David N. Reese.

The man accused of gunning down a co-worker at a New York City Department of Environmental Protection facility in Kingston last week allegedly told police that the victim was “stalking him.” And, according to a DEP Police lieutenant, there had been at least one reported workplace altercation between the men in the months prior to the shooting.

The revelations came at a preliminary hearing Monday, Feb. 10 in the second-degree murder case against David N. Reese, 54, for the Feb. 3 killing of Aron J. Thomas inside a workshop at the DEP facility at 71 Smith Ave. The hearing was held in Kingston City Court before part-time City Court Judge Phillip Kirschner to determine if there was reasonable cause to hold Reese in jail pending grand jury proceedings.

Ulster County Senior Assistant District Attorney Katherine Van Loan called just one witness to the stand, DEP Police Lt. Justin Kight. Kight testified that when he arrived for work at 6:24 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 3, he noticed Reece’s black Lincoln Navigator SUV and Thomas’ Toyota parked outside the Smith Avenue facility. Moments after he clocked in, Kight testified, he heard a knock on his office door and looked through a glass pane to see Reese standing there. When he opened the door, Kight said, Reese silently turned around and lifted his jacket displaying a Glock pistol. Kight told the court that he grabbed the gun and took a cell phone from Reese before escorting him to a police vehicle to retrieve a pair of handcuffs. En route, Kight testified, Reese told the cop, “They been breaking into my office” and, “You know Aron’s stalking me?” before admitting “I shot Aron twice.”

Moments later, after securing Reese in a Kingston Police Department vehicle, Kight said he entered a storage area off of the maintenance department’s workshop, accompanied by two paramedics from Mobile Life Ambulance. There, Kight said, he found Thomas, a 33-year-old father of two, laying facedown on the floor. He was pronounced dead at HealthAlliance’s Broadway Campus (KingstonHospital) later that day. Asked about Reese’s demeanor during their encounter, Kight replied, “He was calm.”

Aron J. Thomas (Facebook photo)

During cross-xamination by Ulster County Assistant Public Defender Mari Ann Connolly, Kight told the court that he was aware of an incident report involving Reese and Thomas that was filed sometime around Nov. 26 last year. Van Loan cut off further questioning about run-ins between the two men with an objection that the inquiry was irrelevant given the scope of the proceeding. Under cross-examination, Kight also testified that he did not observe any overturned furniture or other signs of a struggle in the workshop where Thomas’ body was found. He added that there were 36 security cameras at various locations in the Smith Avenue complex. At least one, he said, captured Thomas and Reese near a loading dock outside the maintenance office moments before the shooting. The two men, he said, were not seen interacting on the video.

Following the hearing, Kirschner ruled that the evidence presented was sufficient to show that a felony had been committed and Reese had committed it. Reese was ordered held in the Ulster County Jail pending the presentation of the case to a grand jury. District Attorney Holley Carnright said that he was awaiting results from a state police crime lab and other crime scene data before presenting the case to a grand jury.

Rich Cahill Jr. talks about his book at a recent appearance. (Phyllis McCabe)

Lifelong Kingstonian Richard Cahill has spent half a lifetime investigating a dead subject: the 1932 kidnapping and killing of 20-month-old Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., son of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh. Recently, the attorney, ex-alderman and two-time mayoral candidate published his thoughtful analysis of what was perhaps the crime of the 20th century, called Hauptmann’s Ladder: A Step by Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping. Was the kidnapping really solved? Did Lindbergh do it himself? Did Bruno Richard Hauptmann, who was convicted and put to death for the crime, act alone? Is the Lindbergh baby actually still alive? Read on!

Carrie Jones Ross: Where were you born and raised?

Rich Cahill Jr.: Kingston, New York

CJR: School?

RCJR: Meagher, Sophie Finn, Myron J. Michael, KingstonHigh School [graduated in] 1989, Mount St. Mary, where I studied history and political science, and then Albany Law School, 1996.

CJR: Family?

RCJR: Married — almost 13 years to Laura Cahill.

CJR: Tell me a little about your family background.

RCJR: Richard Senior was my father. Dad was a committeeman for 55 years, appointed by T.R, Gallo to the charter revision committee in 1994. My parents met at a Republican meeting. I believe their first date was to a countyConservative Party dinner.  My mother is retired from St. Mary’s of the Snow.

CJR: What kind of attorney are you?

RCJR: I worked at Ryan, Roach & Ryan for 14 years, doing mostly workman’s compensation. Formally a prosecutor in RensselaerCounty from February 1997-1999 and also did criminal defense work. After that, I ran my own criminal defense practice for a short while, then moved back to Kingston. It was the only time in my life that I ever didn’t live in Kingston. Now, [I am doing] exclusively workers compensation and volunteer firefighters’ benefits law compensation for Pasternack, Tilker Ziegler, Walsh, Stanton & Romano in Newburgh.

CJR: Tell me about your political history.

RCJR: I served as an alderman for one term, Ward 6, which is Roosevelt Park. I ran against Sottile for mayor in 2007 and then ran again in 2011.

CJR: Why mayor, Rich?

RCJR: In 2007, I didn’t want to [run for mayor], I wanted to be city judge, but Mike Bruhn was running and I stepped aside because he wanted to run.  The Republican Party came to me and asked me to run, so I did. In 2011, I very much wanted to run, but there was a large controversy with the endorsement so I went to someone else, and I wound up winning the conservative line.

CJR: What was your disappointment like?

RCJR: The first time, I was not all that disappointed because the race was very, very close, and as a Republican in the city, you were not expected to win in Kingston. I was pleased. In 2011, I was very disappointed to lose to the primary, but I was only running on the Conservative line, and so I knew I was going to lose.  Looking back, I think it was a blessing. My life has taken a very different direction, and I am in a much better place now.

CJR: Do you coach baseball?

RCJR: I was a manager for the Metropolitan Knothole League for four years. I umpired one year before that. Starting this year I will be umpire again, because with the book coming out, I have to make appearances. So it will be fun. I was in the Knothole League as a kid. And then one day I was coming home and saw them playing, and I ran into Mr. Bob Boughton and he suggested to me that I involved, so I did.

CJR: What do you do for recreation?

I go to Ulster Budokai, where I take judo as a green belt. Working hard to get a brown belt. I did it as a kid originally, and came back when I got married, then had problems with my knee, and now have been doing it since 2013. And I write.

CJR: Tell me about your book.

RCJR: Hauptmann’s Ladder: A Step-by-Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping. The book is a reset of the story of the Lindbergh kidnapping because over the years, so many people have told wild stories and distorted the evidence so it has become very difficult for the average person to go out, get a book and learn about the kidnapping because you either get partial truths, or outright lies. There’s rumors that Lindbergh did it himself, which is nonsense, or the baby is still alive and there are men who claim to be the baby, but are 10-15 years too young to even be the baby. And sadly, the baby is dead.

CJR: And so this was an effort to set the record straight?

RCJR: That’s what I was trying to do.

CJR: Why the Lindbergh kidnapping as a topic?

RCJR: It started innocently enough. I was assigned a research paper as a freshman in college by Dr. Cotter (at Mount St. Mary) and so I went to the library to choose a topic, and I don’t recall how, but I picked this topic to write about. I read one book, one article from a magazine, and wrote this paper proclaiming that Hauptmann was an innocent man. One year later, I saw a book in a bookstore saying that Hauptmann was guilty, citing the same evidence. I thought it might be fun to take a couple of weeks and look at the evidence myself, and see what happened. Twenty years later, I amassed so much information about the case that I decided to write a book about the case, so no one else would have to go through what I went through for 20 years. As someone who knew he was going to be a lawyer, I always found criminal cases to be interesting.

CJR: How long did it take to write the book? 

RCJR: I started putting pen to paper, actually typing, 2004-2005. Whether or not I got it published was never the end-all for me, I just wanted to know that I could do it. Finished first draft in 2008. Then I wanted to do more research of particular points, but the thing that was most important was making sure that what I put down was correct. And then, 2012 my dad died. I went bananas. My mind was racing. And throwing myself into my work was not going to do it, because it reminded me too much of Dad. So I threw myself into this, and quickly did the second revision in 10 days. Third revision, one week. So I decided to throw myself into getting it published and sent it out to 20 literary agents, and got some lukewarm response, and bought a book on how to go about publishing a book. And found that university presses tend to be the way to go if you want to have control over the content of the book. Sent a proposal to two university presses: Fordham and KentState. Fordham because one of the main characters had been a professor at Fordham, and they were initially interested. And I tried KentState because they have a large collection of documents on the case, but they had never published a book entirely on the case. By June, I had the whole thing wrapped up with a contract. Kent State University Press published the book.

CJR: How did you go about researching?

RCJR: First thing I went around and bought every book on the topic — I probably own about 50 or more on them. Old magazines — Liberty magazines — and from those books, piece together what was generally accepted about the case. Then I went to the New Jersey State Police museum and archives, where they have all the evidence open to the public, and they have the original evidence, the actual ladder, the original documents — if you want to research the case, it’s a treasure trove. There were also documents the FBI maintains, including two large summary reports.

CJR: What was your goal? To document or to solve it?

RCJR: Both. I was kind of hoping to find the smoking gun that proved he didn’t do it.  But, the evidence was to the contrary, he clearly did it. And ultimately, the main thing for me was to follow the evidence, not a predetermined destination. I wanted to come in with the idea that I didn’t know whether he did it or not, but I wanted to find out.

Kingston police and Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright confirmed this week that they’re investigating allegations that an off-duty city cop assaulted a man in an Uptown bar.

Kingston Police Chief Egidio Tinti confirmed an incident took place involving an off-duty KPD officer at the Uptown establishment, but would not confirm the officer’s name or the details of the incident, citing the necessity to protect the officer’s and victim’s rights during the course of the investigation. The police department is coordinating its investigation with the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office and will release a public statement soon, Tinti said.

Carnright confirmed that his office was working closely with the KPD on the investigation. “They recognized that it would be easier for them and better for the public if an independent agency handles it,” said Carnright.

Carnright, like Tinti, declined to discuss details of the incident, which was, according to KPD records, called in as a dispute at the Uptown bar at 3:44 a.m. March 21 But several people familiar with the incident say that the violence occurred in the early morning hours of March 21 when the off duty officer was confronted in a North Front Street bar by a man who had recently been arrested by city police. The verbal altercation, witnesses said, turned physical when the officer threw a flurry of punches. The pummeling continued on the street outside the bar, witnesses said. Police were summoned, but the off-duty cop had left the scene by the time they arrived.

The victim was taken to Kingston Hospital and later taken to Albany Medical Center for evaluation and treatment, according to the victim’s friends.

Multiple witnesses to the incident gave statements to police regarding the alleged assault, a source close to the incident said. – By Kingston Times staff

The Kingston Police Department is investigating what they’re calling a “suspicious death” at a home Saturday morning on West Chester Street, according to a KPD press release posted on their Facebook page. The release stated the victim was “an elderly white female” but did not identify her by name or indicate that a suspect had been arrested.

According to an Ulster Publishing staffer on the scene who spoke to several neighbors, the killing at a house at 122 West Chester St. stemmed from a dispute between a mother in her mid-80s and a son in his early 50s.

The KPD is being assisted by the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office and other local law enforcement agencies. They ask that anyone with information about the investigation contact them at 331-1671.

Mark S. Carpino (KPD photo)

Kingston police have charged a  53-year-old Kingston man with murdering his mother.

According to a release posted on the Kingston Police Department’s Facebook page, Mark S. Carpino, 53, is accused of killing his mother, Audrey J. Carpino, 86. According to the release, at about 9:25 Saturday morning, April 5, a routine police patrol was flagged down by ” a person familiar with the family.” That person told police that a family member, later identified as Mark Carpino, approached them and told the person that he had killed his mother. An initial examination of the scene pointed to blunt force trauma as the cause of Audrey Carpino’s death; an exact determination will be made after an autopsy, the release stated. According to the release, Mark Carpino was an immediate suspect; evidence uncovered during the investigation led to his arrest and charge of second-degree murder.

Carpino was being held for arraignment Saturday. The Ulster County District Attorney’s Office assisted in the investigation.

State Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk; ex-assemblyman George Amedore. (Photos: Dan Barton)

The widely expected rematch between Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk and Republican George Amedore for state senate was officially launched at a pizza parlor in midtown Catskill Monday morning. The race is not official until the incumbent officially announces. She will, probably right after the legislature adjourns in mid-June. Attack-dog surrogates will serve up the politics for now, with anchovies and extra cheese.

That Amedore chose Catskill for his one and only announcement is a curious strategy. Amedore has no plans to make any official announcements of his candidacy anywhere else in the district, his spokesman said.

As Catskill goes, apparently, so goes the senatorial district. Catskill may be the geographic center for a district that stretches over 100 miles from Tkaczyk’s home in Duanesburg to the Rosendale border, but it is still, after all, Catskill.

Ulster County was crucial in the 2012 election, and it will be in 2014. Why didn’t Amedore announce in several places?

Tkaczyk will be announcing in about two months, probably on the Kingston courthouse steps. And, I’ll wager, in the other four counties in the district.

Democrats went after Amedore hammer and tongs the day before the official announcement, there being few secrets in politics. Before Amedore could say, “I’ll have pepperoni on mine,” Dems were lambasting him for being a woman-bashing Neanderthal right-wing nutcase during his three terms in the Assembly. Some even called him anti-business, which is hilarious.

Should the opposition succeed in thus defining him, Amedore might just as well go back to building houses around the Capital District.

The shrill tone of the Democratic knee-jerk reaction to Amedore’s candidacy indicates they consider him a serious threat. For the Democrats, losing this seat would have far-reaching consequences. Currently, Democrats hold a 32-30 numerical majority in the senate, but a coalition of five downstate Democrats joined with Republicans to form a Republican majority after the 2012 elections. If Republicans can pick off first-termers Terry Gipson in Dutchess and Tkaczyk, they regain absolute control of the upper house. They will invest heavily in those efforts.

Fallonious assault

Saugerties residents were all aflutter at Sunday’s monthly breakfast at the Glasco firehouse over an April Fool’s spoof in last week’s Saugerties Times purporting to rename the town after Tonight Show host and former Sawyer Jimmy Fallon.

Times editor and writer Will Dendis offered the name “Fallonville,” with clever graphics and numerous comments from sometimes barely credible sources. “Fallonia” might have worked, too. High praise to my creative colleague.

Mike Catalinotto, a savvy old pol and former town Republican chairman, was one of many surprised at the virulent response to the obvious joke. “I think it says something about how some people feel about our town board,” he said. “How could anybody believe our town board would meet in the dead of night [as ‘reported’ in the ‘story’] and enact something like this?”

Part of that, I thought, had the ring of truth. Politicians are forever doing do-do in the dark. Why should April Fool’s Day be any different?

Meanwhile, it should be interesting if Fallon, who moved out of town to pursue his career, mentions the latest news from a town called Saugerties (for now) on his hit TV show.

Expunging Gaetana

In other Saugerties news, there seems to be a movement afoot among disgruntled Republicans to oust rebellious Republican Gaetana Ciarlante from their ranks. Ciarlante, after losing the Republican nomination to Kelly Myers last year, ran on the Conservative ticket against Myers and the eventual winner, Democrat Greg Helsmoortel. Helsmoortel prevailed by about 400 votes, but Ciarlante polled close to 1,200 in what Republican leaders apparently see as a spoiler role that cost their candidate the election.

Is the response to run Ciarlante out of the party a wise thing to do? In this country we are free to choose our affiliations. Nobody is returning phone calls.

The better answer is: see you at next year’s Republican town caucus. For sure, Ciarlante, who racked up a remarkable total for a third-party candidate, will be there. Maybe Myers and Helsmoortel, too.

Electric slide

A lot of people seem to like Republican Congressman Chris Gibson‘s bipartisan approach to politics, but some wonder if teaming up with Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney of Putnam at this late date to oppose significant increases in electric bills on the backs of already beleaguered constituents will have any real effect. At issue is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision to create new capacity zones on May 1 which would have most consumers in the Hudson Valley paying higher New York City rates.

“That is unacceptable,” Gibson declared on his Facebook page. Is introducing a bill the answer to this rapidly approaching deadline? In Congress, bills take months to process, sometimes years, and right now Reddy Kilowatt is breathing down our necks.

Senator Chuck Schumer‘s direct pressure on FERC through personal contact with senior administrators, no doubt in league with upriver congressmen, is the shrewder move. But then the ever-political senior senator has different issues than our congressmen.  Spreading electric bills upriver can only benefit Gotham, and that’s where the votes are.

Not to wax pessimistic here, but when the Big Apple takes on small potatoes the outcome is usually predictable.

Here and there

For those who wondered what happened to Catskill Resort at Belleayre developer Dean Gitter, he and his band will be performing at the Emerson on April 27 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., celebrating the release of their latest album “Old Folkies Never Die,” according to an Emerson press release. Given Gitter’s tempestuous relationship with locals over building a mega-resort atop Belleayre, a work in progress since 1998, the name of the band, Uncommon Ground, is fitting. Gitter, one of those self-described old folkies now approaching 80, is seldom seen in the mountains these days, preferring Maryland’s shores. For old friends and old foes, April 27 represents a chance to pick up on some new vibes.

I erred in a recent report on New Paltz Supervisor Sue Zimet‘s last run for office. Official election figures confirm that Democrat Zimet defeated Republican Randall Leverett last year 1,508-1,310. It was still a close election. Had 100 votes switched, Leverett would be the supervisor today.

Law enforcement officials say a wild car chase that began in Marbletown Tuesday night and left car parts scattered on the streets of Kingston ended on Route 28 in Glenford when an Ulster County sheriff’s deputy shot the driver.

Authorities Wednesday weren’t releasing many details of the incident, which began around 10:40 p.m. Tuesday, April 15 when a Marbletown resident reported that a vehicle had been stolen from her driveway. Troopers responding to the call spotted the vehicle on Route 213. When officers attempted to initiate a traffic stop, police said, the driver sped up. Troopers pursued the vehicle into the City of Kingston where the driver successfully evaded capture. A short time later, Ulster County sheriff’s deputies caught sight of the vehicle, touching off another chase through the streets of Kingston. At one point, according to witnesses, the speeding car crashed through a fence and drove across the lawn at Family of Woodstock’s Darmstadt homeless shelter on Thomas Street.

“He drove right through the fence, you can see the tire tracks across the lawn,” said shelter director Liz Bahr, who learned of the incident the next morning. “Then I guess he went over the curb and just kept going.”

During the pursuit, according to Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright, the suspect ran through several police roadblocks and continued to flee even after his tires were shredded by police spike strips. The pursuit ended on Route 28 in West Hurley when the suspect allegedly swerved into an Ulster County sheriff’s vehicle forcing both cars off the road. The suspect, whom police did not identify, was shot by a deputy while being taken into custody. Carnright declined to comment on whether police recovered a gun in the incident. Carnright said that the suspect was transported to Albany Medical Center where he underwent surgery and remains in intensive care.

Ulster County Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum said in a prepared statement that he had asked the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Forensic Investigations Unit to probe the incident and pledged full cooperation with the investigation. Carnright said that he expected criminal charges to be filed against the driver. Carnright added that, following the conclusion of the state police investigation, an Ulster County grand jury would weigh whether the shooting was justified.

Tim Matthews’ booking shot.

A three-member panel of the State Parole Board has turned down a disgraced former city detective’s bid for early release. The decision means that former Kingston Police detective lieutenant Tim Matthews will spend at least another 10 months in state prison where he is serving a three to nine year sentence for grand larceny.

Matthews has been imprisoned since February 2012, following his guilty plea to two counts of third-degree grand larceny. As head of the KPD’s Detective Division, and later as co-commander of the countywide Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team, authorities say Matthews stole $202,000 in cash held as evidence or give to police as “buy money” for undercover operations. He was also accused of stealing $10,000 from Ulster Savings Bank for billing it for security work he never performed. Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright said that Matthews engaged in a “pattern of theft” of cash from a police evidence vault that stretched back at least 10 years. The scheme unraveled when Matthews was suspended amidst an investigation into allegations of payroll fraud at a side job with the Kingston City School District and the discrepancy in the evidence safe was discovered.

Matthews was eligible for “meritorious release” in August. It’s a release granted to nonviolent offenders who complete five-sixths of their minimum sentence, participate in prison programming and keep a clean disciplinary record. In its April 15 decision denying the meritorious release, the board noted the severity of the crime and the fact that Matthews violated the trust of fellow cops and the public.

“Your release at this time would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime of the crime as to undermine respect for the law,” the decision reads.

Matthews will have another parole hearing in November to determine if he will be released at his earliest possible regular parole date in February 2015. If he’s denied, it will likely be another two years before he has another chance for parole. Matthews is currently incarcerated at the Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy. He’s assigned to a special unit which houses former cops, politicians, celebrities and other inmates deemed too vulnerable for assignment to the general prison population.

Ulster County DA Holley Carnright. (Photo by Dan Barton)

In response to a surge in Ulster crimes with links to Poughkeepsie, Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright said that he’s exploring the possibility of forming a task force to link law enforcement efforts on both sides of the Hudson.

The proposal is still in its earliest stages but Carnright said a series of violent incidents, including a January nightclub shooting in Lloyd and the Easter Sunday killing at a New Paltz bar, both linked to Poughkeepsie incidents, highlighted the impact of spiraling violence on Ulster County.

“Six years ago a lot of our crime was coming from the south straight up, drug and gang activity with roots in the Bronx,” said Carnright. “Today we’re seeing more of a connection with Poughkeepsie.”

Poughkeepsie’s been hit with a surge in violence, recording eight homicides in 2013 compared with one in 2012. 2013 also saw 33 incidents of gunplay in the city.

Basheem Bennett is facing murder and assault charges for an April 20 shooting at Murphy’s Restaurant & Pub in New Paltz that left Poughkeepsie resident Ryan Gray dead and an unidentified woman wounded. Police say Bennett, also a Poughkeepsie resident, was looking to avenge a November 2013 killing in the city. On January 25, four Poughkeepsie men were arrested after a flurry of gunshots in the parking lot of the Home nightclub in Lloyd left two men wounded. A third man was shot and wounded by police following a high-speed chase on Route 9W.

Meanwhile, cops in Kingston and southern Ulster County have reported a noticeable spike in Poughkeepsie-based drug dealers crossing the river to peddle their wares. Last year the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team took down a ring of Poughkeepsie residents accused of running a prostitution and narcotics operation from a motel on Route 9W.

Town of Lloyd Police Chief Daniel Waage said this week there had always been a “steady level” of Poughkeepsie-linked drug activity in the community. But he said the problems had “amped up” along with the level of violence in the city. Waage, who previously served with URGENT, attributed the violence in part to the surging popularity of heroin and prescription narcotics. Drug dealers, he said, were scrambling to meet the demand, leading to violent disputes.

“There’s been such an influx, so much demand and guys are moving into the market,” said Waage. “Drugs and money propel most of this.”

Town of Ulster Police Chief Anthony Cruise. (Photo: Phyllis McCabe)

For retailers nationwide, it’s a $30 billion a year problem. For Town of Ulster cops it’s a — literally — everyday call. For dozens of “loss prevention” workers at big-box stores on the Ulster Avenue commercial strip, it’s a living.

Shoplifters, from impulsive teenagers to well-organized traveling boosting crews, are drawn to the strip which includes the Hudson Valley Mall, Wal-Mart, Target, Lowe’s and other stores stuffed with the kind of valuable and easy-to-fence merchandise that attracts thieves of all stripes.

“When I was first on the job, it was more drug addicts stealing to support a habit and kids doing it for fun,” said Town of Ulster Police Chief Anthony Cruise. “Now, you see working people, elderly people, it’s really a wide spectrum.”

Cruise’s department handled 327 shoplifting complaints in 2013. Since 2010, the annual number of larceny complaints generated by the retail strip has averaged 371. To deal with the daily drumbeat of thievery, town cops rely on a close working relationship with loss-prevention staff employed by big-box retailers. Retailers’ corporate parents generally discourage loss-prevention staff from talking to the press, but Cruise and several experts in the field describe say virtually all big-box stores employ sophisticated video surveillance systems and workers trained to investigate and catch shoplifters even after they think they’ve made a clean getaway.

Most shoplifting busts occur at the store when loss prevention workers, tipped off by electronic anti-theft devices, video surveillance or direct observation catch the offender after they pass “all points of sale” (it is not a crime in New York State to conceal goods on one’s person inside a store). At that point, loss-prevention staff will attempt to detain the suspect. What happens from that point depends on store policy. Joseph LaRocca, head of Los Angeles-based loss-prevention consulting firm Retail Partners said retailers usually have a have a policy that sets a threshold for prosecution based on the value of the item taken, whether the suspect has valid ID and other factors.

If the store decides to pursue charges, police are called and an official complaint filed. Loss-prevention staff will typically provide police with video evidence of the theft and prepared statements describing the crime. From there, Cruise said, suspects are taken to police headquarters for booking, most commonly on a charge of misdemeanor petit larceny, and typically released with a ticket to appear in town court at a later date.

“The number-one goal in all of it is to help local law enforcement,” said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Diana Gee. “We want to do as much work on the front end as possible for them.”

Modern loss-prevention operations have access to high-quality video covering nearly every foot of store space. The camera systems can digitally store weeks’ or months’ worth of footage, allowing loss prevention personnel to identify shoplifters long after the crime. Earlier this year, loss-prevention staff at one Ulster Avenue retailer used video to identify a man who stole four vacuum cleaners and a television on separate occasions over a period of four months. In another store, a loss-prevention worker who spotted a man surreptitiously taking pictures up women’s skirts was able to use stored surveillance footage to find video evidence of the same man doing the same thing on multiple occasions.

Sometimes repeat offenders identified on video are caught when they return to the store. Others are recognized and tracked town by Town of Ulster police detectives after the footage is turned over to police. Cruise said video evidence from store security cameras had become an important tool for law enforcement. “It’s not as easy to get away with [shoplifting] as it was 25 years ago,” said Cruise. “Just because you walked out the door, you might think you got away with it, but you may not have.”

Cruise conceded that the omnipresence of store security cameras had raised concerns about unwarranted surveillance by police. But he said, officers did not engage in “fishing expeditions” using store surveillance cameras and in fact, only viewed the footage in cases where an official criminal complaint had been filed.

“The fact is, the minute you walk in that store, you’re on camera,” said Cruise. “But we’re not going to see it unless there’s a complaint.”

While day-to-day pilferers of everyday items make up the bulk of shoplifting arrests, retailers and police must also contend with professional thieves and criminal networks who routinely steal everything from televisions to heartburn remedies for resale on what experts calls “the secondary market.”

LaRocca, who previously served as senior advisor on loss prevention to the National Retail Federation, said that there is a robust market for goods stolen from big-box stores and an equally dedicated class of criminals to meet the demand.

The professionals may employ roving teams of three or four experienced thieves who use bags specially designed to thwart anti-theft devices. Armed with shopping lists provided by their employers the teams move from town to town, sometimes making off with thousands of dollars worth of merchandise in a single sweep. These crews specialize in hard-to-trace, easy-to-fence items including teeth-whitening strips, over-the-counter medications, laundry detergent and batteries. The items are then resold to mom-and-pop corner stores or discount liquidators. LaRocca said some professional shoplifting operations even repackage stolen items in bulk and pose as legitimate wholesalers to sell their wares to unsuspecting retail outlets.

In the nearly two months since an Ulster County Sheriff’s Deputy shot and wounded an apparently unarmed man following a high speed chase. Law enforcement officials in two counties have steadfastly declined to identify the officer who fired the shots. But a document obtained by Kingston Times identifies the deputy as David Hughes a decorated 20 year veteran of department.

Back on April 15 Brandon M. Rifenburg, 20 of High Falls was shot twice in the chest at the conclusion of a wild high speed chase that led police from multiple agencies from Route 213 in Marbletown, through the City of Kingston and finally to Route 28 in Hurley. Cops say Rifenburg ignored orders to stop, ran roadblocks and continued to drive after his tires were shredded by spike strips. The chase ended, police said, after he tried to ram a police vehicle, lost control of his car and ran off the road. Police and prosecutors have not divulged details of the shooting including whether he was inside the car when he was shot or what prompted the deputy to open fire.

Hughes’ name is contained in an application submitted by Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright to County Court Judge Donald Williams on April 21,, six days after the shooting. In the application, which was approved by Williams, then filed with the Ulster County Clerk, Carnright asks that a special prosecutor be assigned to probe the circumstances of the shooting. Carnright cited “personal business dealings” with Hughes that he said could create “the appearance of impropriety” if his office continued to handle investigation. With Williams’ approval, the investigation was transferred to Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler (Carnright’s office continues to handle the case against shooting victim Brandon M. Rifenburg who faces multiple felony counts stemming from the chase). Like Carnright, Hoovler has, so far, declined to identify the officer who fired the shots.

The secrecy around the case has generated controversy and sparked discussion about the public’s right to know the identities of police officers involved in shootings. Carnright’s office and Hoovler’s both cited an ongoing investigation in denying Freedom of Information Act requests from media organizations. That silence is in contrast to previous incidents of police involved shootings, notably an April 20 case involving a sheriff’s deputy who shot an unarmed suspect following a high speed chase in the city of Kingston. That deputy, James Mullen, was identified by the Sheriff’s office one day after the incident. A grand jury later found that the shooting was justified.

Ulster County Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum declined to discuss on the record why Hughes has not been identified by law enforcement officials. But, he said, he planned to develop a uniform policy to guide future officer involved shootings. Van Blarcum added that Hughes had not been suspended or placed on modified duty. Van Blarcum said that, from the department’s viewpoint it did not appear that the veteran deputy had violated protocol in the incident.

“We’re still looking into it departmentally,” said Van Blarcum. “But I don’t see anything bad there.”

Police from multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating the discovery of human remains Wednesday, June 18 near the Esopus Creek in the Town of Ulster.

According to state police Captain Robert Nuzzo, the partial, skeletal remains were discovered by a worker cutting brush near the creek on Wednesday. Nuzzo said police had so far been unable to determine much about the remains, including age, sex or how long they had been there. While a state police forensic unit aided by K-9 and scuba teams combs the crime scene, officers from the Kingston and Town of Ulster police and the Ulster County Sheriff’s Department are assisting with the investigation.

Nuzzo said police were combing through unsolved homicides and missing person’s cases looking for potential links with the remains. He added that officers were also talking to area homeless people to determine if any of their associates had gone missing.

“As in any investigation like this,” said Nuzzo, “we’re going to treat it like a homicide until we can prove otherwise.”

A High Falls man claims that he was shot by an Ulster County sheriff’s deputy while he was unarmed and pinned inside an overturned vehicle — after police had been ordered to discontinue the pursuit.

Those allegations are contained in a notice of claim filed last week by Brandon Rifenburg. The document is the first step in a civil legal action. It names Deputy David Hughes, who allegedly fired two rounds into Rifenburg’s chest in the April 15 incident, as well as other individual officers as defendants. Police departments in Kingston, the Town of Ulster, Rosendale and Saugerties are also named as potential defendants, as are the West Hurley Fire Department and New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

According to police accounts, Rifenburg, 20, was shot at the conclusion of a wild chase that began on Route 213 in High Falls and ended when he lost control of his vehicle after trying to run a police car off the road on Route 28 in West Hurley. During the chase, police said, Rifenburg tore through the City of Kingston and portions of the towns of Kingston, Rosendale, Ulster and Saugerties, ignoring orders to stop, committing numerous traffic infractions and continuing his flight even after his tires were shredded by police spike strips. Rifenburg was targeted by cops responding to a 911 call of a vehicle stolen from a driveway on Route 213.

But the notice of claim filed by Poughkeepsie-based attorney John J. Ventosa with the firm Jonna Spilbor Law tells a different story. According to the document, Rifenburg lost control of his vehicle, ran off the road and overturned after Hughes rammed him in a “Police Intervention Tactic.” The document claims that Rifenburgh was still inside the overturned vehicle when Hughes approached and shot him. According to the notice, Rifenburg was unarmed and unresisting when he was shot. Ventosa also argued that the ramming and shooting occurred after Hughes and other officers had been ordered to break off the chase.

The notice alleges that the conduct of Hughes and other officers in the chase constituted a major violation of Rifenburg’s constitutional rights. The document claims that officers not only used excessive force but failed to properly investigate the allegations against him before making an arrest. Rifenburg faces multiple felony charges stemming from the chase. In addition to false arrest, the notice alleges that Rifenburg suffered serious physical injuries and post traumatic stress disorder as well as libel and public ridicule stemming from police actions.

The allegations contained in the notice of claim are the first public, on-the-record comments on key aspects of the case. From the beginning, local police and prosecutors have remained close-mouthed about the details of the shooting. To date officials have declined to name Hughes as the deputy who fired the shots or comment on key elements of the case including whether Rifenburg was armed and whether he was shot inside or outside of his vehicle. The Kingston Times obtained Hughes’ name from a document filed by Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright requesting that he be recused from the investigation into the shooting. In the document, Carnright said that he had had dealings with a business owned by Hughes in the past. The investigation of Hughes’ actions was then turned over to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, which, like Carnright, has declined to answer questions about the case.

David Beesmer. (NYSP photo)

A Lake Katrine man is facing a felony charge after, state troopers say, he flew a camera equipped drone close to examination room windows at a Town of Ulster Medical Facility. But David “Front Row Dave” Beesmer, who’s charged with second-degree unlawful surveillance, said in a Facebook post that the incident was a misunderstanding.

Beesmer was arrested around 8 p.m. on Tuesday when state police responded to a complaint at Mid-Hudson Medical Group, a new healthcare facility in Lake Katrine. Police say Beesmer flew the drone within 10 or 15 feet of windows at the facility. Some of the windows, cops said, were in exam rooms where patients and medical staff observed the drone outside and called police.

In a post on his Facebook page, Beesmer called the arrest the result of “a huge error in judgment” but denied that he was trying to spy on anybody. Beesmer said that he was taking his mother to an appointment at the practice and decided to use his drone to capture some video of the new building. According to Beesmer, after a short flight, he went inside the facility and told a receptionist that he had video of the exterior of the building. A short time later, Beesmer said, someone else expressed concern about privacy. Beesmer said he displayed the video to demonstrate that the footage did not show the interior of any rooms. A short video clip on the Facebook page shows the exterior of the building, but the tinted windows remain opaque.

“I understand that people inside were alarmed,” wrote Beesmer who added that he should have asked permission before shooting the video. “However as you can see from the footage I posted that there is no way that my camera can see through tinted windows.”

Two Kingston men, one a noted local amateur mixed martial arts fighter, the other the owner of a city fighting gym, were arrested and charged with defrauding a local scrap-metal business.

Michael J. Colon, 30, of Kingston, the mixed martial artist, and Thomas A. Finch, 27, owner of the TNT gym in Midtown, were arrested by Ulster town police. Town police said they’d received a complaint from a local scrapyard regarding fraudulent transactions completed in their business computer. Investigation by detectives revealed, police said, that Colon, who was employed by the scrapyard, completed false computer entries allowing himself and Finch to receive cash to which they weren’t entitled.

Finch was charged with felony fourth-degree grand larceny. Colon was charged with felony third-degree grand larceny and first-degree falsifying business records. Finch was released with an appearance ticket for court, as was Colon, after his arraignment before Town Justice Susan Kesick.

Town police were assisted by the Kingston Police Department Detective Division.

Jahson Marryshow’s Oregon arrest photo.

Jahson Marryshow’s four-year run as one of Ulster County’s most wanted fugitives ended Sunday afternoon in Eugene, Oregon when local police and U.S. Marshals caught up to him while he was playing Ultimate Frisbee in a city park.

“We’re glad to have him in custody,” said Ulster County Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum of the arrest. “We’re looking forward to getting him back here and getting this adjudicated.”

The 32-year-old former Woodstock resident is wanted for the June 30, 2010 robbery of a Bank of America branch on Mill Hill Road in Woodstock. Police believe Marryshow stole a car from Yerry Hill Road the morning of the robbery. A few hours later, police believe, he set fire to a ramshackle barn at 3651 Route 212 in Lake Hill; cops think the fire was set to draw authorities away from the center of town where, just after 9 a.m. he entered the bank disguised with ski goggles and a bandana and armed with a semi-automatic handgun. Marryshow allegedly menaced tellers with the gun before fleeing with, according to unconfirmed accounts, upwards of $20,000 in cash. The car was later found abandoned on Tanglewood Drive in Hurley two miles from the bank and not far from Marryshow’s residence on Witchtree Road.

While police investigated the robbery, Marryshow remained in town. On Sept. 26, 2010 cops say he was involved in a fight at the Cumberland Farms store on Mill Hill Road, just across the parking lot from the bank he allegedly robbed. The dispute led to an arrest warrant for misdemeanor assault. On Oct. 10, 2010 two Woodstock cops spotted him at Andy Lee Field. But before they could get the cuffs on, Marryshow broke free and escaped through the woods, then evading a manhunt that included a state police helicopter and officers from multiple agencies. It would be the last official contact between Marryshow and local law enforcement.

Police declined to say whether Marryshow was a suspect in the bank robbery at the time of the October incident. He would not be publicly identified as a suspect in the heist until November 2010, when an Ulster County grand jury handed up an indictment charging Marryshow with first-degree robbery, third-degree arson and fourth-degree grand larceny, all felonies. By that time, Marryshow had fled Woodstock. He has remained atop the Ulster County Sheriff’s “Most wanted” list ever since. VanBlarcum said that the investigation into Marryshow’s whereabouts has remained active; cops followed leads to New York City and New Orleans. The case was even featured on the A&E documentary series “Manhunters.”

“We’ve never stopped looking for him, we’ve followed a number of leads over the years,” said VanBlarcum. “Until now none of them panned out.”

Frisbee tournament

Police in Eugene say they received a tip from a citizen that Marryshow was living in Eugene. The tip led to a search by members of the Eugene Police Departments Street Crimes Team and the U.S. Marshal’s Office. Around 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 14 the search led police to a park in downtown Eugene where Marryshow was arrested while participating in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament. Cops say Marryshow surrendered without incident. Marryshow was taken to the Lane County Jail where he remains pending an extradition hearing. Van Blarcum said that Marryshow was not talking to police and no details had emerged as yet about his life on the run.

Clockwise, from top: Elisa Ball, Egidio Tinti and Larry Ball. (Photos: Dan Barton)

Mayor Shayne Gallo said Wednesday, Sept. 10 that he will meet with the city’s police commission next week to discuss the circumstances surrounding the arrest of City Court Judge Lawrence Ball by Kingston Police.

Ball was arrested by city cops on Aug. 6 based on a complaint filed by his estranged wife, Ward 6 Alderwoman Elisa Ball. The complaint alleged Judge Ball had violated a custody order by having contact with the couple’s three children when they were supposed to be in her custody.

Judge Ball was charged with second-degree criminal contempt, a misdemeanor. The case will be heard in Hudson City Court, where a Sept. 30 return date has been set. Ball was released without bail and he remains on the bench.

City officials this week acknowledged receipt of a Freedom of Information Act request from this paper seeking the arrest report, complaint and other documents of the arrest but, as of deadline, had not provided the information.

Ball’s arrest has raised questions about a potential conflict of interest based on Elisa Ball’s relationship with Kingston Police Chief Egidio Tinti. They’ve been dating and the relationship became common knowledge back in January when Elisa Ball acknowledged it on Facebook. At the time, Mayor Shayne Gallo and City Corporation Counsel Andrew Zweben said that they saw no potential conflict of interest in the relationship; local media reports had Elisa Ball stating she would not recuse herself from voting on police matters which come before the Common Council.

Gallo reiterated that assertion this week; saying that Ball, in her role as alderwoman had no influence over the chief’s employment contract, department hiring or firing or police operations. The council does approve budget requests from the police department and Ball routinely votes on them. Earlier this month, Ball joined in a unanimous vote to approve a $107,000 bond for new bulletproof vests and other police equipment.

“The fact is, there is no conflict,” said Gallo.

Tinti and Elisa Ball both declined comment for this story.

Was the chief aware?

But Gallo added that he would bring up the circumstances and potential implications of Ball’s arrest at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Police Commission on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Among the unanswered questions is whether Tinti had any role in, or was even aware of the complaint and the arrest and why city police did not call upon an outside agency to conduct the investigation. Police agencies often turn over cases where there is a potential conflict of interest to other departments. In Ulster County, state police, the District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office can handle investigations at the request of local police. State police Capt. Robert Nuzzo said a Kingston Police lieutenant initially called a sergeant at the Troop F barracks on Route 209 to discuss turning over the complaint against Ball.

“[The KPD lieutenant] mentioned a complaint involving the wife of a judge against the judge and said, ‘It’s sort of a conflict for us’,” said Nuzzo. “But in the end he said, ‘Never mind, we’ll handle it.’”

It’s unclear where the unnamed lieutenant saw a potential conflict. Besides the relationship between Tinti and Elisa Ball, much of Judge Ball’s docket involves criminal complaints filed by city police. Ball routinely hears cases involving traffic infractions and misdemeanor crimes. Felony criminal cases come to Ball’s court for arraignment and preliminary hearings to determine if there’s probable cause to hold the accused in custody.

Gallo said he would take the matter of Ball’s arrest up with the police commission, but he added that based on the information available, it did not appear that Kingston police violated any city policy.

“If there’s any conflict with regard to the outcome of this situation, at this point I don’t have any evidence or documentation of it,” said Gallo. “I don’t see any conflict or abuse of power.”

A 23-year-old Cottekill man is facing vehicular manslaughter charges after, Ulster County sheriff’s deputies say, while driving drunkenly he ran a stop sign and crashed into a Jeep, killing a 50-year-old woman and seriously injuring a 19-year-old man.

According to deputies, Tyler J. Grable, was driving a 1999 Subaru Legacy and travelling west on Cottekill Road at about 7:04 p.m. the night of Friday, Sept. 26 when he failed to stop at the intersection of Cottekill Road and Lucas Turnpike and hit a 2006 Jeep Liberty travelling south on Lucas Turnpike. The occupants of the Jeep were taken to HealthAlliance Hospital’s Broadway Campus, deputies said. The driver of the Jeep, Kelly A.Utter, 50, of Cottekill, was later pronounced dead at the hospital; her passenger, Joseph M. Utter, 19, of Cottekill, was admitted with serious injuries. An investigation found Grable was driving while intoxicated, deputies said.

Grable was charged with second degree vehicular manslaughter and second degree vehicular assault, both felonies. He was also charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and failure to stop, a violation. Additional charges are still pending against Grable, deputies said, as the investigation remains open. Grable was arraigned in Rosendale Town Court and sent to Ulster County Jail in lieu of $15,000 cash or a $100,000 bond pending a future court appearance.

Members of the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office were assisted by members of the state police, the state police Crash Investigation Unit, Town of Rosendale Police, Cottekill Fire Department, Marbletown Rescue Squad and Mobile Life.

Thomas A. Pfeiffer. (UCSO photo)

A Red Hook man is facing felony abortion and strangulation charges after a Town of Rosendale incident in which, Ulster County sheriff’s deputies say, he attempted to force a woman to take a pill which would terminate her pregnancy.

Thomas A. Pfeiffer, 44, was arrested 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3, according to the sheriff’s office Detective Division. Deputies went to a residence on Dewitt Mills Road to follow up on a no-voice 911 call and when they arrived, deputies said, they found the accused strangled the woman and, the UCSO release stated, “forced her to consume a pill that would cause an abortion.” The victim was taken to a HealthAlliance hospital in Kingston with injuries to her throat and neck, was treated and released. Pfeiffer was taken into custody, arraigned in Kingston Town Court and sent to Ulster County Jail in lieu of $50,000 cash bail or a $100,000 bond.

Pfeiffer was charged with second-degree strangulation and second-degree abortion, both felonies. He was also charged with third-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal mischief, misdemeanors.

The Ulster County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Town of Rosendale Police Department and the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office.

Only a hole remained Wednesday, Dec. 3 where once there was a meter. (Jesse J. Smith)

Kingston cops are looking for the person or people who ripped out, broke open and discarded at least a dozen parking meters in Uptown Kingston.

The thefts occurred sometime overnight on Tuesday, Dec. 2 on Fair, John and other streets in the Stockade District. Kingston Police Department Lt. Thierry Croizer said the next day that a number of the meters had been recovered at locations around the neighborhood. In each case, he said, the coin-boxes had been broken open and emptied. One source familiar with the case said that the coin-boxes likely contained anywhere from $25 to $50 each. Detectives investigating the thefts are seeking witnesses and security-camera video that may have caught the culprits in the act. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Kingston police at (845) 331-1671. Tips can also be submitted anonymously using the Tipsoft app on the department’s Facebook page.