At least 27 area larcenies and fourth warrant arrest in Colonie and Bethlehem
COLONIE and DELMAR – Robert Shutter is well known by local law enforcement and travels around the area each time he is caught to answer outstanding warrants for not showing up for court. Shutter, 40, who is homeless, has been arrested by Colonie and Bethlehem police for 27 larcenies at Hannaford and Price Chopper in 16 months.
He was arrested again on a Bethlehem warrant on Wednesday, March 6 and one in Colonie on the same day. It is unclear how Shutter remained at large with so many warrants up to this point. The last time he was arrested in Colonie came on Monday, Sept. 11 when he was brought over from the Albany County jail to be arraigned on a warrant for not showing up in court in June.
In January 2023, Shutter was arrested in Colonie for allegedly stealing groceries from Price Chopper in Loudonville on December 26, 2022. At that time he was also wanted by Guilderland police.In March he was arrested twice, once each in Bethlehem and Colonie.
On February 28, 2023 at 8 p.m., two Bethlehem police detectives were at the Hannaford on Delaware Avenue in Delmar conducting an investigation into numerous shoplifting thefts that had occurred at that location when they observed a male exit through the produce area of the store without paying for merchandise.
The male, later identified as Shutter, entered an occupied vehicle that was already running and being driven by another man, Michael Hoban, 66, of West Sand Lake. According to reports, when one of the detectives approached the vehicle, it drove away and exited the parking lot. The detective activated the patrol vehicle’s emergency lights and siren in an attempt to stop the vehicle but it accelerated to approximately 80 mph down Delaware Avenue, passing cars in the wrong lane, then onto Southern Boulevard, I-787 and I-90 eastbound. The vehicle continued to flee until it crashed in the City of Rensselaer where the suspects were arrested by members of the Bethlehem and Rensselaer Police Departments.
Shutter and Hoban were checked by EMS personnel on the scene, but both refused treatment. An inventory of the car found the stolen items: two containers of Tide pods, several pieces of beef and chicken, two bags of frozen fish, eggs, Snapple iced tea and a frozen pizza. All perishable items were returned to Hannaford. Police also located a quantity of jewelry that was not consistent with the men.
Upon investigation and police interviews with the two men, police found that Shutter intentionally targeted Hannaford stores due to a small number of staff working at that time and they had an easy exit through the produce door. In the police report, Shutter said since the fall, he repeated the same procedure at other Hannaford locations including, Wolf Road in Colonie 10-12 times, Central Avenue in Colonie 6-10 times, Delmar 6 times and Latham Farms in Latham only once because he got caught.
At that time, Shutter was wanted on three outstanding warrants and a suspended license while Hoban was an active parolee with several felony convictions and did not have a valid license.
The officers charged Shutter with petit larceny and conspiracy, both misdemeanors and Hoban with petit larceny, conspiracy, and unlawfully fleeing a police officer, all misdemeanors, and numerous vehicle and traffic law violations. In the March 6, 2024 warrant, Shutter was arraigned by Bethlehem Town Judge Ryan Donovan and released to meet Colonie police. Spotlight News does not know the outcome of the Colonie case or if Shutter was detained.
1 Arrest for July chase through Glenmont
GLENMONT – A 39-year-old Albany man was turned over to Bethlehem police on Sunday, February 25, for an outstanding warrant stemming from a July 26 chase with police.
According to reports, officers observed a 2019 Mitsubishi Mirage that the patrol unit’s license plate reader alerted that the vehicle had a suspended registration while traveling on Route 9w at 8:53 a.m. The officer turned around and caught up to the vehicle before it turned abruptly into the Bethlehem Preschool parking lot, then left the lot at a high rate of speed onto Route 9w and then Feura Bush Road.
The driver then stopped at the corner of Murray Drive and the officer approached the vehicle. The man refused to produce his driver’s license, then started to retrieve it. At that point the driver sped off while the officer’s hand was still in the window and down a one-way street behind Marshall’s.
A chase ensued with State Police joining until it was called off by police command staff when the chase was inside the City of Albany.
The man was identified through DMV records as the driver and he was also the vehicle’s owner. A warrant was issued. The man was taken into custody on February 25 and he was charged with unlawful fleeing a police officer, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, reckless driving and reckless endangerment, all misdemeanors, and ticketed for no insurance, failure to yield right of way, failure to obey a traffic device and failure to obey a police officer.
He was arraigned by Bethlehem Town Judge Andrew Kirby and released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court on March 12.
DWI on Route 9w
SELKIRK – Bethlehem police observed a gray Mitsubishi Outlander traveling north on Route 9w on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 12:29 a.m. when the unit’s license plate reader notified the officer that the vehicle’s registration was suspended.
According to reports, the officer performed a traffic stop and observed the driver to have glassy, bloodshot and watery eyes and had an odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath. The officer also observed several empty 24-oz beer cans on the front seat.
The man, a 32-year-old from Selkirk, was given and failed field sobriety tests and tested positive for breath alcohol on a pre-screening device.
At the police station, the man provided a breath sample that returned a .06 percent BAC. He was charged with DWI and operating without a registration, both misdemeanors, and DWAI. The man was given an appearance ticket for Bethlehem Town Court on March 19.
DWI on Krumkill Road
SLINGERLANDS – On Friday, March 1 at approximately 3:34 p.m., Bethlehem police responded to a personal injury auto accident on Krumkill Road. Upon arrival, officers found a gray Subaru with heavy front-end damage in a driveway. The vehicle appeared to cause damage to a cement wall near the driveway, according to reports.
The officers interviewed an 82-year-old woman from Albany, who was the driver of the vehicle and the woman had bloodshot and glassy eyes, slurred speech and an odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from her breath. She allegedly said she had too much to drink, but refused EMS treatment.
A witness said that the woman traveled through a roundabout and left the roadway and hit a utility pole and continued about another 100 feet before hitting the wall.
The woman was given and failed field sobriety tests and tested positive for breath alcohol on a pre-screening device.
She was taken into custody and at the police station, she provided a breath sample that returned a .11 percent BAC. The woman was charged with DWI and ticketed for an unsafe lane change.
She was given a bill of particulars and released with an appearance ticket for Bethlehem Town Court on March 19.
Warrant
GLENMONT – Bethlehem police were dispatched to a residence on Friday, March 1 to talk a 34-year-old man into custody because he had an outstanding warrant. Officers arrested Lawrence Badi and transported him to meet Albany City police.
Larceny and two warrants
GLENMONT – Bethlehem police responded to the area around Walmart on Sunday, March 3 at 9:55 p.m. for the report of a larceny that took place at the store.
According to reports, when officers arrived the subject had left the store in a vehicle. The officers located the vehicle and performed a traffic stop.
The merchandise, valued at $751.85, was located in the car and loss-prevention employees identified the suspect who was later identified as Stacey Mason-Oglesby, 50 of Troy. Mason-Oglesby gave the police a false name and, once identified, officers determined she also had an outstanding warrant from the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s office. She also had an outstanding warrant from Bethlehem Police for not showing up for court for a 2020 larceny incident. This is the second warrant by Bethlehem for that incident. She was arrested in June 2022 for not showing up in that case.
Mason-Oglesby was charged with petit larceny and false personation, both misdemeanors and processed on the warrant.
She was arraigned by Bethlehem Town Judge Ryan Donovan to set a court date and was transported to meet deputies from the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office.
Grand theft auto and grand larceny
ALBANY – A 36-year-old Albany man was arrested by Albany police on Saturday, March 2 for an outstanding warrant for his involvement in an October 25 larceny and carjacking at CVS and ensuing chase through Bethlehem. He also was arrested for an additional warrant on Wednesday, March 6 in Colonie for an outstanding warrant.
The driver of the car, a Delanson woman, who was supposed to be in a Colonie courtroom that day for other larcenies and warrants, instead racked up 24 additional charges after she allegedly stole from a drug store, carjacked a vehicle, and led police on a car chase. She had six outstanding warrants when arrested.
According to reports, Bethlehem police responded to a larceny in progress at CVS at 260 Delaware Ave. that escalated into a robbery as Betsy Jablonski, 39, and Brandon Gibson allegedly forcibly stole a vehicle from a person in the parking lot.
Officers responding to the call located the stolen vehicle and attempted to stop it. Jablonski refused to stop for officers from the Bethlehem Police Department, New York State Police, and Albany County Sheriff’s Department as the chase continued through town, into New Scotland and onto the Thruway at exit 21 in Selkirk, traveling northbound in the southbound lane. Jablonski also had a collision with a deer in the chase near Pictuay Road. The chase was not at high speed because the vehicle had a flat tire.
The Sheriff’s units discontinued the chase at the Thruway. State police and Bethlehem pursued in the northbound lane without lights or sirens.
Jablonski eventually stopped the vehicle on the onramp (because she was traveling the wrong way) of Exit 24 of the Thruway. She and Gibson fled on foot in the vicinity of Crossgate Commons, but Jablonski was located hiding in a wooded area and taken into custody after a search by City of Albany, Bethlehem and State Police officers.
Gibson was not found at the time, but Bethlehem detectives said they have leads and an arrest is likely.
After an investigation, detectives applied and received an arrest warrant.
Gibson was turned over to Bethlehem police and they charged him with robbery second degree- motor vehicle, grand larceny and conspiracy, all felonies, and petit larceny and conspiracy, both misdemeanors.
He was arraigned by Bethlehem Town Judge Ryan Donovan. The Assistant district attorney suggested that Gibson be released on electronic monitoring, but Donovan sent him to the Albany County jail. He was scheduled back in court on March 5. After the March 5 date he was picked up by Colonie for an outstanding warrant there.
Warrant for 2020 larceny
DELMAR – An Albany woman was brought to Bethlehem police on Tuesday, March 5 from the Albany County jail for an outstanding warrant for not showing up for court multiple times for an incident at the Glenmont Price Chopper in 2020. On May 25, 2020, Avis Williamson, 60, was arrested and charged with petit larceny. The most recent warrant was signed in 2022. She was arraigned by Bethlehem Town Judge Ryan Donovan and ordered to serve 10 days in jail, then be released to a rehabilitation facility.
