Morning News Brief

Several arrests were made after a woman was assaulted in Rochester Thursday night.  Officers responded to the 400 block of Oxford Street around 7 p.m. for the report of a robbery. Officers found that a 33-year-old woman was reportedly pulled from her vehicle by a group of suspects who threw her on the ground, assaulted her and stole her smartphone. She was injured but did not need to be taken to the hospital, RPD said.  Police said one of the suspects appeared as if they were going to get into the driver’s seat and steal the victim’s vehicle, but then decided to flee the scene.  Later on, officers said they found several suspects nearby with the help of police K-9s and took them all into custody.

A former postal worker is facing up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to a child pornography charge. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 30-year-old Michael Fratini asked a woman he met on a dating app for illicit photos of her daughters. The woman reported the request to law enforcement, and Fratini was taken into custody after traveling to a hotel where he thought he was going to meet the woman. Fratini will be sentenced in March.

A person of interest in a deadly shooting on Interstate 190 in Buffalo has been arrested in connection with a different case. Officials say that 19-year-old Tramier Garner is charged with criminal possession of stolen property in Cheektowaga. On October 26th, 22-year-old Keyshawn Gault and two other employees of with the Buffalo Sewer Authority were shot, and Gault lost his life. Garner hasn’t been charged in that incident and anyone with information is asked to come forward.

2 more shootings in Rochester on Thursday night.  Police are looking for suspects after a teen was shot on the 500 block of Lyell Ave around 8:30 pm.  Police found the victim, a 17-year-old, who was bleeding profusely from gunshot wounds. The victim was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.  No arrests have been made.  Another man was seriously injured in a shooting in Rochester’s 19th Ward, according to police.  Around 6 p.m., the victim, a 20-year-old man from Rochester, arrived at Strong Memorial Hospital by private vehicle. He’s currently being treated for critical but non-life-threatening injuries, police said.  Investigators believe the man was shot on Arnett Blvd.  No arrests have been made.

Western New York Congressman Brian Higgins is planning to resign from his office on Capitol Hill. According to several reports, Higgins is going to leave his position in the coming weeks so can be the next president of Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo. Right now, the 64-year-old Democrat represents the 26th District and was last re-elected in 2022. If he does step down, Governor Hochul would call for a special election to fill the rest of his term.

Buffalo State Athletics announced the launch of the new women’s wrestling program at the university. It is the first school in the SUNY school system to launch a women’s wrestling program and the fifth college in New York State with a team. The sport was recognized as an emerging sport by the school in 2022 which paved the way for the program’s creation.  Buffalo State has already locked in seven commits to the program as recruitment began immediately after the school announced the program’s addition to its athletic department.  Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest-growing sports in America across both high school and college levels. 41 states now recognize it as an official championship sport at the high school level with 17 of those states recognizing the sport within the last three years. In 2022, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association called the sport an emerging sport.