DELMAR – These are the Police briefs that appeared in September 21 edition of The Spotlight.
Delivery driver charged in assault
SELKIRK – Bethlehem police responded to a report of a physical altercation on Saturday, Sept. 10 and spoke with a resident who was allegedly assaulted by a man delivering a refrigerator.
According to reports, Onay Lemus-Liano, 31, of Albany was in the process of delivering the appliance when a verbal altercation took place. Lemus-Liano allegedly swung a cordless power drill at the man, causing a cut on his arm. The alleged victim was treated on the scene by Bethlehem EMS.
Later that day, Bethlehem police arrested Lemus-Liano on charges of felony assault with a weapon to cause physical injury and misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon.
He was arraigned at Guilderland Town Court and is scheduled in Bethlehem Town Court on Tuesday, Oct. 4.
DWI, resisting arrest on Delaware Avenue
DELMAR – A traffic stop on Delaware Avenue at the High School parking lot on Friday, Sept 9, led to the arrest of a 32-year-old Middletown woman.
Bethlehem police observed a 2019 BMW X1 traveling in the opposite lane and failing to stop at a traffic light. Officers conducted a traffic stop and observed the woman had impaired speech and motor coordination. After asking her several times, she stated that she was driving from her brother’s house and going to her mother’s house.
The woman said she was in front of Colonie High School. Officers observed an odor on an alcoholic beverage emanating from her breath, but the woman refused to exit the vehicle.
Eventually she did get out but refused to follow instructions and tried to walk away from the officers several times. The woman refused field sobriety tests, a pre-screening test for breath alcohol and also chemical tests at the police station.
She also refused to be taken into custody at that scene. When asked to put her hands behind her back, the woman put her arms together on her chest and leaned forward on to her car.
She was charged with DWI, refusing a breath test, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest, all misdemeanors.
She was issued traffic tickets, given a bill of particulars and released. The woman is scheduled back in court on Wednesday, Sept. 20.
Crash on Thruway leads to DWI
GLENMONT – On Sunday, Sept. 11 at about 1:27 a.m. State Police responded to a one-car crash in the area of the I-90 and I-787 interchange.
During the investigation, Troopers interviewed the operator, 23-year-old Bethlehem man and detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage.
Roadside sobriety testing was conducted, which he failed. He was arrested and transported to SP Latham for processing where he provided a breath sample that returned a 0.15 percent BAC. He was issued tickets returnable to the Albany City Court on Friday, Sept. 23 and released to a sober party.
DWI, no insurance
DELMAR – Bethlehem Police performed a traffic stop on 594 Delaware Avenue after observing a Dodge Avenger speeding at 1:28 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11.
The driver, a 39-year-old man from Rexford, said he was driving to get gas and drop off his sister in Glenmont.
The man was given and failed field sobriety tests and tested positive for breath alcohol on a pre-screening device. The officers observed a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath.
The man was taken into custody and at the police station provided a breath sample that returned a 0.14 percent BAC. He was charged with DWI and ticketed for operating a vehicle without insurance and speeding.
He was issued tickets, given a bill of particulars and released. The man is scheduled to return to Bethlehem Town Court on Wednesday, Sept. 20.
Altamont man arrested for SWATTING, again
DELMAR – A 25 year old Altamont man was charged with calling Bethlehem police and falsely reporting a local family was being held at gunpoint in their home.
The call came to Bethlehem dispatch on Sunday, January 30 at 2:12 p.m. and officers responded to the Delmar residence and they quickly discovered that the claim was unfounded.
According to police, other police agencies were called to assist due to the nature of the report.
On Tuesday, Sept. 6, police arrested Ryan Albright at the Bethlehem Police station and charged him with falsely reporting an impending incident and criminal impersonation, both misdemeanors.
In March, Albright and Dylan Lafave, of Greenville were both charged in a similar incident of reporting a call to a Delmar residence.
On Sunday, March 20, the Bethlehem Police Department Telecommunications Center received a call to its non-emergency number by a male caller reporting a fully involved and active fire at his residence. The caller then abruptly hung up.
The center dispatched fire departments and police to the residence. Upon arrival, Officer Michael Whiteley and Slingerlands Fire Department Assistant Chief Jason Tice found no signs of a fire or anyone at the residence. The two contacted a neighbor and secured the cell phone number of the homeowner and contacted him. He said he was out to dinner with his family and only the family dog was in the home.
With permission from the homeowner, Tice entered and searched the home for signs of fire, then canceled the other responding departments.
Bethlehem detectives identified the general location of the original call in the City of Albany by using technology that identifies an IP address of the source call. They used an emergency disclosure request to determine the address of where the call originated.
“It is a long investigative process that requires many warrants to determine exactly where the call came from,” Bethlehem police Deputy Chief James Rexford said in March.
Detectives contacted the resident at the Albany location and identified two persons of interest.
Officers interviewed one of those suspects, Dylan Lafave, of Greenville, at his residence on March 23. According to reports, Lafave denied making the phone call, but stated he was with Ryan Albright, 24, of Altamont, and another person at the Albany address when the call was made.
After investigating further, Police filed an arrest warrant for Lefave and Albright.
Lafave was charged with falsely reporting a fire, explosion or hazard, a felony, and criminal impersonation by the internet, a misdemeanor.
Albright was charged with conspiracy, a misdemeanor. It is unknown the adjudication on those charges at this time.
There have been other similar incidents of what is known as “SWATTing” in Bethlehem. The term is used to describe when someone calls to report a fraudulent incident that prompts an emergency response to a location to cause distress to those at that location.
A third incident that involved a call to a Selkirk residence is still under investigation.
Albright was arraigned in Bethlehem Town Court for the most recent charges and is scheduled to return on Monday, Oct. 10.