Two-car crash lead to felony charges after driver had prior conviction
DELMAR – Bethlehem police responded to the intersection of Elm Avenue and the Delmar Bypass on Saturday, July 27 for a report of a property damage crash.
According to reports, when officers arrived at the scene at 9:06 p.m. they observed a black Jeep Wrangler with the motor running and Logan Hall, 28, of Albany, in the driver’s seat. They also found a white Honda CRV that was damaged from being rear ended.
When interviewing Hall, the officers observed that he had poor motor coordination and an unsteady walk. He also had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath.
Hall said he was driving home to visit his grandfather’s grave.
He was given and failed field sobriety tests and tested positive for breath alcohol on a pre-screening device and taken into custody.
At the police station, Hall provided a breath sample that returned a .22 percent BAC. He also had a prior DWI conviction in Colonie in March 2017.
He was charged with felony DWI – prior conviction within 10 years and felony aggravated DWI and ticketed for following too closely.
He was given a bill of particulars and an appearance ticket for Bethlehem Town Court on Monday, Aug. 5 and released.
Larceny and warrants
GLENMONT – Bethlehem police responded to the Price Chopper on Route 9W for the report of a larceny on Sunday, July 21 at 1:48 p.m. and the officer was flagged down by an employee from the store and pointed out a man outside.
According to reports, officers made contact with Terrence Rabel, 31, who told them that he is homeless and he was stealing merchandise from the store to bring to the Albany City Mission to sell. He retrieved a bag from behind some bushes with store merchandise in it and returned it to the employee.
A check of Rabel’s identification found that he had two outstanding warrants from the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office and he was taken into custody.
At the police station he was charged with petit larceny and arraigned by Bethlehem Town Judge Andrew Kirby and released on his own recognizance. He is scheduled back in court on September 3. Rabel was then turned over to deputies from the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office.
Aggravated DWI on Union
DELMAR – In an unusual way, a 29-year-old Castleton on Hudson man ended up with alcohol related charges on Tuesday, July 23.
According to reports, a Bethlehem Sargent was in line to make a purchase at Valero gas station on Delaware Avenue at 5:58 p.m. when he observed the man, also in the line. The officer saw that the man had bloodshot and glassy eyes and the area around him smelled like an alcoholic beverage and so did the man.
The man completed his purchase, got into a car and drove out of the station. The officer followed the black Honda Accord onto Cherry Avenue Extension after completing his purchase and clocked the car with radar traveling 42 MPH in a 30 MPH zone. The vehicle had a registration that was expired in 2021.
The officer initiated a traffic stop on Union Avenue, but the man failed to pull over until the officer used the PA system in the patrol unit to get him to pull over.
While interviewing the driver, the man continued to show signs of impairment and the officer observed numerous open containers of alcoholic beverages in the car. The man was given and failed field sobriety tests and refused to provide a breath sample for breath alcohol on a pre-screening device.
An inventory of the car found 27 empty alcoholic beverage containers, mostly 24-oz cans and two Four Loco containers that were approximately half full.
At the police station, the man did provide a breath sample that returned a .23 percent BAC.
He was charged with aggravated DWI, a misdemeanor, and ticketed for refusing a breath test, speeding, driving an unregistered motor vehicle and drinking in a motor vehicle.
He was given a bill of particulars and released with an appearance ticket for Bethlehem Town Court on Monday, Aug. 5.
Forged check and grand larceny
DELMAR – Bethlehem police responded to the Sunmark Credit Union on Delaware Avenue on Friday, July 19 for a report that a person was trying to cash a fraudulent US Treasury check.
According to reports, the officer located Tiamear Reid-Fallen, 19, of Albany, getting into a green SUV, but took him back to the credit union.
The officer viewed the check that the Reid-Fallen tried to cash and found many inconsistencies.
The check that Reid-Fallen tried to cash was for $3,095.83 and he was taken into custody. At the police station he was charged with possession of a forged instrument and grand larceny, both felonies.
He was arraigned by Bethlehem Town Judge Andrew Kirby and released with a court date of September 3.
2020 larceny on warrant
GLENMONT – A 39-year-old Schenectady woman was taken into custody on June 26 after an alleged theft at Walmart on Route 9W that took place in 2020.
According to reports, Niskayuna police brought Rita Rieck to meet Bethlehem police for an open warrant for a larceny at Walmart that took place on August 8, 2020.
Rieck was processed and arraigned by Bethlehem Town Judge Andrew Kirby and released on her own recognizance.
Drugs found in car after traffic stop Cooperstown man did not have a valid license
GLENMONT – Albany County Sheriff’s Deputies conducted a traffic stop on River Road after observing traffic violations and found more problems with the driver and what was in the car.
According to reports, at the stop on Sunday, July 21, deputies interviewed the driver, Matthew Tracy, 34, of Cooperstown and observed drug paraphernalia in plain sight. He also had a suspended license with eight active suspensions on three different dates.
After an inventory of the car, officers found Tracy to be in possession of a quantity of glass smoking pipes and approximately 13.35 grams of Methamphetamine within the vehicle.
He was taken into custody and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance – third degree, a felony, and criminal possession of a controlled substance – seventh degree, a misdemeanor.
He was arraigned in Bethlehem Town Court later in the day.
