ROTTERDAM Appeal of sentence after 2004 plea deal denied BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Steven Cook at 395-3122 or scook@dailygazette.com.
A state appeals court on Thursday upheld the lengthy sentence of a man connected to the 2004 discovery of a woman’s body at a trash-strewn Rotterdam house. Shawn DeLayo, 30, offered information to prosecutors regarding the killing of 18-year-old Crystal Glasper in exchange for a plea deal in a related drug case. Glasper’s body was found tucked under the back porch of 2038 Cedarlawn Ave. the day after Christmas 2004. Had he cooperated with the investigation, DeLayo would have received as little as 2 to 6 years in state prison on his drug plea. Prosecutors, however, determined that he failed to live up to the bargain, and he was sentenced to 14 to 24 years. The information was important, Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said. Had De-Layo been truthful, Carney said, he believes the killing would have been solved by now. “He certainly had every reason to clear things up and he didn’t, and it cost him an awful lot of his life,” Carney said. DeLayo asked the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court to overturn the sentence, saying hearings weren’t held and his representation wasn’t adequate. The court rejected both arguments, saying the hearings weren’t asked for and his attorney made a strategic decision. But the ruling sheds more light on a case where the victim wasn’t even identified until months after she was discovered. DeLayo’s cooperation had been shrouded in secrecy, with the prosecutor in the case, Philip Mueller, taking the unusual step of requesting closure of DeLayo’s sentencing, which concerned the deal. If revealed, the information would compromise the case by making it difficult to evaluate the credibility of witnesses and could endanger potential witnesses and Delayo himself, he contended. DeLayo, according to Thursday’s ruling, provided a lengthy written statement detailing the killing of Glasper in an apartment that he shared with Dwayne Wilson in Schenectady. The ruling does not identify Glasper by name and does not indicate if DeLayo said or knew who killed her. Wilson, however, has previously been named a suspect, though Carney later declined to rule anyone out. Wilson is currently in state prison serving his own 14-to-24-year sentence on related drug convictions. DeLayo’s deal, however, fell through when prosecutors uncovered information that damaged his credibility. Information from DeLayo’s neighbors turned out to be inconsistent with DeLayo’s statements. Based on that, prosecutors determined that DeLayo failed to provide “complete and truthful” cooperation and that his statements undermined his credibility. Carney declined to elaborate much further Thursday, saying “I don’t know what the truth is, I just know he was unreliable.” Wilson and Delayo brought Glasper from the Bronx to Schenectady about a year before her body was found. She was in the area one or two weeks before she was killed, Carney said previously, with the body remaining undiscovered almost a year. Authorities have described Glasper as a courier for Wilson. She transported drugs from downstate to the Capital Region on at least one occasion, they said. She was killed somewhere in Schenectady and her body was dumped under the porch in Rotterdam, police have said.
Wilson and Delayo brought Glasper from the Bronx to Schenectady about a year before her body was found. She was in the area one or two weeks before she was killed, Carney said previously, with the body remaining undiscovered almost a year. Authorities have described Glasper as a courier for Wilson. She transported drugs from downstate to the Capital Region on at least one occasion, they said.
I wonder if this is connected to the famous police chief chief's wife drug ring????????
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
ROTTERDAM POLICE DEPARTMENT Keith Graham, 17, of Merritt Drive, was charged June 3 with disorderly conduct and trespassing. Haitham Belal, 35, of Cutler Street, Schenectady, was charged June 4 with petty larceny. James Panczner, 18, of Florida Road, Pattersonville, was charged June 4 with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Chad Morgan, 21, of Turner Avenue, Schenectady, was charged June 4 with petty larceny. Jorge Martinez, 36, of Sixth Avenue, Troy, was charged June 5 with petty larceny. Michael Kruger, 24, of Curry Road, was charged June 6 with disorderly conduct. Alex Gilmour, 29, of Bayberry Drive, Malta, was charged June 7 with petty larceny. Kevin Velez, 19, of Starling Avenue, Schenectady, was charged June 7 with endangering the welfare of a child. Patricia Piccirillo, 67, of Angerlina Terrace, Schenectady, was charged June 9 with petty larceny. Terrence Lightenfield, 19, of Headstone Lane, Central Bridge, was charged June 9 with seconddegree harassment.
ROTTERDAM Suspect captured on film, then by owner of fitness center Altamont man suspected in breaks BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net
Criminals return to the scene of the crime, an old saying goes. So when Dave Leon's customers at Planet Fitness started reporting items stolen from vehicles they parked in his rear lot Monday evening and Tuesday morning, he had a hunch the burglar might return. After alerting authorities, the business owner scanned his security camera footage for a possible view of the perpetrator. "We got the whole thing on video," he said Wednesday. On a hunch, Leon decided to check the parking lot Tuesday evening, around the same time the man was caught on video Monday. To his astonishment, he found a man matching the appearance of the fi gure in his security footage. "I got him nine times," he said of the security video. "And then he comes back at night wearing the same outfit he was wearing earlier in the day." Leon approached the man and noticed he was holding a rock in one hand and appeared poised to break into another parked vehicle. He said he demanded the man — who police later identified as 19-year-old Gregory Haggerty — remain at the business while he notified the authorities. "He told me I had no right to keep him there," he recalled. "I told him this is America and I have the right to defend my property." Rotterdam police later arrested Haggerty, of Altamont, on a felony grand larceny charge. He was arraigned in Rotterdam Town Court and sent to the Schenectady County jail without bail. Leon counted five vehicles in his lot that he suspected Haggerty of vandalizing. He said the string of burglaries left him frustrated and wanting to do something. "I was mad," he said. "I've seen it happen so many times.” Police Lt. Jason Murphy said Haggerty is suspected of taking purses, credit cards, and other belongings from vehicles after using a rock to break in. He said Haggerty is also suspected of other vandalism in the area and will likely face more charges. Murphy said Leon provided police with ample witness and video evidence in the case. "It's always a help anytime when people pay attention," he said. PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER Dave Leon, owner of Planet Fitness on Altamont Avenue, with his video surveillance view of the parking lot behind his establishment.
You know, I guess this idiot (the kid breaking into the cars) hasn't been paying attention to the news. It was all over the media how much the owner of Planet Fitness (Dave) keeps an eye on what's going on at his businesses. He (Dave) even watches everybody as they work out. There's security cameras all over that place.
He (Dave) even watches everybody as they work out.
That's too creepy!!
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ROTTERDAM POLICE DEPARTMENT Brian Kedik, 32, of Farmers Lane, Edinburg, was charged June 11 with second-degree forgery and thirddegree grand larceny. Joseph Hellijas, 31, of Broadway, Schenectady, was charged June 13 with second-degree harassment. Conor Daley, 19, of Vischer Avenue, Schenectady, was charged June 14 with unlawful possession of marijuana. Peter Chiara, 16, of Langley Road, Amsterdam, was charged June 14 with petty larceny. Anthony Garret, 18, of Noonan Road, Fort Johnson, was charged June 14 with petty larceny.
POLICE BLOTTER ROTTERDAM POLICE DEPARTMENT Michael Houlton, 41, of Houlton Avenue, Schenectady, was charged June 15 with petty larceny. Maya Canteen, 36, of Willett Street, Schenectady, was charged June 15 with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Kenneth Allen, 17, of Williams Street, was charged June 16 with second-degree harassment. Brandon Bush, 21, of Knowlton Road, Fonda, was charged June 16 with second-degree harassment and second-degree aggravated harassment. Jody Ody, 35, of Quail Street, Albany, was charged June 16 with second-degree burglary. Melissa VanEvery, 42, of Palazini Drive, was charged June 16 with issuing a bad check. Christopher St. John, 24, no address available, was charged June 16 with second-degree assault, first-degree attempted robbery, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree menacing and second-degree reckless endangerment. William Aulet, 37, of Brandywine Avenue, Schenectady, was charged June 16 with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Douglas Bollacker, 28, of Thoroughbred Lane, Albany, was charged June 16 with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Alicia Ward, 18, of Walnut Avenue, was charged June 17 with petty larceny. Carlos Roman, 24, no address available, was charged June 17 with third-degree burglary and fourthdegree criminal mischief. Jaime Velez, 43, of Howard Street, Schenectady, was charged June 17 with third-degree burglary and fourth-degree criminal mischief. Nicholas Pantoni, 19, of Everrett Road, Albany, was charged June 18 with petty larceny. Noel Baez, 31, of Steuben Street, Schenectady, was charged June 19 with petty larceny. Nicholas DeRosa, 25, of Fuller Street, Schenectady, was charged June 19 with petty larceny. Edward Luciano, 44, of Norfolk Avenue, was charged June 19 with third-degree assault. Michelle Grace, 17, of Hampton Avenue, Schenectady, was charged June 19 with petty larceny. Catherine Stukes, 16, of Oakwood Avenue, Schenectady, was charged June 20 with petty larceny. Scott Peltier, 29, of Cleveland Avenue, Schenectady, was charged June 21 with second-degree assault. Jose Vasquez, 25, of Avenue A, Schenectady, was charged June 21 with petty larceny. Valon Rexha, 18, of Furman Street, Schenectady, was charged June 22 with petty larceny and unlawful possession of marijuana. Michael Dambrosio, 20, of Greenpoint Avenue, was charged June 23 with third-degree assault. Daniel Keary, 25, of N. Ferry Street, Schenectady, was charged June 23 with second-degree aggravated harassment. Brian Kelly, 22, of Springhurst Drive, E. Greenbush, was charged June 23 with third-degree criminal mischief. Carol Whitaker, 51, of Rotterdam Junction, was charged June 23 with second-degree harassment and second-degree criminal contempt. Jordan Davis, 17, of Jerome Avenue, Schenectady, was charged June 23 with second-degree harassment.
Women who robbed elderly Rotterdam woman sent to prison July 8, 2008 By Steven Cook (Contact) Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY — Two Schenectady women who admitted beating and robbing an elderly woman last fall were sentenced today in Schenectady County Court. Tiffany Tolliver, 22, and Dominique Lucas, 21, each pleaded guilty May 28 to one felony count of first-degree robbery as part of separate plea deals. Under terms of the deals, Tolliver was sentenced to 18 years in state prison, while Lucas received a 16-year sentence. The women admitted to following an 88-year-old woman from the Ocean State Job Lot store off Route 7 to the woman's apartment in Rotterdam on Sept. 8, 2007. The victim spotted the women in the parking lot and thought they were lost, approaching the car to ask if they needed help. Instead, the women beat her when she refused to give up her pocketbook, and Tolliver went back to the car to get bleach that she threw on the woman in an attempt to blind her and prevent their identification. Prosecutor Ed Moynihan said the victim couldnj't see or hear after the attack and was "left there to die." The victim "was a kind woman trying to do a kind thing, and you turned around and jump out of the car and attack her," Judge Karen Drago said of the pair as she sentenced Lucas. "... And not only do you beat her, but you also throw bleach at her." Tolliver and Lucas were arrested a short time later as they left a store where they had used the victim's credit card to make purchases. Police said Tolliver's 2-week-old child was in the car during the attack and her 17-month-old child was left alone in her Albany Street residence. Lucas was eight months' pregnant at the time of the attack. The elderly victim suffered multiple cuts and bruises to her face and torso. She was in the courtroom this morning, but declined to make a statement, saying through Moynihan that she trusted the justice system.
Man arrested for hitting pedestrian after fleeing friends of urinator Saturday, July 12, 2008
SCHENECTADY — A Rotterdam man has been arrested after police claim he struck a pedestrian with a car as he fled a group of men that had attacked him for confronting a man urinating on his grandmother’s home. According to police, Anthony Calandra, 30, of John Alden Lane, Rotterdam, intervened at about 11 p.m. Friday when someone urinated on his grandmother’s 1223 Congress St. home. Police said Calandra fled the scene after a brief fight because he may have feared that a nearby group of the urinating man’s friends could have overpowered him. The pedestrian struck by the vehicle suffered minor injuries, police said. Calandra was charged with reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor, according to Police Lt. Brian Kilcullen. He was treated for his injuries and released on an appearance ticket. Calandra is due in court on Monday to face the charge. Police are still looking for the man who urinated on the home. He could be ticketed for urinating in public and faces a possible assault charge for punching Calandra, police said.
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