Best of the Blotter 2011

Excerpts from police calls are a regular feature in all nine Bee Group Newspapers. Some of the more unusual reports from 2011 are reprinted here. Each is an actual listing from a town police blotter.

Illustrations by Robert Malloy

• An Amherst resident told police that she saw gold-colored aliens in the distance on Chestnut Ridge Road. She told officers that the aliens were sitting in a parked vehicle with red and yellow flashing lights.
• The manager of the Family Dollar store on Orchard Park Road said two men walked into the store and stole $100 worth of body wash and shower gel.
• Police were called to Rite Aid to investigate a shoplifting complaint. It was reported that two men first concealed two boxes of Red Bull in their jackets, then cut a video recorder down from a security rack.

• A Vernon Drive resident complained that firefighters responding to a fire alarm in her house wouldn’t remove their boots.
• Police responded to a call on Broadway of a woman pushing a baby in a stroller on the street. The woman said she had to buy cigarettes and the sidewalks weren’t shoveled.
• The bartender of a Union Road restaurant reported that two males had left without paying their $10.86 bar tab. The two males reportedly asked for their check before walking outside to “have a cigarette,” and then were observed driving away.
• A woman was caught attempting to steal about $130 worth of goods from Kmart on Orchard Park Road by passing all points of purchase on a motorized scooter.
• A woman driving on Walden Avenue reported she was stopped at a red light when tires rolled down the street and hit her car.
• A customer of a drug store on Hopkins Road reported a group of 10 youths was using chalk to write on the exterior wall of a nearby business.
• A resident of Saratoga Road reported that approximately 15 youths were throwing snow at each other as well as passing vehicles.
• An employee of Wegmans on Orchard Park Road observed a shoplifter run out of the store toward Loxley Court. Patrol tracked the suspect’s footprints to a nearby parking lot where the man was found lying down inside a vehicle in possession of nearly $30 worth of lobster.
• A Claudette Court resident reported a neighbor had tried to open the complainant’s door and accused the complainant’s boyfriend of stealing his garbage.
• Police talked to a man on Broadway who said he was out for a walk and slipped in a puddle of what he thought was water but was an unidentified green substance. He was taken to the hospital after complaining of pain.
• Police strongly advised a driver who was doing donuts in the parking lot of a Walden Avenue restaurant. The driver continued doing donuts after police left, but got stuck.
• A resident of Princeton Avenue reported the neighbors in her building were pounding the walls of her apartment as well as destroying shoes that were in the common hallway.
• A Clover Place male called police because his wife’s car was blocking his in the driveway, and she refused to move it.
• A young couple from Buffalo was involved in a rollover accident on Indian Church Road. The male driver told police he was arguing with his wife when his truck hit a snow bank and went off the roadway,
• A Melody Lane female reported her 16-year-old child stole her credit card and used it to buy a car and other items.
• Police advised a Zent Court resident to grind coffee beans at a reasonable hour after a noise complaint from a neighbor.
• A Kaymar Drive landlord reported that the tenants he evicted moved out three days prior to their deadline. However they stole the refrigerator from the residence.

• A 911 hang-up call came in from a residence on Stonebriar Drive. A female at the residence stated that her 5-year-old son was trying to call the Easter Bunny.
• In Lancaster, a man complained to police about his neighbor’s property saying that kids built a large fort out of scrap wood and debris. He thinks it’s an eyesore and dangerous for the kids to play in.
• An officer on patrol saw a car speeding on George Urban Boulevard with heavy front end damage to the passenger side of the car, including a missing headlight. The driver told police he had crashed into something on his way home from a gentleman’s club but wasn’t sure what it was.
• Orchard Park Police received a call from a man who called 911 to report that he was drunk and wearing black clothing. He then hung up. With the help of a cell phone company, police located the man and he threw a rock at the approaching police car.
• Police received a call from a security officer for a West Herr car dealership who reported finding a locked safe on the premises.
• A man was arrested for driving while intoxicated after patrol observed his vehicle pass through a steady red light at Seneca Creek Road and swerve several times on Union Road. The man told patrol, “I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been drinking,” then produced a Rite Aid rewards card for ID instead of his driver’s license.
• An Olean Road man called to report that while he and his live-in girlfriend were at Aurora Town Court, someone broke into his residence and took a red Snap-On “Rick Mears” edition tool box valued at $2,800.
• A Jewett Holmwood Road woman complained of threatening text messages from a Syracuse man to whom she had sold her car. After the sale, she said she received a text message from the man saying the power steering was not working. The man texted her back in derogatory terms stating, “Karma will come and get you.”
• On Capen Boulevard, a resident reported his vehicle’s tires and his house’s outdoor motion light were damaged by a neighbor.
• A West Falls man said that as he exited his driveway, his neighbor, who was on her tractor, gave him the finger.
• A 14-year-old East Aurora boy was reported lost. The father had dropped the child off on the wrong street.
• A Slate Creek Drive resident reported someone keeps stuffing a hair weave into her vehicle’s muffler.
• A Wilshire Road resident told police his neighbor was harassing him by leaving paperwork for Alcoholics Anonymous in his mailbox.
• An employee of a Sheridan Drive restaurant reported that two boys who ordered food paid with a counterfeit $10 bill. Police discovered that one of the teenagers had used his father’s collectible currency to pay for the order. Upon request by police, the teenagers paid the bill with valid currency.
• A 14-year-old boy reported that an acquaintance stole his cellphone. The two had fought over a restaurant bill from the night before, and the acquaintance, a 25-year-old Abbott Road man, reportedly said the teen would get his phone back when he paid his share of the money.
• A Euclid Avenue male complained that his brother-in-law stole his phone. Police could not determine what had actually occurred and advised the pair to call back when sober.
• A woman in Clarence called 911 to report that she was having telephone problems and could not hear through her phone line because of static.
• Patrol responded to Shimerville Road for a report of a five-year-old child who was missing. The child was upset about not being able to go to the park and had hidden under a desk.
• A resident of Golden Oak Circle reported that a male that she did not know was sitting on her back porch. The male told her that he wanted to live there.
• A Marlene Drive male wanted police to talk to his mother, because she hits him every time he goes outside to smoke.
• An Orchard Park man said he left his home for one hour, and when he came back, he found a plastic tote at the end of his driveway with motor oil and Antifreeze inside.
• A Fairoaks Lane male invited an unknown female back to his house. She took $200 in cash and left.
• On Campus Drive, a resident reported workers replacing the roof of the apartment were listening to the radio at too high of a volume. The resident also told police the workers were swearing.
• Deputies responded to a report of a disturbance on Thompson Road. It was a married couple arguing over something that had happened at church.
• A Howard Drive woman stated that her 21-year-old son had locked her out of the house after they argued over a dog he had brought home.
• A female called from Roseville Lane to report a burglary in progress and locked in her bathroom for protection. It was her son. His mother thought he had moved out the day before.
• A Genesee Street male was bouncing a ball in his apartment because he thought a neighbor’s television was too loud.
• A man reported that his son took his credit card unknowingly from him and had racked up thousands of dollars in charges. When he received a bill for $3,400 and called the credit card company, he was told the balance exceeded $10,000.
• A Cayuga Road landlord complained that he did not want his tenant to have visitors.
• The Rite Aid Pharmacy on Union Road reported that a man came into the store and tried to steal two 20-packs of beer and some soft drinks. He walked past the cashier, waving a prescription, pretending that it was his receipt.
• A Reiman Street male reported his mother and aunt were drunk and “going at it.” The argument reportedly started over Mother’s Day flowers.
• Police received a suspicious person call about two males hiding near a ditch in a Genesee Street field. The two males were shooting a rap video.
• Police were called to the Amtrak station for the report of an intoxicated individual. They removed a man from the train who had a flask in his back pocket. He was taken to a motel to sober up until he could take another train the next day.
• A man reported that he gave a lady friend he had been dating for three months his debit card and PIN number to buy pizza. She made more than $650 worth of purchases in the Depew area and did not return.

• Patrol removed a lamp in the roadway at Clinton and Aurora streets.
• A Potter Avenue resident reported that someone entered his garage overnight and stole a leaf blower, weed whacker and hedge trimmer.
• A North Tonawanda man was arrested for driving while intoxicated on Girard Avenue. He told police his female passenger was the original operator of the vehicle and “went nuts.”
• An officer observed a car stopped in the driving lane on Berg Road and pulled it over. The driver said she lived in Pennsylvania, and when the officer asked for her identification, she replied, “Just leave me alone.” She attempted to roll up the window while the officer still had his flashlight half inside it and the window broke.
• An unknown male stole several punch cards and the puncher, used toward earning a free ice cream, from Great Lakes Station on Union Road.
• A young female was caught attempting to steal 27 six-packs of Pepsi and Diet Coke from Tops on Harlem Road.
• An employee of a Niagara Falls Boulevard restaurant reported a customer purchased a cookie with a $50 bill and duped the store cashier into returning an incorrect amount of change.
• An employee of a Flint Road business reported an intoxicated man was standing in the middle of Maple Road and would dance whenever vehicles would pass him.
• A young Buffalo male was taken home by his mother after he was initially stopped for speeding on Clinton Street. The male’s license was said to be revoked in part for driving while intoxicated exactly one year ago to the day.
• A resident of Travers Circle reported four youths in the hallway of the apartment building were discussing “egging something.”
• A woman on Idlebrook Drive complained that her husband was throwing her new friends’ belongings out the door in a verbal dispute over their swinging lifestyle.
• A man harassed a police officer after he was stopped for talking on his cellphone while driving on Mineral Springs Road. The man said to patrol, “Are you going to harass me every day?” He then told the officer to take his badge off and that he knows where he lives.
• A man was stopped on Orchard Park Road for operating a vehicle with a modified muffler. Two pieces of blank paper were taped in place of the registration and inspection stickers on the vehicle.
• The manager of a Clinton Street restaurant reported a male walked in, flashed a badge and said he wanted free food.
• A 13-year-old Cherrywood Drive male reported his mother was “freaking out” and that he was upset about the way his mother was yelling at him. Police advised the boy that his “mother is the boss.”
• A male flagged down a patrol car on Andrews Avenue and asked what would be the best route to walk home to Franklinville.
• An employee of a Union Road gas station reported a woman stole cigars, but left her ID behind.
• A woman at a Thruway Plaza drive fast food restaurant called police to complain about the service she was receiving.
• A Cowing Street man was charged with second-degree harassment after attacking his neighbor with a snow blower. The victim was shoveling the end of his driveway while the subject, 60, intentionally aimed the shooter on the snow blower directly at the victim’s face.
• A resident of Pheasant Run Road reported to police that he was worried a bird outside his window was near death.
• Police received a call of a suspicious person standing outside a Walden Avenue shopping mall with a live snake hanging around his neck.
• Police received a report that a woman stole a 25-foot hay elevator from a barn on Jewett Holmwood Road.
• Police responded to Florence Avenue on the report of a larceny and disorderly conduct of several male youths. The youths allegedly stole two street signs, one “No Parking” sign and one “Truck Route” sign worth a combined total of $700.
• The clerk at a gas station on Main Street reported a suspicious white Chevy in the parking lot. A male kept getting out of the vehicle and coming into the store to attempt to sell the clerk drugs. The passenger had been grinding up aspirin on the floor mat and attempting to sell it as cocaine.
• A woman suspected of shoplifting was said to have passed all points of purchase at Kmart on Orchard Park Road with more than $900 worth of merchandise. Items included a vacuum cleaner, air mattress, “Dora the Explorer” chair and doll, a password journal, pool float and two Yankee Candles.
• A driver was stopped on Cindy Lane for speeding and following another vehicle too closely. The driver told patrol he was just down the road from his house and asked for a break because he had a “bad day.”
• A Roycroft Boulevard resident reported a male neighbor was standing on his lawn, digging and yelling “grow, grow, grow.”
• Two males were walking with beer on Park Edge Drive. When questioned, the males told police “the beer fairy disposed of it.”
• A woman’s Texas Long Horns doormat was removed from outside her Center Road home.
• The security alarm went off at a local car wash. A man was reportedly trying to buy an air freshener from the vending machine when it came ajar and set off the alarm.
• Employees of a store inside the Walden Galleria reported a female who appeared to be intoxicated and smelled like alcohol offered $100 to be able to leave her three children in the store. The female told police she was joking.
• A Linda Drive female reported a male wearing a white shirt that “looked like a drug addict” was pounding on her door.
• A Shepard Avenue resident complained that there was yelling and screaming coming from an upstairs tenant. An officer reported that a pair of individuals were discussing school supplies and were advised to lower their voices.
• A Ransom Road resident stated that there was a suspicious man driving a lawnmower in her backyard. The woman’s husband had apparently hired a lawn service but had neglected to tell his wife.
• A male reported that another male who was at a haunted house set up on Tremaine Avenue, was allowing children to staple dollar bills to his body with a staple gun. Police warned the male that his actions were a health risk.
• A tractor trailer driver parked his truck in the middle lane of Genesee Street while he went into a nearby restaurant to eat.
• A fire broke out at an apartment complex on Berg Road. A neighbor doused the fire with a mixture of baking soda and Kitty Litter.
• An elderly woman had stopped her car in a traffic lane on French Road to count her money.

• A South Huxley Drive male reported his girlfriend slept until 2 and hadn’t fed him.
• A male wearing only his underwear was seen walking over the Henry Street bridge over the Thruway carrying a gas can.
• A resident reported four males unloaded three or four goats out of a van and took them into the basement of a Wanda Avenue residence. The neighbor said she believed the goats would be slaughtered, because she has seen goats brought into the residence before, and “they never leave.”

• A Center Road dentist’s office was reportedly burglarized after one of the building’s windows was destroyed. Approximately 10 gold teeth were removed from a display case in the waiting area.
• A man transporting a Bobcat tractor struck several power lines on Clinton Street, causing a power outage.
• A Dartwood Drive resident reported finding an intoxicated male sitting in the front lawn. The male then got up and stumbled into the nearby woods.
• A New Taylor Road woman reported that her husband went into their garage to get a bottle of wine from the refrigerator. He then discovered six bottles of wine and a case of beer missing.
• A Center Road dentist’s office was reportedly burglarized after one of the building’s windows was destroyed. Approximately 10 gold teeth were removed from a display case in the waiting area.
• An Orchard Park man reported that he came home and noticed the tarp that covers his motorcycle was on the ground, blowing in the wind. He then saw that his motorcycle was missing.
• Patrol observed a suspicious vehicle parked in the driveway of an abandoned, condemned house on Transit Road. The driver and a passenger were found inside the vehicle with their seats tilted all the way back. The driver told patrol they were “just chilling” before admitting to be in possession of a small quantity of marijuana and a glass smoking pipe.
• A resident of Evans Street reported his debit card, license and Buffalo Sabres hat were stolen from his vehicle overnight.
• A South Wales man was charged with stealing $72.03 in groceries from a Grey Street business and admitted to doing it once before.
• Patrol observed a vehicle fail to stay within its lane of travel, while also stopping in its lane inexplicably while driving on Clinton Street. The male driver told patrol he was reading a newspaper in attempt to find an address.
• Police responded to a Berg Road address where an altercation between residents and an automobile repossession agent had ensued. A woman hit the complainant with a broom before he pushed her into the snow to stop her. Then, two males opened the driver-side door of the tow truck when the complainant used pepper spray as his defense. One of the male residents then used a hockey stick to strike the truck several times before breaking a window.
• Police responded to a Main Street restaurant where an employee said she denied three patrons the purchase of alcoholic drinks because they were intoxicated.
• A man was found sleeping behind the wheel of his vehicle, with the motor running, while parked in the lot of Nino’s pizzeria on Orchard Park Road. He admitted to drinking beer earlier in the night.
• Police responded to a pawn shop on Transit Road after a Lancaster male attempted to sell a 190-piece tool set which he had stolen from his father.
• A suspicious man was observed near a woman’s vehicle while it was parked in the Wegmans parking lot on Orchard Park Road. When the woman returned to her vehicle, she found one of the wiper blades on the windshield was bent out of position.
• A female responded to the police station on Union Road to obtain information on how to have her license plates put back on her vehicle after having her license suspended.
• A man took a taxi from Cheektowaga to Lancaster and told the 83-year-old driver that he would pay the fare if he took him to a Bowen Avenue address. When they arrived, the passenger told the driver he had to go somewhere on foot to get the money, but he never returned.
• Police responded to a road rage incident on Union Road. Reportedly, two motorists were spitting on each other after following each other around town.
• Police received a call from a Lyman Avenue resident about a sick raccoon in the garage.
• A man in a vehicle on French Road was reportedly punching and pulling the hair of someone in the front seat. When police questioned the two, they said they were “just joking about getting a haircut.”
• A man called from Roseville Drive. He was upset because people were using him as a reference without asking his permission.
• Patrol responded to Kmart on Orchard Park Road to investigate a road rage and reckless operation incident between the drivers of two vehicles. According to the report, the female driver was approached by the male driver of the second vehicle, who asked why she was driving recklessly on Ridge Road. The female reportedly became vulgar and bit the arm of the male driver’s son — he had identified himself as an officer with the Lackawanna Police Department.
• The manager of an area Tim Hortons reported having been short money since early October. Video surveillance reportedly captured a female employee taking a $10 bill from a register and placing it in her blouse.
• Patrol responded to a home on Wildwood Place on the report of a possible domestic incident. Upon arrival, patrol knocked on the door of the home but realized the caller was outside on the sidewalk. The woman who came to the door was argumentative and screamed obscenities at patrol before slamming the door. Patrol knocked on the door again to advise the woman that she was under arrest for disorderly conduct.
• Patrol responded to Tampa Drive where a man was found slumped over in the driver’s seat with “drool dripping down his chin.” Officers failed to wake the driver after several attempts. They broke the window to extricate him, after thinking that he might have stopped breathing. The man finally awoke and had impaired speech and bloodshot eyes. He could not remember where he was coming from but admitted to “having some beers.”
• An Orchard Park man made three appointments for someone to come and look at the wood-burning stove he was selling, and each time, the man didn’t show up. The victim claims the man didn’t show up just to be annoying.
• A resident of Siegfried Drive reported finding an eight-inch bone on his front porch. He told police we was worried because he was unsure if it was a human bone or from the remains of an animal.
• An Orchard Park woman brought 26 guns to the police station for safekeeping while they are being transferred from her father’s gun license to her own.
• A male asked police to escort him when picking up his child, because he was “afraid the child’s mother would beat him up.”
• A suspicious vehicle reported on Goodrich Road involved a male and female looking in a drainpipe. They were on a worldwide geocache scavenger hunt, and an item had been hidden in the pipe.
• The driver-side mirror of a woman’s vehicle was broken off after it was struck by a water balloon while traveling on Seneca Street in the area of a banquet facility.
• A couple found that the entrance door from their garage to the kitchen had been opened sometime during the night. They woke at around 1:30 a.m. and overheard their 2-year-old son who was downstairs saying, “Mommy, is that you?” Upon investigation, they also found that the overhead garage door was opened.
• Police stopped a driver for traveling 65 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone. The driver fled and pulled into a driveway and leaned over in the seat, trying to hide. The driver provided police a passport and told them she didn’t live there but pulled in to get away from the cops. A large pill container with paper covering it, containing Adderall, was found in her possession.
• Police responded to JFK Lane for the report of an accident. When they arrived, they found a father and son arguing. Apparently, the father backed his car into his son’s car. The son told police his father had been drinking all day.
• A man transporting a Bobcat tractor struck several power lines on Clinton Street, causing a power outage.

Get the Police Blotter Every week in the mail:
Subscribe to the Bee Today!