A Catskill man who hurt his ankles while working as a corrections officer in Coxsackie was collecting workers compensation insurance for the injury while also working as a part-time police officer in Cairo, the New York State Insurance Department reported yesterday. Twenty-six-year-old Kevin Schwebke allegedly collected $34,000 in benefits, which could mean 7 years in prison. From a NYSID press release:
OFFICER ARRESTED FOR WORKERS’ COMPENSATION FRAUD
A Greene County man employed as a corrections officer and part-time police officer has been arrested for fraudulently accepting $34,000 in workers’ compensation benefits.
The New York State Insurance Department reported that Kevin Schwebke, 26, of First Street, Catskill, was arrested Wednesday on a felony charge of workers’ compensation fraud. Read more
Accord resident Kevin Chronister, 46, has been arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly trying to burn a 9-year-old with a lit cigarette. A press release from the Ulster County Sheriff's Department:
Deputies from the Ulster County Sheriff's Office report the arrest of Kevin R. Chronister, 46, of 406 Stony Kill Rd for Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a misdemeanor. Read more
This just in from the Delaware County Sheriff's Office: A 30-year-old Franklin man named Preston E. Smith has been arrested for allegedly stealing a rifle and then using it to go hunting. The press release in full:
On November 22, 2010 Delaware County Deputies arrested 30 year old Franklin native, Preston E. Smith on Criminal Contempt in the second degree, Grand Larceny in the forth degree and Burglary in the second degree.
On November 21, 2010 Smith is alleged to have unlawfully entered a full time residence in the Franklin area and stole a rifle from within the residence. Smith was found to be in possession of the stolen rifle as well as possessing a firearm while hunting, proving him to be in violation of a Family Court issued Temporary Order of Protection. Smith was arraigned at the Town of Franklin Court and remanded to the Delaware County Correctional Facility on $2,500 cash bail or $5,000 secured bond. Smith is scheduled to reappear before the court for a Felony Hearing on November 24, 2010 at 11:00 A.M.
According to "I LOVE DELHI, NY," the Facebook page devoted to the little town on the West Branch of the Delaware River, somebody's bogarted the town's welcome sign. Posted yesterday evening:
WHO STOLE OUR WELCOME TO DELHI SIGN?? COST IS $1200. AS COMMUNITY,CHURCH,COLLEGE GROUPS WE CAN KEEP OUR EARS OPEN TO TRY AND RECOVER OUR SIGN.iT WAS THE ONE ON RT.28 AND THE LAST OF THE OLD SIGNS. TALK IT UP SO THEY WILL HAVE TO COUGH IT UP...ed
Photo from I LOVE DELHI, NY's Facebook photo album.
A fight between two residents at an assisted-living home in Esopus got so violent that one man was airlifted to Albany by helicopter, and another is facing felony assault charges, police say. A press release issued last night by the Ulster County Sheriff's Office:
Deputies from the Ulster County Sheriff's Office report the arrest of Sherman L. Lawson, 55, of 208 New Salem Rd., Port Ewen, NY for Assault in the Second Degree, a Felony. Read more
Marc A. LitchkoThe State Police out of the Catskill barracks have released a detailed statement about the events that led to Wednesday's terrifying late-night standoff in downtown Windham. The release reports that six people, five men and one woman, were arrested and charged in connection with the incident, which ended peacefully.
The incident began when three men, 22-year-old Marc A. Litchko of Cairo, 18-year-old Jordan J. Smith of Acra, and 18-year-old Adolfo Lopez of East Durham, allegedly committed a home invasion in a house in Cairo at 5am on Wednesday morning, according to press release: Read more
New evidence has emerged in the case of Sonja Ridge, who died under suspcious circumstances over the weekend. The man who was charged with second-degree murder in connection with her death, William A. Sprague III, has been released, according to the Daily Star.
An Oneonta man charged with murder was freed from jail Thursday after autopsy results showed the alleged victim died of a brain aneurysm, according to a source close to the investigation. William A. Sprague III , was charged Saturday with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Sonja N. Ridge, 26, of Oneonta. The source said it is still unknown what caused the aneurysm. Sprague was freed at 8:30 a.m. after a bail hearing in Otsego County Court, according to court officials.
The Daily Freeman has been publishing some incredible stories about an ongoing effort to bust participants in a really simple scam: According to police, a Midtown gas station accepted food stamp cards in exchange for half their value in cash, which recipients would then use to buy cigarettes and booze. The owner, a suspect in the scam, has fled the country.
A nine-hour standoff between police and reportedly armed people in an apartment over Windham Hardware ended without any injuries around 11pm, according to multiple news reports. The Daily Mail has an extended story today, though details are still emerging:
Various versions of what unfolded were offered during interviews with local merchants and residents, but all agreed law enforcement was on the scene in full force and with serious intentions.
“All I know is there were tons of cops,” one resident said. “There were more cops out there than I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Windham police were in the trenches with members of the State Police S.W.A.T. team and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, all armed and at full alert, around the periphery and inside nearby buildings.
Expect more on this later today, as police release more information about exactly what went on in that apartment last night.
