Turfing reported
Let's face it. Niagara Falls can sometimes be a pretty boring place. And what better way to spend a boring Sunday afternoon than by using your four wheel drive SUV to damage other people's property for no reason whatsoever?
Police were called to a vacant field at the corner of 24th Street and Cudaback Avenue at 4 p.m. by a man who saw a green SUV occupied by two people driving recklessly in the field, leaving deep ruts and killing the grass. He told officers the truck drove west down Cudaback.
Officers went looking for the truck when a call from headquarters came in saying the truck now was tearing up another field, this one in the 500 block of Third Street.
The vandals had fled the scene by the time officers arrived and again attempted to locate the vehicle. At length, they found a mud covered, green SUV occupied by two Native American males, but by that time none of the witnesses could be located.
The men said they'd been doing some recreational off road driving on the Tuscarora Reservation. Officers said they didn't have enough evidence to hold them, and they were cut loose. An investigation is continuing.
Car burglary
A hapless visitor from Buffalo lost more than he bargained for when he decided to go to the Seneca Niagara Casino one night recently. He parked his car in the old Splash Park lot and, when he returned found the passenger side window smashed out.
Nothing was taken. In fact, whoever smashed the window left they hammer they most likely did it with on the center console of the man's car!
While City Council recently debated putting signs up around the casino warning people not to leave valuables in plain sight on their car seats, and to make sure they locked their vehicles, Niagara Falls thieves are tenacious. They'll smash your window on the mere chance you his something of value in the glove compartment.
Shoplifting, huffing
Police were called to Sam's Club on Military Road recently for a reported shoplifting incident. Upon arrival, store employees said the shoplifter was sitting out in the parking lot behind some bales of cardboard.
There, police found a highly intoxicated Eric Bartram, who was in possession of a four pack of computer cleaner. The packaging was open, and one of the cans was half empty.
Police asked Bartram whether he'd paid for the computer cleaner and he replied that he had not. Then they asked him whether he had inhaled the one half can and he told them he had.
Bartram was taken into custody and booked on charges of petite larceny, criminal trespass, possession of stolen property and the inhalation of toxic vapors and held in lieu of $2,500 bail.
Shots rang out
Police officers were on an unrelated call in the 1700 block of Whitney Avenue when they head as many as a half a dozen gunshots ring out nearby. After calling for backup, cops headed toward the sound of the gunfire, which continued, for a total of as many as 15 rounds.
On arriving at the scene, police said they found a young woman who had been wounded, perhaps by a stray bullet. A suspect in the case has been identified, and an investigation is continuing, police said.
|
