Nine day manhunt ends in Rensselaer County barn, investigation into row house collapse, $150 for premature bike path ride, adios Willie Colon
State police say they found Abel Jimenez, the undocumented farm worker accused of injuring a state trooper in Washington County, Sunday morning hiding behind bales of hay in a barn in Brunswick in Rensselaer County. A group of law enforcement agencies had been searching for Jimenez for nine days -- using more than a hundred officers, helicopters, an airplane and dogs. [TU] [Troy Record] [Post-Star]
Troy police say an Albany man died in police custody Saturday after a traffic stop. They say it appeared the man had a white powder around his mouth and then vomited and went into convulsions in the back of a police car. They say they found a white powder and crack in the man's car. They say they suspect he overdosed. [YNN] [Troy Record] [TU] [Fox23]
Albany fire chief Robert Forezzi says the department is still investigating what caused the collapse of the row house at 600 Madison Ave. [TU] [AOA]
The Army report that concluded Colonie soldier Amy Seyboth-Tirador committed suicide said she appeared "different and defeated" in the weeks leading up to her death. [TU]
Albany police say a man was shot once in the leg Thursday night in the South End during an argument with a group of men (map). They say several shots were fired. [Troy Record] [CBS6]
Troy police say a man was stabbed downtown early Saturday morning (map). [Troy Record]
Arne Duncan, the US Secretary of Education, will be in town today for stops at NYSUT and the Albany school district. [CBS6]
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany says it has removed a deacon from the Church of the Holy Family parish on Central Ave because of allegations of sexual abuse in the 1990s. [CBS6] [TU]
A state Supreme Court justice has ruled that former Bethlehem supervisor Jack Cunningham can serve as Colonie's director of public works, even though he doesn't live in the town. [TU]
The Albany Convention Center Authority says it has now acquired 75 percent of the land it needs for the project. [TU]
An audit by the state comptroller's office reports that stimulus money being spent in the Capital Region for road projects is "being used appropriately and accurately." [NYS OSC]
An East Greenbush woman says the town has failed to live up to its end of a deal that involved her handing over a chunk of land in exchange for sewer and water lines; the town seems less than concerned. [Troy Record]
In an interview the Times Union editorial board, Rick Lazio called Carl Paladino a "shock jock." [TU]
Joann Yepsen, who's challenging Roy McDonald for the state Senate, is criticizing for McDonald for sending a letter out to constituents urging them to donate to the Alzheimer's Association. [Saratogian]
Federal Border Patrol agents have reportedly been going through Amtrak trains in New York State looking for people who might be in the country illegally. [NYT]
Shelters of Saratoga is using an RV to do outreach for chronically homeless people. [Post-Star]
The 142-year-old St. Joseph's Church in Green Island celebrated its final mass this past weekend. [Troy Record]
A guy says he was tagged with a $150 ticket by the State Police for riding on the not-yet-open bike trail along River Road in Niskayuna. [TU]
Sunday was the last day for Willie Colon's Latin music show on WDCB. [TU]
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Comments
My next prediction: no trial for Jimenez. He'll accept a plea for deportation with no charges because his defense may be prove too damning to have admission in court. This very well may be the last we ever hear of this story.
... said Jeff S on Aug 30, 2010 at 11:07 AM | link
I agree Jeff S. Why is it that we never saw video footage from the troopers car cam?
... said washington county resident on Aug 30, 2010 at 11:14 PM | link
[WRT comments above mine]: The hell? If there's a mitigating case to be made for Jimenez, make it plainly or not at all.
It's not impossible that the Troopers aggravated a mundane situation into a manhunt, nor that a Latino man's fight/flight reflex made things worse, but I'd need very specific reasons to suspect so. The NYS Troopers are a just, circumspect and professional force. Present your evidence.
LQ
... said Lou Quillio on Aug 31, 2010 at 1:24 AM | link
@Lou
I need to point you to Wednesday's PostStar 8/25 article while the manhunt was on:
http://poststar.com/news/local/article_8f90b208-b08e-11df-831d-001cc4c002e0.html
Specifically the passage that reads:
One resident of the South Cambridge area, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of backlash, called Jimenez-Nuno "a good guy" who he believed did not mean to hurt the trooper. He said Jimenez'-Nuno's 7-year-old daughter was hit with pepper spray that the trooper sprayed into the pickup, and that Jimenez-Nuno was upset because his girlfriend was leaving him.
If the above is false I believe that passage would have (Should Have!) been retracted by the author, by now. Surely the police would not want uncorroborated lies propagated during the frenzy and hearsay of a manhunt.
Since the search is now over, the latest reports fail to highlight Trooper Smith reaching in to turn off the ignition and his use of pepperspray- regardless who got hit. The PostStar has maintained the pepperspray-ignition angle throughout.
If he goes to trial, we'll learn exactly what happened. In the meantime, I agree we can only speculate with a level of certainty that backup support was underutilized at that traffic stop two Fridays ago.
... said Jeff S on Aug 31, 2010 at 11:05 AM | link
I'll give you an example as to the kind of hearsay that we encountered here in Schaghticoke. Last Wednesday afternoon our town was literally under siege. We still had troops in camo with assault rifles land on the Hoosic Valley football field. The reason propagated about town? Someone was spotted stealing food off a grill.
... said Jeff S on Aug 31, 2010 at 11:38 AM | link