Police: Homeless man had loaded gun, methamphetamine
COLONIE – The “see something, say something” campaign is credited with helping get a gun and methamphetamine off local streets on Wednesday, July 31 according to Colonie police.
According to reports, at approximately 11:46 p.m. Colonie police responded to Dawson’s Body Shop on Schuyler Lane for a report of a suspicious person. When officers arrived, they found a man who matched the description given, Hardeep Singh, 52, who is homeless.
Police found that he was in possession of a loaded .38 caliber handgun and a large quantity of methamphetamine. Singh also did not have a permit for the gun and was taken into custody.
At the police station, he was charged with criminal possession of crystal methamphetamine and criminal possession of weapon, both felonies.
Singh was processed and sent to the Albany County jail as a pre-arraignment detainee. He was arraigned the next morning in Colonie Town Court. The judge set bail at $25,000 and sent him back to the Albany County jail.
This is still an active and ongoing investigation. If you know something that might be relevant to this investigation, please contact the Colonie Police Investigations Division at 518-783-2754. If you wish to report a tip anonymously, you can call Capital Region Crimestoppers at 1-833-ALB-TIPS, or go to capitalregioncrimestoppers.com.
Serial car thief caught
TROY – A Troy man with a history of stealing cars, larceny and robbery was back in jail on July 11 after Colonie and State Police investigators located him in Troy.
According to police, Donald Gilbert, 54, allegedly stole a car in Troy and traveled to Boght Road and allegedly stole items from a home. He then allegedly stole another car from Dunsbach Ferry Road the same night and returned to Troy.
Gilbert has been in state prison four times and the most recent time for grand theft auto in 2017 where he served just under four years on a 3-to-6-year sentence. He was given parole in March 2021.
For the Colonie charges, Gilbert was charged with grand larceny-third degree, a felony, and petit larceny, a misdemeanor.
He was arraigned by Colonie Town Judge David Green and sent to the Albany County jail.
Knife at Sam’s Club
LATHAM – Colonie police responded to Sam’s Club at Latham Farms on Thursday, July 11, at 6:33 p.m. for a man displaying a folding knife and threatening a person.
According to reports, Robert Bergh, 27, of Albany, left the scene in a vehicle that was stopped by another police patrol unit in the area of Old Loudon Road a short time later. Bergh was taken into custody without incident and transported to the police station.
He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, a felony, and criminal possession of weapon with intent to use and menacing with a weapon, both misdemeanors.
He was arraigned in Colonie Town Court by Judge David Green.
Warrant and appearance ticket
COLONIE – At 8:56 p.m. on Thursday, July 11, Albany County Sheriff’s Deputies transported Nicholas Delacruz, 34, of Preston Hollow, because he had an outstanding warrant from Colonie Town Court for not showing up for court, but he never made it back to court.
Colonie Town Judge David Green was contacted by police and had them release Delacruz on an appearance ticket for July 31.
This is not the first time this year, Delacruz has missed court. On April 2, he was arrested on a warrant for not showing up in February from charges he received for an incident on January 3 at Nordstroms on Central Avenue. In that case he was charged with robbery, a felony, and petit larceny and criminal possession of a controlled substance, both misdemeanors, and harassment, a violation.
Warrant
COLONIE – Glens Falls police transported Dahmel Brown, 30, of Albany, to Colonie police on Friday, July 12 because he had an outstanding warrant in the Town.
Brown failed to appear in Colonie Town Court earlier and this time, he was arraigned by Judge David Green.
Grand larceny credit card
COLONIE – Colonie police responded to the Motel 6 on Central Avenue on Friday, July 12 and took a Colonie man into custody for larceny.
According to reports, Cosimo Caracciolo, 53, was charged with grand larceny – credit card, a felony, and petit larceny, a misdemeanor and given an appearance ticket for Colonie Town Court on July 24.
Knife incident
COLONIE – A 32-year-old Colonie man faces multiple charges after a domestic incident at his residence on Sunday, July 14.
According to reports, Colonie police responded to Central Avenue at 12:15 a.m. and arrested Kyle Sherman after a physical dispute with his girlfriend earlier in the evening. He allegedly menaced her with a pocket knife.
He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, a felony, and acting in a manner to injure a child and menacing with a weapon, both misdemeanors. Sherman was taken into custody, processed and sent to the Albany County jail as a pre-arraignment detainee.
Outside warrant
COLONIE – Colonie police responded to a call for service on Van Rensselaer Road on Sunday, July 14 and made contact with the caller.
It was later found that the subject of the call, Michael Curry, 44, of Colonie, had an outstanding warrant from the City of Rensselaer for not showing up for court in April. Rensselaer police responded to the scene and took him into custody.
Burglary
COLONIE – On Monday, July 15, Colonie police took a homeless woman into custody as she was leaving a building, she allegedly just burglarized.
According to reports, at 9:07 a.m. Lena Jackson, 55, allegedly broke the front window of a business on Central Avenue and took cleaning supplies. She was charged with Burglary, a felony, and petit larceny and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors.
She was arraigned in Colonie Town Court.
Larceny and warrant
COLONIE – A 34-year-old Clifton Park woman was arrested for allegedly stealing from a Fuller Road Store on Monday, July 15 and found to be wanted.
At 1:43 p.m., Christine Swart was arrested for petit larceny, a misdemeanor, and also had a warrant for not showing up to Colonie Town Court. She was also listed as impaired by drugs at the time of the incident.
She was arraigned.
Burglary and larceny
COLONIE – A Gansevoort man was brought from the Saratoga County jail on Monday, July 15 to face charges on two separate incidents at Target on Central Avenue.
John Jarvis, 61, was charged with burglary, a felony, and petit larceny, a misdemeanor, for a April 13 incident and an additional count of petit larceny, for another incident the same day.
He was arraigned by Colonie Town Judge Norman Massry.
Grand larceny
COLONIE – Colonie police took a local man into custody at his home on Tuesday, July 16 for a March 1 theft incident.
According to reports, Richard Sayward, 42, of Colonie, was charged with grand larceny, a felony, at 8:21 p.m. and later arraigned in Colonie Town Court.
Outside Warrant
COLONIE – Colonie police responded to BET Malls on Central Avenue on Wednesday, July 17 at 9:43 a.m. and found a woman wanted out of town.
Marion Ross, 56, of Albany was found to have a warrant from the City of Albany and was transported to South Station.
Serious crash and DWI
COLONIE – Colonie police, fire and EMS personnel responded to the intersection of Central and Mather Avenues on Tuesday, July 16 at 4:37 p.m. for a personal injury accident.
According to reports one of the drivers, a 44 year old Schenectady man, was trapped in his vehicle and needed to be extracted by fire and treated for a back injury by EMS. Officers observed the man to have a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath. The man was transported to Albany Medical Center Hospital for his injuries and submitted to a blood draw to test for alcohol levels in his blood.
He was charged with DWI, a misdemeanor, and ticketed for violations.
The man was given an appearance ticket for Colonie Town Court on August 5.
Burglary and trespass
COLONIE – After being trespassed from the Target on Central Avenue on Monday, July 15 for an incident at the store, Luis Ramos, 36, of Staten Island, was back two days later.
According to reports, Ramos entered the store on Wednesday, July 17 and allegedly took items out of packaging and put them in his backpack.
Colonie police responded and arrived before he left the store and took Ramos into custody.
He was charged with burglary, a felony, and petit larceny, a misdemeanor, and trespassing, a violation. Ramos was arraigned by Colonie Town Judge Andrew Sommers.
Robbery
COLONIE – A Schenectady man was taken into custody at Scotia Village Court on Thursday, July 18 for an unrelated incident in Colonie on March 28.
Keshawn Smith, 20, was charged with attempted robbery, a felony, at the Sam Petroleum on Central Avenue. He was given an appearance ticket for July 31.
Weapon and assault
WATERVLIET – Colonie police arrested a local man on gun and other assault charges on Friday, July 19.
According to reports, at 11:02 p.m. officers responded to Eighth Avenue and took Jeffery Foster, 50, of Watervliet into custody for an incident earlier in the day. He was in possession of a semi-automatic handgun
After further investigation, Foster was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and assault – with a weapon with intent to cause physical injury, both felonies, and criminal possession of a weapon – with intent to use, menacing with a weapon, criminal obstruction of breathing and unlawful imprisonment, all misdemeanors.
He was sent to the Albany County jail as a pre-arraignment detainee.
Outside warrant
COLONIE – Colonie police responded to a call for service at Chili’s on Wolf Road on Saturday, July 20 and found an Albany man wanted in Niskayuna.
Caleb Lambert, 61, taken into custody and transported to meet officers from that department.
Person found dead at Albany house was missing Colonie woman
ALBANY – Police confirmed last week that the body found in an Albany building in July was a Colonie woman who was reported missing in March.
Last month, Albany County Sheriff’s Investigators obtained information regarding a deceased body located at 301 Sheridan Avenue in the city.
A search warrant was executed at the residence where decomposed human remains were located. An autopsy was conducted the next day which revealed no signs of foul play. The initial results and interviews with those at the residence indicated that the cause of death was probably an overdose, according to Sheriff Craig Apple.
Due to the severity of decomposition, investigators needed to rely upon DNA analysis by the New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center.
After DNA analysis, the decedent was identified as 42-year-old Tabitha King who had been reported missing to the Colonie Police Department on March 30.
King’s boyfriend reported her missing after she did not return from medical appointments the prior day. He dropped her off near an Albany Medical Center office on Holland Avenue on March 29, Colonie police said.
He reported King missing the next day.
Based on the investigation at Sheridan Avenue, a resident of building Steven J. Herbst, 42, was arrested and charged with Concealment of a Human Corpse, a felony. According to the Sheriff, an investigation indicated that King may have died during a party and no one contacted help. Herbst allegedly put the body in a storage area, where it remained until July 11.
Herbst was arraigned in Albany City criminal court and remanded to the Albany County Correctional Facility with no bail.
