Published:January 24, 2010, 5:55 AM 0 Comments. Updated: August 21, 2010, 4:15 AM. Jan. 4

T 1 of 5 4/1/2011 12:28 PM Published:January 24, 2010, 5:55 AM 0 Comments Updated: August 21, 2010, 4:15 AM Jan. 4 James H. Goodenough, 35, of Bear Ridge Road, Lockport, pleaded guilty in County Court to felony driving while intoxicated and attempted fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Judge Matthew J. Murphy III will sentence him March 15. Lockport police found cocaine in Goodenough s vehicle after pulling him over Nov. 3 for using his cell phone while driving. The plea package also settles charges from a June 4 incident in which Goodenough led sheriff s deputies on a high-speed chase through Royalton a chase that ended when Goodenough s car ran off Cottage Road and struck a tree. Jan. 5 Child Protection Services was notified by sheriff s deputies after a 2-year-old girl was found wandering the halls of an apartment complex unsupervised and crying at 10 a. m. in the 6300 block of Robinson Road, Town of Lockport. An aunt who was watching the child was asleep, according to deputies, and a large number of cigarettes and cut straws with an unknown substance were found in the apartment. The aunt said a live-in boyfriend had friends over and she was unaware of the residue in the straw, which patrol was unable to identify due to the small amount. The woman said she was watching the child because her sister was being treated in a methadone clinic. Jan. 6 A 46-year-old Sixth Street man told Niagara Falls police that while he was in jail one of his family members called and changed the personal identification number on his New York State benefits card and then transferred $500 from his account without his permission. The victim said the suspect has a drug problem. Jan. 7 Niagara County sheriff deputies reported two pets killed due to smoke inhalation in a fire in a Barker home at 8501 W. Somerset Road. Homeowners Timothy and Judy Myers had left for work at 7 a. m. and Timothy Myers said he returned at 5:30 p. m., opened the

2 of 5 4/1/2011 12:28 PM door and found a fire in his wood-burning stove and was overcome by smoke, according to deputies. He said he told his wife to call 911 and then tried to locate his dog and cat, but the pets had already died due to the heavy smoke. The Barker Volunteer Fire Department contained the fire to the living room and basement. Jan. 8 A Niagara Falls resident reported that someone stole two Western Union money orders, with a combined value of $352, from his house sometime overnight. The Niagara Avenue victim told Niagara Falls police that his landlord was showing the apartment to prospective renters prior to the theft occurring. Jan. 9 A 39-year-old Lancaster woman said her purse was stolen while she was attending a Mommy Club party at a home in the 6900 block of Kimberly Drive between 10 p. m. and midnight. The woman told sheriff s deputies that the black and silver Coach purse was valued at $200, a Coach wallet was valued at $100, and the purse contained several credit cards, a $100 gift card, her keys and a remote car starter. Total loss was put at $590. Sheriff s deputies said they found a vehicle blocking the road just after 1:30 a. m. on Lake Avenue in Lockport. Deputies said Joseph S. Stopa, 23, of Ridge Road, who appeared highly intoxicated, said his friend George Hernandez was operating the vehicle when they hit a patch of ice and spun out, which then started an argument. He said Hernandez threw the keys in an unknown direction and started walking through a field. Deputies said they doubted the story when they saw no footprints. Stopa then admitted there was no Hernandez and that his brother had been driving and had gone home for an extra set of keys following the argument. His brother, Shawn Stopa, returned to the scene with a light scent of alcohol and a tow truck, and deputies said they told him they would be putting a 12-hour hold on his vehicle due to his impairment. Joseph Stopa was charged with obstructing governmental administration for providing incorrect information, deputies said. Both men were searched and Joseph Stopa was found with a clear bag of marijuana, deputies said, and was charged with unlawful possession. Lockport police said they charged Jeremy L. Meyer, 28, of Church Street, Lockport, with driving while intoxicated after they said they found him asleep in a running vehicle at 1:35 a. m. at Washington and Prospect streets. Jan. 10 A River Road woman from Wheatfield told the Niagara County Sheriff s Office this morning her vehicle s four tires had been slashed. Lockport police charged Donald R. Gray II, 32, of Independence Drive, Lockport, with speeding and driving while intoxicated after his vehicle struck a telephone pole and was found on the grass in front of the Prudden and Kandt Funeral Home at 237 Genesee St. just before 11 p. m. Gray told police he swerved to avoid a large dog. A Newfane man was charged with driving while intoxicated after he was followed home by a concerned driver. A Lockport man called sheriff s deputies when he said a driver on Lockport-Olcott Road passed him at a high rate of speed just before 2:30 a. m. in Newfane. He said he followed for a time and observed the vehicle going about 70 mph in

3 of 5 4/1/2011 12:28 PM a 45-mph zone and then passing through a red light on Ide Road. Deputies said they then followed the vehicle and charged the driver, Charles W. Sherman, no age given, as he turned into his driveway on McClew Road in Newfane. Jan. 11 A gold watch on a chain, valued at $500, was reported stolen between 6:30 and 10 p. m. from the jacket pocket of a Ransomville man while he was at the South Transit Bowling Lanes. The manager told sheriff s deputies that he reviewed security footage and the man s jacket was on the tape, but no one approached the jacket while he was bowling. A Town of Hartland woman said her dog suffered a five-inch-long cut on her shoulder and two smaller cuts on her right side after two dogs owned by neighbors attacked the dog while she was walking it on a leash just before 3 p. m. Jan. 12 Commission of Correction Chairman and former Niagara County Sheriff Thomas A. Beilein told Lockport police that he went to work out at 11 a. m. at the YMCA on East Avenue and hung his coat on the coat rack. He said he realized at 12:15 p. m. that he had left his keys in the pocket and they were gone. He said his car was unlocked and $200 in cash and his Blackberry, which was provided by the state, were gone. Police the next day found Beilein s keys and a gold watch in a locker. Beilein said the Blackberry had state information, but was password protected. The case remains under investigation. Jan. 13 Paul F. Owens, 50, of Scovell Street, Lockport, was stopped just after midnight by Lockport police after he was observed on North Transit near High Street not wearing a seat belt, according to reports. Police said he failed to stop immediately, but eventually pulled over on South Transit Street near the Days Inn, and appeared to be intoxicated and had no driver s license. Open containers of alcohol were also found in the vehicle, police said. Owens was charged with driving while intoxicated, aggravated unlicensed operation, failure to stop for an emergency vehicle, no seat belt, second-degree criminal contempt, failure to keep right and consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle. After an argument broke out among several female residents of Gregg Cottage at Wyndham Lawn Home, on Old Niagara Road in Lockport, a 17-year-old was charged by sheriff s deputies with harassment. The Buffalo girl was charged after she threw a chair at a staff member and punched the wall with her hand, just after 11 p. m., deputies said. Jan. 14 A Town of Lockport woman who had been in Niagara County Jail earlier in the day told sheriff s deputies she returned to her home in the 6300 block of Robinson Road in the evening and found a front door forced open and $200 worth of food missing, as well as DVDs, a cell phone, socks, cash and prescription pills, including narcotics. Town of Niagara police charged George Nader, 75, of Niagara Falls Boulevard, with petit larceny and accused him of shoplifting $22 worth of merchandise from Kmart. Nader also gave security a false name of George Smith and was additionally charged with false impersonation, police reported. Beverly Davis, 55, of Linwood Avenue, Niagara Falls, was charged with petit larceny after

4 of 5 4/1/2011 12:28 PM shoplifting $100 worth of merchandise from the Van Heusen store at Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls, Town of Niagara police said. Jan. 15 Someone entered a 22nd Street home sometime after midnight and stole $100 from a woman s purse, Niagara Falls police said. The purse had been left next to the woman s bed while she slept. A woman was sitting on the couch of her Crick Court apartment about 11:30 p. m. when she heard what sounded like six gunshots, Niagara Falls police said. She looked out and saw a man standing in the roadway firing a handgun. Police later recovered three spent shell casings on the street in that area. No one was hurt and no property damage was reported. A Newfane man was charged with driving while intoxicated after an incident on Lockport-Olcott Road just before midnight. Michael P. Teaven, 50, of Autumnview Street, was found passed out behind the wheel of his running vehicle while it was parked in the drive-thru lane of a closed Mc-Donald s restaurant, sheriff s deputies said. Jan. 16 A woman reported her car was broken into outside the Hyde Park Ice Pavilion in Niagara Falls between 11:30 a. m. and 2 p. m., Niagara Falls police reported. The thief smashed a window and took her purse containing about $1,600 worth of items, including an ipod, camera, ring and cash, she told police. Robert B. Wojewoda, 29, of State Road, Lockport, was charged with driving while intoxicated after Lockport police responded to a report of a car crashed into a pole on South Transit and High streets at 5:20 a. m., according to reports. Wojewoda, who reported that he had a sore wrist, appeared intoxicated, police said, and had allegedly switched license plates. He also was charged with driving an unlicensed and uninsured vehicle, making an unsafe lane change, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and driving at an unreasonable speed. David A. Clevely, 40 of Miller Road, Town of Niagara, was charged with aggravated DWI and passing a red light. Sheriff s deputies said they pulled him over on Porter Road just after 3 a. m. and found him to have a blood-alcohol content of 0.18 percent, according to reports. Jan. 17 A man told Niagara Falls police he was bitten and punched by another man during an altercation in a Linwood Avenue apartment. The incident happened at about 12:10 a. m. in a home on Linwood between 13th and 15th streets. The victim, who was taken to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center for treatment, was trying to stop his attacker from assaulting a third man, according to a city police report. A Niagara Falls man was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct after he was seen punching another man near Niagara and 25th streets, city police said. Antoine F. Hill, 31, of Niagara Avenue, was one of about 75 people police dispersed from the area about 3:15 a. m. An officer reported he used pepper spray in order to take Hill into custody.