Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on July 5, 2023
Two suspects are in custody and police are looking for additional suspects following an early morning burglary at a store in Greece. Surveillance video shared by the Greece Police Department appears to show four people climbing over registers just after 4:30 a.m. and attempting to smash items before going into another room. Police said they responded to a business in the 1500 block of West Ridge Road and found a vehicle fleeing, with suspects running from it. Officers caught two suspects, ages 16 and 17, both from Syracuse, after a foot chase. They’re charged with burglary, criminal mischief, criminal possession of burglar tools, petit larceny. Police said the vehicle was reported stolen out of Syracuse. The teens are also charged with criminal possession of stolen property.
Rochester Police are looking for suspects after a number of car break-ins on the city’s southeast side. RPD said around 20 cars were broken into on Werner Park Sunday overnight. This follows similar incidents where large numbers of cars were broken into just a couple of weeks ago and also an incident in Batavia where a woman broke into cars outside a Muckdogs game. Officers are looking for surveillance video from neighbors, and ask anyone with information to call 911.
There needs to be a miracle on more than 34th St. According to the Wall Street Journal, Christmas Tree Shops is expected to liquidate all 72 of its remaining stores nationwide unless a buyer can be found within the next week. The news comes after the retailer defaulted on a $45 million loan. The Massachusetts-based chain, which operates a location on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst and in Henrietta on Jefferson and 12 other stores across New York, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. There is no word on when the stores could go dark if a new owner does not emerge.
Fireworks are still illegal for private individuals. The Erie County Sheriff’s Office says it seized $50,000 worth of illegal fireworks from a home in Buffalo early Monday morning. Narcotics and Intelligence officers, along with Buffalo Police, the FBI and the ATF, executed search warrants at two houses on South Ryan Street. In the basement of one of the houses, the team found a large cache of commercial-grade fireworks. The sheriff’s office says they arrested 36-year-old Michael Sylvia after a week-long investigation, charging him with unlawful possession, storage and sale of fireworks, as well as criminal weapon possession.
You can now listen to former WBTA owners Dan and Debbie Fischer talk about what it was like running the radio station for decades in Batavia. They have over a century of combined experience in broadcasting and working with local charities and community groups. Listen to them talk with Lucile Kaufman on WBTAi.com by going to the Genesee Life page.
An audit by the Erie County Comptroller’s Office found there is a potential fraud occurring in the Erie County Clerk’s Office, with thousands of dollars unaccounted for and evidence of data manipulation. The Comptroller, Kevin Hardwick, says the audit found cash discrepancies in 28 of the 40 days for records they reviewed from the clerk’s office. They now believe at least $90,000 is unaccounted for, with the potential for a lot more. Hardwick says his office faced unusual delays in its audit while dealing with the clerk’s office, and many of the documents requested were never provided. Multiple agencies are investigating the fraud, including the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, Erie County District Attorney and New York State Comptroller.
