All Over Albany

Questions about SPD role in domestic dispute, trio of alleged spying cases, large downtown Albany residential development opens, Mrs. London?

A domestic disputed between a Schenectady police officer and his girlfriend allegedly resulted in Schenectady police breaking into the woman's apartment to arrest her without a warrant -- though "two authoritative city sources" say police had entered the apartment to check on the welfare of a baby. [Daily Gazette]

Albany County sheriff Craig Apple on the situation in which a sheriff's office inspector -- who's already getting a pension because of a waiver -- has been out on disability and allegedly has moved to Florida: "This is a complete abuse of the system." [TU]

Schenectady mayor Gary McCarthy's proposed budget includes a 4-percent tax increase, which he says would fit under the tax cap, as well as job cuts and an increase in the garbage fee. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

Now with Roy McDonald out of the state Senate 43rd race -- which most experts apparently McDonald would win -- attention has turned to the Democratic candidate, Robin Andrews. [TU]

Three recent cases of alleged spying: a 15-year-old boy accused of using a mobile phone camera to film women in the dressing room a the Sartoga Golf & Polo Club; a Central New York man accused of trying to take upskirt photos in a Colonie Hannaford; and an Albany man arrested for alleged unlawful surveillance of a 14-year-old girl. [Saratogian] [Troy Record] [TU]

Said a Schenectady resident at a recent forum over whether Schenectady County should be allowed to override the tax cap: "New York State is taxed to the max and Schenectady County is taxed beyond the max." [Daily Gazette] [TU]

That deal for Saratoga Springs to sell water to a residential development in Wilton -- which has drawn criticism from former city commissioner for being outside the bounds of a contract, criticism which in turn was criticized as being political -- is on hold while the city's finance commissioner looks into it. [Saratogian]

With current Cohoes mayor John McDonald in position to win the 108th state Assembly seat, people are lining up for the mayoral job. [Troy Record]

The new Saratoga County Republican Party chairman is John Herrick. He replaces loooooong-time party chair Jasper Nolan. [TU] [Saratogian]

Watervliet police say the suspected abduction at a Dunkin' Donuts last week was actually a domestic argument -- and the people involved didn't know they were the subjects of the search. [TU] [News10]

A Troy police car crashed into a porch downtown Friday after it was struck by a car at an intersection (map). TPD says the patrol car had its lights and siren on when it was struck. [Troy Record] [TU]

Albany police say they've arrested a man for allegedly robbing pharmacies of prescription drugs on multiple occasions with: a hammer, a note, what appeared to be a gun. [APD]

State Police say a rafting guide in the Adirondacks has been charged with criminally negligent homicide after a woman drowned on a trip last week and he allegedly was intoxicated at the time of the incident. [Post-Star]

State Police say this year they've already responded to more than double number of reports of meth labs compared to all of last year. [AP/TU]

A UAlbany student on this past weekend's neighborhood cleanup -- and the ongoing crackdown on large parties: ""We want to put out the message that we're not all drunk kids and we thought if we showed we want to be good neighbors and clean up the streets, maybe the cops will ease up on us." [TU]

The Monroe -- the latest residential development in downtown Albany -- is now open for tenants to move in. [TU]

The owners of the former St. Joseph's in Cohoes have a plan to turn the former church into a cultural center and performing arts venue (map). [Troy Record]

A potential deal for the town of Ballston to buy 272 acres of farmland for open space preservation has fallen apart, apparently because the family selling the land was irked by comments made at a public hearing. [Daily Gazette]

There is one nun still teaching at St. Rose. [TU]

Frequent question asked by customers at Mrs. London's: "Is there really a Mrs. London?" [Saratogian]

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APD: Pharmacy Robbery Arrest

Albany detectives arrested a 30 year old city resident yesterday for robbing two pharmacies earlier this month in Albany.

Timothy O'Connor, of 826 Chestnut Street was charged with two counts of Robbery 1st and one count of Robbery 3rd following an investigation by detectives.

On September 6th, at approximately 9:00 p.m., O'Connor walked into the CVS, located at 1026 Madison Avenue, where he displayed a hammer and demanded money.

He also walked into the same CVS at approximately 5:40 p.m. on September 18th where he walked up to the pharmacy counter, passed a note and demanded medication.

On September 19th , at approximately 9:15 a.m., O'Connor also demanded medication from the Rite Aid Pharmacy, located at 581 Central Avenue while displaying what appeared to be the handle of a black handgun.

O'Connor was identified Wednesday morning at Second and Judson Streets by a patrol officer who recognized him from surveillance footage.

He was arraigned yesterday afternoon in the Albany City Criminal Court and remanded to the Albany County Jail.