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Ex-Niagara Falls Female Cop Takes Plea Deal in Concert Assault

By Frank Parlato

Kelly Alcorn takes a plea deal.

Ex- Niagara Falls cop Kelly L. Alcorn, 48, pleaded guilty last month as part of a plea deal to a misdemeanor charge of second-degree assault in Genesee County Court in Batavia.

She is no longer a police officer.

The 23-year veteran of the Niagara Falls Police Department took a career tumble and her retirement after a drunken assault at Darien Lake Theme Park in August of 2012 which led to her suspension and now termination from law enforcement.

Alcorn admitted she was intoxicated when she assaulted a 46-year old woman at a sold-out Jason Aldean concert at the Darien Performing Arts Center on Aug. 25, 2012.

She was perhaps the most prominent arrest of the 63 that occurred during the concert that night. Most of the others were for underage drinking.

Alcorn, spared felony charges, will be able to collect her pension, qualifying with more than the minimum 20 years of service, according to Police Supt. Bryan DalPorto.

She might still spend time in the hoosegow. Alcorn will be sentenced Jan. 9 and could face up to a year in jail.

Back when it happened, Alcorn was arrested on a Class B misdemeanor charge of second-degree harassment. Later the charge went from harassment to misdemeanor third-degree assault. She was offered a misdemeanor plea which she, perhaps stupidly, turned down.

The victim, Elizabeth R. Dake, 46, of Farmington, wasn't happy with the misdemeanor charges. She told her story graphically, prompting the Genesee County District Attorney's Office to present it to a grand jury and the charge was upgraded to a second-degree assault, a class D felony, punishable by up to seven years in state prison.

Dake was innocently on her way to a restroom when, like at every Aldean concert, hoards of drunken a-holes congregate and drink and then of course hit the restrooms hard and fast.

Alcorn, who admitted to being one of the drunks, if not a total a-hole, was yelling at someone for cutting into the line.

Dake, in a peacemaker role, intervened on behalf of the woman and reportedly told the drunken Alcorn to relax and stop yelling.

After all, even though it was a Jason Aldean concert, where violence, alcohol and white trash come together like flies on dung, it was, after all, only a concert.

Alcorn,, in her combination role of drunk and off-duty law enforcement officer, rather than be counseled by this good advice, turned her attention from the line-cutting lady to Dake and grabbed Dake by the hair, pulled her arms behind her back, slammed her head into a wall and punched her in the head, neck, arm and back. After Dake was down and rolled up into a ball, Alcorn continued to attack her, punching her and slamming her into the concrete wall.

Dake, who operates a defensive driving school, sustained a concussion and bruises and missed nine days of work. Also arrested that night was Alcorn's music-loving companion, Karen M. Walker, 35, of Niagara Falls, who allegedly hit another concert-goer and restroom patron who tried to stop Alcorn from beating Dake to a pulp.

Meantime, Dake's husband, who happens to be a New York State Trooper, came to the scene and rescued his wife and arranged for Alcorn's arrest.

One witness told Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Lonnie Nati that Alcorn was "flailing her arms like a windmill, throwing wild punches." Another witness said Alcorn used a closed fist to strike Dake.

Alcorn, as part of her allocution before Judge Robert C. Noonan, admitted she was high as a kite on alcohol when she hit Dake recklessly.

Alcorn will ask the judge to approve a certificate of relief from disabilities, which would allow her to seek job-related licensing that would allow her to continue in law enforcement, government employment, or other licensed fields.

In any event, it won't be easy for Alcorn to match the $91,000 she made in 2012, a substantial amount of it coming from overtime, when she worked as one of the few female jailers on the force.

 

 

Niagara Falls Reporter - Publisher Frank Parlato Jr. www.niagarafallsreporter.com

Dec 17, 2013