Category — Hoyt Schermerhorn

As a public service, The City Desk periodically offers up selected items culled from local police reports. (Note: More violent, standard items do not frequently show up here, as they are covered in the local papers with regularity.)

10:30 pm
Corner of Merriman and 112th Streets: Two men, both wearing NFL jerseys, are arrested outside Stoats’ Sports Bar. Apparently, an animated debate whether to go RB-RB-QB or RB-QB-WR in the first three rounds of a fantasy football draft took an ugly turn, and the men began trading “sloppy, drunken blows.”

2:15 am
7000 block of Blick Avenue: Three men apprehended in the back of pizzeria with several bottles of accelerants, ignition devices, envelope containing $5000 in cash. Investigation pending.

6:00-6:30 am
Various locations, Downtown: Six vendors report that their newsstands were moved to different locations around the Downtown/Central Corridor area overnight, with substantial damage to each. Several witnesses reported a “tow-truck-like” vehicle dragging the structures through the streets.

11:20 am
1200 block of East Plumer Avenue: Officers respond to reports of a man exposing himself in the cereal aisle at the Safeway.

1:38 pm
800 block of Jarvis Street: Two men and a woman report their cars were apparently damaged by a hit and run driver in the parking lot of St. Norbert’s Church. Police are looking for a red 1974 Dodge Dart with the license plate LXI 483 in connection with the incident.

2:41 pm
Intersection of Hudson and Bergen Streets: Fire department reports theft of hydrant after routine hydrant check.

3:06 pm
200 Courthouse Square: City Commerce Director Robert Sheets reports the theft of a briefcase containing city documents after he had left it in a booth at Mo’s Luncheonette.

3:32 pm
300 block of Coffey Street, Emergency Services Unit officers rescue a male child who had his head suck in a fence.

4:18 pm
2300 block of Lorimer Street: Several complainants of tires being slashed on parked vehicles.

4:26 pm
East Patterson River at Granville Street: Aviation and Harbor units respond to reports of a dog in the river. The dog was rescued by Aviation Unit officer Alex Drake and is recovering at the ASPCA.

6:13 pm
500 block of Audubon Avenue: A man reports the theft of a stop sign. The Department of Transportation was contacted and replaced the sign.

7:43 pm
3000 block of Western Avenue: Officers respond to silent alarm at Bruno Hardware. A large cat was found suck in an air conditioning vent on the roof and rescued by ASPCA and Emergency Services Unit officers.

9:25 pm
15000 block of Lindenmeyr Boulevard: A guest at the Courtyard by Marriot at Rockstead International Airport reports the theft of a laptop computer, a pair of shoes, approximately $60 in cash and the keys to a rented 2007 Ford Focus. The 2007 Ford Focus was also stolen from the hotel’s parking lot.
- Ray Ingraham, Hoyt Schermerhorn, RJ White

As a public service, The City Desk periodically offers up selected items culled from local police reports. (Note: More violent, standard items do not frequently show up here, as they are covered in the local papers with regularity.)

7:23 am
3700 block of Pennsylvania Avenue: A group of students are arrested after carrying Davidson High School principal Stephanie Allen’s 2007 Mini Cooper into the school’s second-floor cafeteria. The students, who are all underage, are charged with grand theft auto, operating a motor vehicle without a license, disorderly conduct, local and state hazardous-materials infractions, vandalism, property destruction and a parking violation.

9:02 am
1700 block of Marway Lane: Tandem bicycle reported stolen.

9:27 pm
2000 block of Dunn Avenue: Gupta’s Stop ‘n’ Pop calls in a shoplifting incident. When police arrive, suspect claims that Gupta offers free in-store refills on fountain drinks. Mr. Gupta explains that the policy was never meant to be offered in perpetuity, and the suspect, who has been continually refilling his 44-oz. Mountain Dew since 1:30 PM the previous day, is violating the spirit of the contract. No charges are filed, but suspect is politely asked to leave.

12:52 pm
2100 block of Villers Street: A 22-year-old suspect is taken into custody after having waved a firearm in a threatening manner on the public thoroughfare. He is quickly released, however, when it is discovered that the gun is carved out of a potato.

1:30 pm
2100 block of Villers Street: The 22-year-old suspect is rearrested when dispatcher informs officers of an extant law prohibiting the duplication of illegal weapons out of vegetables.

5:12 pm
6800 block Saint Clair Avenue: A woman reports that her 1963 Studebaker Lark has been stolen.

8:12 pm
4700 block of Humber Avenue: A man reports that three chairs and a pitcher of lemonade were stolen from his front porch.

9:15 pm
200 block of Nebraska Avenue, A woman reports that someone has placed honey in the lock of her front door.

10:22 pm
1400 block of Pacific Street: A man reports that someone has trimmed his bushes without authorization.

11:03 pm
1300 block of Newbury Street: A woman reports the loss of her cell phone in a taxi.

11:33 pm
John Paul Jones Park: Officers recover a 1963 Studebaker Lark from the playground. Police report that it was the same vehicle reported missing earlier.

3:32 pm
300 block of Coffey Street, Emergency Services Unit officers rescue a male child who had his head stuck in a fence.
- Craig Gaines, Leonard Pierce, Hoyt Schermerhorn

In most major cities, fire trucks are replaced after about ten years or so of service. This is not the case in our fair city. Ryan Kowalski, Union of Professional Firefighters Local 47 president and city fireman at Ladder Company 70, revealed in a press conference yesterday that some of our fire engines are over twenty years old.

“Take my firehouse,” Kowalski told reporters. “The ladder truck that I ride on was built in 1987, she is the oldest in the fleet. She is old enough to drink. Our housemates on Engine 20 have it a bit better, their rig was built in 1991, but it was purchased used. These trucks are old and the city won’t maintain them properly. How can my firehouse serve the good people of Fort Ridge with substandard equipment? Mayor Wilders seems to care about his legacy instead of not only the safety of the men and women who voted for him, but also those who come to help them.”

Kowalski’s statistics revealed that out of the fleet of 350 fire trucks, there are 42 fire trucks over ten years old, with 20 being older than fifteen years. A map distributed by the union displayed fire truck age distribution by firehouse location, revealing that the downtown and more affluent residential areas have newer equipment than more industrial and less affluent areas of the city.

Mayor Wilders was in meetings yesterday with the governor and could not be reached for comment. Deputy press secretary Nadine Johnson issued an e-mail statement to channel 6, saying only, “The mayor is serious about safety.”

Fire Commissioner Gordon “Chick” Hall told channel 8, “I don’t have a vendetta against Kowalski and it is just a coincidence that he is in the oldest truck in the fleet.” He also noted, “Some of these are reserve units and our fleet operations division is top notch.” When asked about the idea of selling ad space on the trucks again he responded, “We aren’t that desperate.”

City Council President Otis Stevenson promised, “The city council will hold hearings and form a special committee to look into the matter.”
- Hoyt Schermerhorn

Related: Friday Facts: Leftover Cod, Pauline, Selleck-san [final item]

You may have noticed the City-Suburban Transit Authority’s fleet of buses are all starting to grow humps on their roofs. It is nothing to be alarmed about, since it is all part of the CSTA’s conversion to compressed natural gas-powered buses, something that sounds like an especially good idea with increased CSTA ridership (due to escalating gas prices) and today’s sixth city-wide Ozone Action Day in a row.

After dozens of buses being in service for several months, the CSTA has finally issued a press release (reprinted in its entirety below) regarding the new cleaner buses:

“The City-Suburban Transit Authority has introduced new buses using cleaner burning compressed natural gas. The buses are manufactured under license by the Gleason Coach Company, from a Canadian design, at a factory across the state in St. Alban’s County. They cost approximately $500,000 each and are cleaner burning than the diesel buses they are gradually replacing.”

According to Monty Neville, local transit enthusiast and host of Bus World (monthly, on public access cable channel 114), the North Side and the Berman Gardens depots have totally converted to natural gas while the other twelve depots are slated to gradually convert over the next two years.

Neville told The City Desk, “These buses are the best thing [CSTA chief procurement officer] Hank Lamberty has ever brought into the bus fleet. They are much better than the buses with the water fountains he tried back in ‘97. That was a mess, although it wasn’t as bad as the on-board vending machine fiasco of 1953. I can’t get into detail on that because of the lawsuit.”
- Hoyt Schermerhorn

As a public service, The City Desk periodically offers up selected items culled from local police reports.

9:17 pm
200 block of Euclid Avenue: A 7-year-old girl reports to 911 that “monsters are knocking at my door.” Dispatch sends a cruiser to reassure the girl, only to find people dressed as Frankenstein and the Werewolf knocking on her door. Police interviews reveal a wrong address on a “Halloween-In-Summer party” Evite is to blame. The partiers leave and police calm the girl down.

9:26 pm
200 block of Euclid Avenue: The girl calls back, reporting more monsters. Police are sent back out to the house, and direct Freddie Kruger, 24, and Jason Voorhies, 25, to the right address, and again calm the girl.

9:45 pm
300 block of Pacific Lane: Baby with gun.

9:37 pm
200 block of Euclid Avenue: The girl calls again. A City Desk review of the 911 tape reveals the girl is hyperventilating while describing “a man with fangs and a black cape” at her front door. Police return, direct Dracula to the right address, post an officer in front of the house for the rest of the night, and take the girl into protective custody. According to the police report, she says her parents are at a Jimmy Buffet “Parrotheads” party.

10:42 pm
500 block of Karl Avenue: Police arrest Neil Levan, 32, for filing a false report after he tells a passing officer that the girl he’s with has “stolen his heart.”

2:18 am
25000 Industrial Access Drive: Massive warehouse explosion.

1:38 pm
800 block of Jarvis Street: Two men and a woman report their cars were apparently damaged by a hit and run driver in the parking lot of St. Norbert’s Church. Police are looking for a red 1974 Dodge Dart with the license plate LXI 483 in connection with the incident.

2:41 pm
Intersection of Hudson and Bergen Streets: Fire department reports theft of hydrant after routine hydrant check.

3:06 pm
2513 West Merton Drive, Oakhurst Section: Apparent murder/suicide. Five victims.

4:18 pm
2300 block of Lorimer Street: Several complainants of tires being slashed on parked vehicles.

4:26 pm
North River at Granville Street: Aviation and Harbor units respond to reports of a dog in the river. The dog was rescued by Aviation Unit officer Alex Drake and is recovering at the ASPCA.

5 pm
300 block of Peachtree Lane: City police and a representative from dispatch arrive at the home of Muriel Goshen, 87, bearing cake and balloons to celebrate her 100th 911 call since her husband, Jack, passed on three years ago. Some of Goshen’s notable calls have included a noise complaint about a birthday party for her 8-year-old neighbor, a report of “another Kraut blitz” during the annual air show, and an allegation that city employees performing routine maintenance work to gas lines were attempting to dig a tunnel into her basement to “steal all of Jack’s tools.” Goshen, confused and frightened by the group of similarly dressed people outside her home, makes her 101st emergency call, screaming at the operator, “The United Nations is trying to break down my door!”

6:13 pm
500 block of Audubon Avenue: A man reports the theft of a stop sign. The Department of Transportation was contacted and replaced the sign.

7:43 pm
3000 block of Western Avenue: Officers respond to silent alarm at Bruno Hardware. A large cat was found stuck in an air conditioning vent on the roof and rescued by ASPCA and Emergency Services Unit officers.
- Craig Gaines, Hoyt Schermerhorn, RJ White

As a public service, The City Desk periodically offers up selected items culled from local police reports.

12:08 am
Harding Park, Officers disperse a group of people loitering in the park after hours.

1:01 am
3400 block of Spring Street: A woman reports excessive noise in adjoining house. The responding officers could hear nothing.

2:17 am
300 block of Bay Street: City EMS reports a break in and vandalism to an ambulance parked at LeFleur’s Donuts while the paramedics were taking a lunch break.

2:42 am
3400 block of Spring Street: A woman reports excessive noise in adjoining house. The responding officers could hear nothing.

3:01 am
4700 block of McKinley Avenue: Officers respond to silent alarm at a Kwick Stop Market finding clerk unconscious behind counter.

3:12 am
3400 block of Spring Street: A woman reports excessive noise in adjoining house. The responding officers could hear nothing.

3:47 am
2700 block of Huron Street: Officers respond to a 911 call of a cow in the roadway.

4:37 am
3400 block of Spring Street: Officers respond to a complaint of excess noise. Beverly Fouineur, 86, arrested for wasting police time.

5:14 am
21000 block of State Road: Gerald Crass, 18, and a minor are charged with vandalism, second-degree robbery, and cruelty to animals after police find them on the property of Chicken Delicious Farm. Police say the accused stole eggs from a chicken coop, and then egged the coop.

7:14 am
Archibald Field: Homer Chamberlain, an agronomy student at Watson University, is charged with vandalism and destruction of university property. Police have been conducting a three-week sting operation on Chamberlain, who they say has been strategically spreading fertilizer around the 50-yard line at Archibald Field. Chamberlain was arrested before he could finish the alleged prank, but police say a view from the top of the stadium reveals that a fast-growing portion of turf reads “THE COUGARS SUC.”

10:26 am
1300 block of Cedar Street: Police respond to a peeping Tom complaint from adult webcam model “Cindy.” She tells officers she was in the middle of her morning shift in her “studio” when she noticed a figure standing outside her first-floor window. The perp ran from the scene when “Cindy” threw one of her stilettos at the window. An investigation is under way.

3:07 pm
Riverview Apartments: A man reports someone threw a full cup of cherry cola into the front seat of his 2003 Chrysler Sebring convertible.

5:26 pm
500 block of Fairview Avenue: Mildred Bailey, 57, is charged with vandalism. According to the police report, officers apprehend Bailey as she is spray-painting a comma onto graffiti that read “F*** you b***!” Bailey allegedly says she was painting an introductory comma after “you.”
- Craig Gaines, Hoyt Schermerhorn

When Governor VanNorden was elected two years ago, she promised reform and creative ways of saving taxpayers money. In a binding ballot referendum special election held throughout the state voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of county police forces to replace those of villages, hamlets, towns, townships and other municipalities.

The measure was only rejected in the communities of Summit Heights and Hamilton Township, both of which will retain their own forces. Summit Heights mayor Samuel Tyler told channel 8, “We have one of the best-trained and highest-paid forces in the country. Our citizens feel protected and felt that the plan would reduce the highest citizen to officer ratio in the country. We will cooperate with the new county police. If at some time in the future our citizens want our force to merge we will merge. We hope that this is not a step towards annexation by the city.” Hamilton Township mayor Rex Hamilton was out of the country and unavailable for comment.

In effect, the small departments will be merged, creating one large department and the county sheriff’s department will also be folded in throughout the state. The county Parks Commission Police and County Highway Patrol will also be merged into the new force. The economies of scale are expected to increase police services without increasing taxes.

The city’s police force will not be affected by the measure, as it is over the merger limits. However, the new county officers will have jurisdiction in the city and take over the courthouse and jail security duties from the Sheriff’s Department when the merger takes place on January 1, 2009. Additionally, county officers will be able to join city officers as needed for things such as special events and increased patrols. City officers will also have reciprocal jurisdiction with the county along with radio and dispatch interoperability. The Port Commission Police will also remain a separate agency, as it operates over several counties, but would also get tied into the radio and dispatch systems of the counties it operates in.

Mayor Wilders praised the move during remarks at the City Under-14 Stickball Championship in Harrison Park, “This is win-win situation for both the city and region. It also will increase the safety of everyone in both the city and county. The best part of the plan is that our officers will have the same salary as those of every other officer in the state, except for those two Richie Rich enclaves with money to burn. That should reduce the number of officers heading out to the suburbs for higher pay. ”

In a press release, City Patrol Officers Benevolent Association president Kevin Walsh stated, “Our members thank the governor for this. We had our doubts when she proposed the mergers, but this truly benefits not only our members but the entire community. ”

The fall general election will have a similar referendum, this time on creating county fire departments. Again, the City fire department will not be subject to a merger.
- Hoyt Schermerhorn

A “Richie Rich” Summit Heights Police Vehicle