
year 2007 is turning out to be an especially deadly year for police. To
date, 170 law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty --
that's nearly a third more than at the same point last year. It's also
17 percent higher than in all of 2006, and there is more than a month
remaining in the year. In
fact, this year is on pace to be the worst year for police in decades.
And many of the deaths involve cold-blooded murder. Caught on Camera On
May 11 in But
then the unexpected happens. The suspect opened fire, fatally wounding
McKay, before running him over with his car. In
another incident in March, New York Police Department volunteer police
Nicholas Pekearo and Eugene Marshalik trail a suspect who has just
gunned down a bartender. A surveillance camera tape rolls as the suspect
turns, then chases down and executes in cold blood one officer, and then
the other. Increase
in Fatal Shootings In
2007, police officers are dying at an alarming rate. There has been a 38
percent increase in the fatal shootings of police this year. There has
also been a 15 percent jump in fatal car crashes as police pursue
suspects or race to get to emergencies. "Other
than the year of 9/11, we haven't seen numbers this high since 1978, 30
years ago," said Craig Floyd, chairman and CEO for National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Police
say the spike in fatalities mirrors the surge in crime many communities
across the nation are facing -- much of it spurred by heavily armed
gangs and repeat offenders. What
concerns police most is that they are encountering on routine patrols
violent criminals who shoot to kill -- often without provocation. "There's
definitely a more brazen cold-blooded criminal on the streets of Teenage
Killers Sometimes
the killers are just teenagers. Last
June in Floyd County, Ind., officers Frank Denzinger and Joel White went
to a house to investigate a domestic dispute between a 15-year-old boy
and his mother. 'Officers
Down' "Shots
fired! Officers down, officers down!" White said on the radio
dispatch call, obtained by ABC News. "I'm down, I can't move, other
officer is down. I'm not sure of his status," White said on the
radio dispatch. "Subject's in the house with a rifle, use caution
on approach, he shot us both, he shot us both from inside the house. He
might be coming back to finish us off." White
didn't know it but Denzinger was lying nearby, unconscious and dying.
"My leg is, uh, destroyed. I can't move ... I'm losing
consciousness, I'm not sure I'll be able to stay conscious to, uh,
defend our position here," White said on the radio dispatch.
"Stay with us, we do have help on the way," said the
dispatcher. Denzinger
died. The teenager later committed suicide. White
survived but recently had to have hip replacement surgery.
Rehabilitation is difficult, but White wants to return to the force. Despite
the increasing risks to their lives, many officers say they remain
committed to their jobs. "It's
my way to serve the community and that's why I got into it in the first
place," White said. |
| Article E-Mailed By Detective Raymond Cullinan (retired) |
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Buffalo Police Search for Gunman WIVB
NEWS 4(Buffalo, NY, December 7, 2007)
- - A deadly shooting in Buffalo has police searching for a gunman
tonight. Detectives
say someone shot a 31-year-old man on Bailey Avenue around 4:30 this
afternoon. The victim later died at ECMC. His name is not being
released. No word on what triggered the attack. 15 Year Old Boy Shot In Buffalo Today WIVB
NEWS 4 (Buffalo, NY, December 7, 2007)
- - A 15-year-old boy shot in Buffalo this afternoon underwent surgery
at ECMC tonight. Police
say a gunman opened fire on the victim in front of a store at Rodney and
Fillmore around 3:45 p.m. this afternoon. The victim's name is not
being released. No word on any arrests. |
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One
suspect caught in West Side home invasion Updated:
BUFFALO NEWS 12/07/07 11:48 AM Buffalo
police officers arrested one fleeing burglary suspect early today, after
a group of probably four people staged a West Side home invasion at
gunpoint that sent one victim to the hospital. The
robbers, armed with a 9‚mm weapon, entered the Potomac Avenue home,
near West Avenue, at about 2 a.m. They fled with about $90 cash and
fired two rounds as they got into an SUV. "As
they jumped into the vehicle, that's when our officers caught up to
them," Buffalo police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge said. As
Officer Obed Casillas pulled up, the thieves fled on foot. Officers
caught Kevin S. Garner, 41, of Chelsea Place and charged him with
burglary, robbery, criminal use of a firearm and other charges. Three
other thieves remained at large late this morning. A
woman, one of at least three people in the home, was taken to Millard
Fillmore Hospital, where she was treated for unspecified injuries and
released. Police said they had no indication that she or any of the
other people in the home was shot. As
detectives began investigating today's home invasion, police officials
said they knew of no connection to another home invasion earlier this
week in another part of the city, on Parkside Avenue near Tillinghast
Place in North Buffalo. |
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Man,
woman not hurt as shots are fired at their car Updated:
A
man and woman sitting in a car escaped injury early this morning when
about four shots struck their vehicle on Central
District police said the woman was in the driver's seat and the man was
sitting in the front passenger seat at about The
shooter ran north through yards towards |
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Acquaintances pummel man in
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Suspect is Shot by Buffalo Police Updated:
WIVB TV NEWS 4 ( The
suspect was being transported to the holding center tonight after he was
questioned, when he escaped from police custody with handcuffs, but not
for long, the once wanted parole violator is locked up once again.
Police officers from "C" district responded to a call of a
fight on the city's east side this morning; authorities say shortly
after they answered that call, the two suspects tried to get away and
ended up crashing into the officers car. Officers say the suspects
fled once again until abandoning their car and running away on foot, and
ended up on Tom
Burton, PBA Attorney, "The individual took off and in the course of
making an arrest the individual spun on the officer, ignored commands to
put his hands up , the officer thought he saw a gun fired one shot and
hit the individual in the ankle." Both
the department and the officers attorney say his actions were justified.
Tom
Burton, PBA Attorney, "As a general rule what the officer proceeds
to be a threat, and in this instance, the indivual pulled up his
sweatshirt, spun towards the officer and the officer fired when he
thought the person had a gun right at his waistline." That
police officers faces a review by the pba, as well as the district
attorney, but is expected to return to work soon. |
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Two
years later, wife charged in killing Says
rifle accidentally was fired in bedas husband slept in By
Matt Gryta NEWS STAFF REPORTER Robin
Kalinowski claimed two years ago to police that the lights already were
out when she climbed into bed with her sleeping husband at She
said that as she got into the bed, she picked up “an unknown
object.” It
turned out to be a .22-caliber hunting rifle. A loaded one. And it
suddenly went off, firing a shot into the back of her husband’s head. A
grand jury convened to review the evidence in the case didn’t buy her
story. Friday,
Robin Kalinowski, now 42, wept profusely as she was led away from court
in handcuffs. She
pleaded innocent to one count of second-degree murder in the shooting
death of Kevin M. Kalinowski, 41, her husband of 15 years and the father
of her two sons. Kevin
Kalinowski was an avid hunter, fisherman and youth baseball coach who
ran a commercial contracting business with relatives and was a partner
in Drinkwell Products, a home brewing supply company, and Teed-Off
Miniature Golf, which constructed portable mini-golf courses leased or
donated for local charity events. Robin
Kalinowski, who had not been charged in the death until now, had
continued to live in the Prosecutor
Thomas M. Finnerty described in court how a new investigation by the
Erie County district attorney’s office and Buffalo police uncovered a
pattern of inconsistencies in the accounts Kalinowski gave to her
friends and family about what happened that night in their bedroom. Forensic
experts recently determined that a videotaped reenactment of how Robin
Kalinowski told police the “accidental” shooting took place did not
jibe with the trauma to Kevin Kalinowski’s head, Finnerty said. He
added that at the time of Kevin Kalinowski’s death, Robin Kalinowski
allegedly was having an extramarital affair. In
seeking to have her held without bail, Finnerty told State Supreme Court
Justice John L. Michalski that she had been convicted of embezzling more
than $20,000 from a former employer about six years ago. The
judge instead imposed bail of $350,000. After
the arraignment, Finnerty confirmed that Robin Kalinowski in
mid-November turned down an offer by the district attorney’s office to
appear before the grand jury that was considering the case, provided she
waived the standard immunity from prosecution grand jury witnesses get. |
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Producer,
director scout locations for John Cusack film By
Sharon Linstedt NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER “The
Factory,” which is set in Buffalo
Niagara Film Commission chief Tim Clark confirmed Friday the film’s
executive producer and director were in “The
production’s most senior people were here to get a feel for the city
and form first-hand impressions,” “They
left with a very favorable view of Word
of the Cusack movie’s interest in “This
wouldn’t be plate shots or Bunit photography. They would come here
with cast and crew,” he said. While
the bulk of the movie will be filmed on location in Cusack,
whose film credits run the gamut from 1980s teen flick “Sixteen
Candles” to the 2005 romantic comedy “Must Love Dogs,” also stars
in the soon-to-be-released “Grace is Gone,” an Iraq-themed movie
that won the Audience Award for Drama at this year’s Sundance Film
Festival. The
movie’s executive producer is Don Carmody, whose production credits
include the film version of the Broadway musical “Chicago,” as well
as hit comedies “Porky’s” and “Meatballs.” Morgan O’Neill,
winner of the Australian version of the “Project Greenlight” reality
show, will direct from a script he co-wrote. “The
Factory” will be produced by Warner Bros. subsidiary Dark Castle
Entertainment. Since
its creation in 2002, the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission has lured a
variety of film, television and advertising projects to Friday
the Initially
operated under the auspices of In
addition to “The Savages” and “Bruce Almighty,” the
commission’s other credits include: “Poultrygeist,” a
horror-musical due out this year, and MTV’s “Sorority Life” and
“Fraternity Life” series. The
office also oversaw filming of a key background scene at Just
this week, it assisted a national auto parts seller in two days of
filming in southern |
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Lynn
DeJac freed from jail after judge grants new trial Buffalo
News Updated: Lynn
M. DeJac was released from jail today, hours after a judge granted her a
new trial in the killing of her 13-year-old daughter, Crystallynn
Girard. She
was freed this afternoon after District Attorney Frank Clark said he
does not oppose her being released on her own recognizance. Erie
County Senior Judge Michael L. D'Amico granted the new trial in a
decision released this morning. D'Amico, who presided over the original
trial, also recused himself from a new trial. The
result of new DNA testing was cited in the decision to grant a new
trial. "This
court must conclude that if the newly discovered forensic evidence was
available at the time of trial, there exists a reasonable probability
that the verdict in the defendant's trial would have been more favorable
to the defendant," the judge's decision stated. "Accordingly,
defendant's motion to vacate the judgment is here by granted and a new
trial hereby ordered." DeJac
was tried on two second-degree murder charges in 1994. She was acquitted
of intentional murder and convicted of depraved-indifference murder. Because
the state's highest court has restricted the use of the
depraved-indifference charge, prosecutors have suggested they will
consider trying DeJac on a reduced charge of second-degree manslaughter. New
DNA evidence found in Crystallynn’s bedroom after her killing strongly
suggests that DeJac's former boyfriend, Dennis P. Donahue, was in the
room. DeJac’s supporters believe that Donahue, not she, committed the
killing. Andrew
C. LoTempio, DeJac's defense attorney, said earlier this month: “The
‘21st century fingerprint’ has Dennis Donahue’s prints on this
girl’s dead, naked body. Isn’t it a stretch to say somebody else
sexually abused [and killed] her?” LoTempio
has letters from two polygraph experts questioning the validity of the
lie-detector test Donahue passed a few days after Crystallynn’s 1993
killing. “It’s
a fraud,” LoTempio said of such a test. “That’s why it’s not
admissible in court. Sociopaths can pass lie-detector tests, because
they don’t have emotional responses when they lie.” In
the polygraph, Donahue contended that he didn’t kill the girl, he
wasn’t at the murder scene, and he didn’t know who killed her,
sources have said. The
results of that test help explain why prosecutors allowed Donahue to
testify before the grand jury — providing him with immunity from
prosecution in her killing. |
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CASE UP-DATE 11-17-2007 DeJac
Retrial Case Becomes Battleground For Justice By
Gene Warner NEWS STAFF REPORTER A
war of words broke out Friday over the possible innocence of convicted
killer Lynn M. DeJac, but this time the combatants were public officials
who usually work together — police detectives and prosecutors. Three
detectives from the “In
our opinion, after investigating this case and looking at all the
available evidence, Lynn DeJac could not have killed her daughter,”
Detective Dennis Delano said. “Any
person on the street could read the facts available to us and tell that
Lynn DeJac could not possibly have killed her daughter,” Erie
County District Attorney Frank J. Clark also met with reporters Friday,
after filing his motion opposing a new trial for DeJac. She was
convicted of second-degree murder in the 1993 strangling of her
13-year-old daughter, Crystallynn Girard. “They
can’t refute one single, solitary fact that the jury relied on to
convict her,” Granting
DeJac a new trial might be the popular thing to do, and it might be a
feel-good story, After
having to rebut fellow members of the law-enforcement community, Clark
lashed out at the police detectives for going public with their
opinions. “It’s
absolutely inappropriate for them to express an opinion on the question
of guilt or innocence, when a matter is still under litigation,” he
said. “They’re now the Delphic oracles in deciding who’s guilty or
innocent?” Detectives
Recent
tests have shown that Donahue’s DNA was found after the killing in
three spots in Crystallynn’s room: in blood spots on her bed and on
the wall behind her, and on a vaginal swab taken from her body. The
three experienced homicide detectives claim the evidence shows that
DeJac would have had to kill her daughter during an 11-minute window,
from So
DeJac and her daughter, who had been allies during a previous 911 phone
call that evening, would have had to engage in a violent struggle. Then
DeJac would have had to strangle her daughter, which would have taken at
least five minutes, before stripping her, washing her body down and
going to a nearby bar. All in 11 minutes. “It
just doesn’t ring true,” DeJac
lacked the strength and body size to subdue her daughter for the
five-plus minutes it would have taken to strangle her, The
three detectives also seemed swayed heavily by the presence of
Donahue’s DNA in Crystallynn’s room. “How
do you account for Crystallynn’s blood mixed in with his DNA on the
wall?” Aronica asked. “There’s no legitimate reason why he would
be in her bedroom, or in her body.” The
detectives also discounted the notion that Donahue’s DNA could have
been in the girl’s bedroom for days. “The
blood had to get there during the struggle with Crystallynn,”
Gugliuzza said. “It’s on the wall, and some of it was on her leg. If
it had happened the day before, don’t you think she would have washed
it off?” The
district attorney referred specifically to the new DNA evidence. “How
is that evidence that he [Donahue] killed her?” he asked. “You’ve
got to show me that he was there when she was killed.” There’s
no question in “The
bottom line is, in light of the other facts, does it create a
probability that the verdict would be different?” he asked. “They [DeJac’s
defenders] have not demonstrated to my satisfaction that the newly
discovered evidence would create a probability that the verdict would be
more favorable to her.” Specifically,
he mentioned the one- to two-hour time lag between DeJac finding her
daughter’s body and her call to police. He also wonders why people are
so quick to dismiss the barroom confession DeJac supposedly made to an
acquaintance, containing information that wasn’t known to the public. “They
saw all the human pathos that surrounded the Capozzi case, and now they
want to transpose that to this and other cases,” he said. “But
they’re not the same. You can’t do it because it’s a feel-good
thing. “You
have to base it on the facts.” |
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12
former housing officers named to city’s force By
Vanessa Thomas NEWS STAFF REPORTER Twelve
former housing police officers were appointed to the Buffalo Police
Department on Monday. The
former Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority officers, who were laid off
in June 2005 because of budget cuts, plus two police report technicians,
are now the city’s newest police officers. These
14 new police officers are part of Mayor Byron W. Brown’s plan to add
100 officers to the city’s force by lobbying state officials for $10.5
million. Buffalo
Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson made the new appointments Monday
afternoon during a promotion ceremony in Police Headquarters. The
promotions also included Gipson’s first major Cabinet shuffle since he
was named police commissioner in February 2006. Lt.
Brian S. Strobele was appointed chief of the South Police District,
succeeding Lt. James P. Shea, who is stepping down so he can be promoted
to captain — a contingent permanent position that is the
department’s second-highest civil service rank. Shea
said he is also departing his role as chief so that he can be with his
wife, who is having surgery. Strobele,
43, is a 22-year veteran of the force and a lifelong “I’m
excited for the opportunity, and I’m going to try to follow his
lead,” Strobele said of Shea. Capt.
Fred D. Young, who is one of a handful of African- American command
officers, was appointed acting chief of the Northeast Police District. Gipson
said Young is acting as a temporary fill-in for Chief Arturo Salas, who
was injured on duty. Under
the city’s plan, former Housing Authority officers were the first to
be hired as About
25 Housing Authority officers had been laid off. Twenty- four of them
took that test, and 12 of those test-takers accepted a position with the
city’s force, police officials said. Gipson
said those officers are taking a three-week refresher course and are
scheduled to be on street patrol by January. |
