Items tagged with 'crime'
Those plants in Washington Park are for admiring, not taking
We'll just get right to the point here: You should not dig up and take the tropical plants from Washington Park in Albany. Doing so is stealing from the city and its residents. Also: It's tacky.
Even so, someone has been stealing the plants. And Albany city's gardener would very much like them to stop.
"The grievous error ... cries out for resolution"
You might have heard about the case of Marquis Dixon, the Albany teen convicted of stealing a pair of sneakers from another teen in downtown Albany in March of 2014. His case has gotten has a lot of attention -- from advocates such as Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration, and a series of columns written by Chris Churchill at Times Union -- because Dixon was sentenced to nine years in prison for the crime.
Advocates for Dixon have argued that sentence is unfairly harsh, especially given the limited evidence that he might have displayed or implied he had a gun during the crime (Dixon admitted to stealing the sneakers but said he never had a gun).
On Thursday a state appellate court ruled on Dixon's appeal. And the short story is that it decided Dixon should get youthful offender status and that his sentence be reduced to 1-3 years in prison.
You can read the decision online, which walks through the various elements in the case. For example: The court was unpersuaded that the limited evidence about the gun -- basically, the word of the victim that he saw something black and blocky tucked into Dixon's waistband -- should knock out that part of the case.
But the part about considering Dixon for youthful offender status is remarkable. (Presiding justice Karen Peters raised the issue during the oral arguments in the appeal.) The court basically concludes that everyone involved in the case screwed up on the question of whether Dixon should be eligible for the status.
Where New York's crime guns come from
This map is clipped from the AG office's interactive report -- it shows which states are the origin for the "likely-trafficked" guns recovered in the Capital Region.
Of the almost 53,000 guns recovered by law enforcement agencies in New York State between 2010 and 2015, 74 percent of those guns originated out of state. And of the 1,872 guns recovered in the Capital Region over that period, 67 percent were from out of state.
Those figures are a from a new report by the New York State Attorney's General Office -- "Target on Trafficking" -- that use federal gun trace data to argue for stricter gun regulations on the federal level and in other states.
The report tags a handful of states with more lax regulations for being the source of many of the crime guns, handguns in particular, that end up in New York.
The way they got out
That note attached to the pipe says "Have a Nice Day!"
Not new (at all), but we were curious and maybe you are, too: Here's a series of photos of the points in the Clinton Correctional Facility through which inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped last weekend -- and, as of Friday afternoon, were still on the run. (You might have missed these if you haven't been following all the live, action, breaking, team coverage.) [Cuomo admin]
Authorities have said Matt and Sweat sawed through a panel in the back of their cells, got access to a catwalk that leads to a large pipe that runs out the prison, cut a hole in the pipe, and then crawled through the pipe before finally exiting from a manhole in the street a block away. Apparently they used power tools to do this, and how they got those tools has become a key part of the story -- and there have been some conflicting versions. [TU]
(Yep, it's all very Shawshank, except it seems pretty clear these guys were guilty.)
There are a few more photos of these prison escape points after the jump. They were posted this week in the Cuomo admin's Flickr stream.
Over at NY Mag there's an extensive recap of the story so far. And the TU's Keshia Clukey has following the story intensively on Twitter.
Where the guns come from
ProPublica's map of the top states for guns recovered in New York and traced in 2012. The version on ProPublica's site is clickable, and also includes where guns from New York end up.
More than two-thirds of the guns recovered in New York State in 2012 and traced through the federal government's tracing system were originally purchased out of the state, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The new org ProPublica has compiled the ATF data for each state and put together a good visualization that allows you to see which states are the top "exporters" and "importers" of traced guns relative to other states.
The top source states for New York: Virginia (14 percent), Pennsylvania (11 percent), Florida (10 percent), Georgia (10 percent), and South Carolina (8.6 percent). The top states for guns traced back to New York: Florida (17 percent), New Jersey (9 percent), and Pennsylvania (9 percent).
Of the traces logged by the ATF in 2012, 45 percent were for guns recovered in New York City. A little less than 1 percent -- 79 guns -- were recovered in Albany.
map: ProPublica
"I'm probably the most normal crazy guy you know..."
Update 2014-01-27: Collins has pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping.
____
It was one of the most bizarre -- and scary -- local stories of the past week: UAlbany police say a man attempted to abduct two women at a bus stop near the university's downtown campus. And in one of the incidents, they allege the man had a knife -- thankfully another student intervened and no one was hurt. [YNN] [News10]
One of the things about crime stories is that so often the people involved -- both perpetrators and victims -- end up being portrayed as one-dimensional characters. And while there are understandable reasons why that happens -- time, space, limited resources, limited attention -- it also sometimes makes it hard to remember these events are happening to real people. And maybe it also makes it harder for us to understand how and why these things happen.
The man accused in the alleged abduction attempts is 54-year-old Anthony Collins. As it happens, Collins is the subject of a documentary project by UAlbany student Shannon Straney. In the short doc, Collins talks about being diagnosed with mental illness, and Straney's project is aimed at better understanding how the condition has affected his life. Part 1 of the project is embedded above.
We got in touch with Straney this week to ask her a few questions about the documentary project, and how it's prompted her to look at the alleged incident from the past week. Here's a quick Q&A...
Checking out the Troy crime map
A screengrab from this afternoon.
The Troy Police Department unveiled a new online crime map for the public today. From the press release:
With the exception of crimes related to domestic incidents and sexual assaults, all reported crime in our city will be mapped with a built in 72 hour posting delay. The delay is designed to give Investigators a "first look" at an incident and apply any limitations they see fit specifically relevant to their investigation. Once mapped, the information remains embedded in the mapping, subject to numerous choices the user can make; eg. date range, type of crime, etc. Previously noted exceptions to the mapping will always be subject to inclusion should a public safety need to post the incident be evident.
This is a good step, as we've said a bunch of times before, it'd be great to see other local municipalities head in this direction.
A few more quick thoughts:
Milk bottle rustling
Update October 10, 2013: APD says it's arrested the guy.
From the odd alleged crime file: Someone is apparently going around Albany neighborhoods stealing bottles out of the boxes for home-delivered milk.
Bernard emails:
My family has been dealing with the lamest criminal ever for a couple of weeks now. I'd appreciate it if you could share this with your audience. My understanding from the Meadowbrook dairy folks is that they are getting many reports of stolen milk from folks in the New Scotland Ave, Center Square and South End.
This guy is basically driving his bike around 3-5 days a week from 6-7:30 in the morning to steal milk bottles. (Yes, you can still get milk delivered.) The cops and the dairy are pretty sure that he either steals empties, or dumps the full bottle so that he can return them to stores like the food coop, shop-rite, fresh market for a whopping $2.
As a geek, I of course seized this annoyance as an opportunity to buy (an incredibly cheap) wifi network camera with night vision. So here he is. Albany people, if you recognize this dude or see a guy with neon yellow sneakers stealing crap from people, please let me know and call the Albany police.
Bernard's video is embedded above.
We talked with the Albany Police Department about the situation. APD spokesman Steve Smith says they've gotten two official reports of recent milk bottle thefts -- one in the New Scotland neighborhood, the other in Center Square -- but they believe there have been "several" other incidents.
(We've also heard, secondhand, that in one case the milk was poured out before the bottle was taken. And that would be a crime -- Meadowbrook milk is delicious.)
If you have info about the bottle thefts, call the APD: (518) 438-4000.
Feds: Men conspired to build mobile x-ray weapon. | Is that possible?
Updated
Federal prosecutors announced today that two men -- Glendon Scott Crawford, 49, of Galway and Eric J. Feight, 54, of Hudson -- have been arrested for an alleged plot in which the two conspired to build a remotely-operated mobile x-ray weapon. From the press release:
The arrests followed a lengthy investigation by the Albany FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force that began in April 2012 when authorities received information that Crawford had approached local Jewish organizations seeking out individuals who might offer assistance in helping him with a type of technology that could be used against people he perceived as enemies of Israel. ...
As charged in a Complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Albany, the essence of the defendants' scheme was the creation of a mobile, remotely operated, radiation emitting device capable of killing targeted individuals silently with lethal doses of X-ray radiation. The defendants plotted to use this device against unwitting victims who would not immediately be aware that they had absorbed lethal doses of radiation, the harmful effects of which would only appear days after the exposure. This was an undercover investigation and, unbeknownst to the defendants, the device that the defendants designed and intended to use was rendered inoperable at all times and posed no danger to the public.
The federal complaint is embedded after the jump.
In the complaint, the feds allege Crawford "identified Muslims and several other individuals/groups as targets." They allege he had contact with the KKK, and that he also tried to solicit support from local Jewish organizations to help build a weapon that could be used against Israel's enemies (the TU reports one of the orgs was Congregation Gates of Heaven in Schenectady) -- the orgs reported Crawford and that put him on the radar with authorities. Feight was allegedly brought in to help build a device for remotely activating the radiation weapon.
The Times Union has more details from the complaint, in which the feds say Crawford never got a hold of a radiation source because an undercover FBI agent was acting as his supplier.
The allegations are unsettling and bizarre. And they prompt a lot of questions about the situation -- perhaps the primary one is whether these guys could have actually pulled off what they allegedly intended to do if the FBI hadn't been running interference.
We talked with a nuclear engineer about just that question this afternoon...
"Apple picking" (Not the kind in an orchard.)
State attorney general Eric Schneiderman announced today an effort to crack down on mobile phone theft -- by leaning on the manufacturers of the phones.
Citing the prevalence of mobile theft -- and the violence that sometimes occurs along with it -- Schneiderman said in a statement: "The companies that dominate this industry have a responsibility to their customers to fulfill their promises to ensure safety and security." The AG has sent letters to heads of Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Samsung urging them to take up the issue.
How? A clip from the letter makes that more clear -- this is from the letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook:
In particular, I seek to understand why companies that can develop sophisticated handheld electronics, such as the products manufactured by Apple, cannot also create technology to render stolen devices inoperable and thereby eliminate the expanding black market on which they are sold. I would be especially concerned if device theft accrues to your company's financial benefit through increased sales of replacement devices. A recent study found that lost and stolen cell phones cost consumers over $30 billion last year.
Here's more about that analysis Schneiderman references. The "mobile security" firm behind has also conveniently agreed to "advise [Schneiderman's] office on a pro bono basis on these issues."
Coincidentally or not, Schneiderman's announcement follows a NYT story early this month that looked at the same set of issues. The article focused on making it harder for a phone to be wiped and re-used after it was reported stolen.
Mobile phone and tablet theft is apparently a big problem in New York City. Last December Michael Bloomberg blamed an increase in the city's crime index on thefts of iPhones and iPads. And the NYPD has reportedly started an Apple-product-theft task force, as well as a public campaign to register new devices -- an "Anti-Apple Picking Campaign." [NYDN] [NYT] [NY Post] [Gothamist]
State legislation: $10,000
For the second time this week, federal prosecutors announced bribery and corruption charges against a state legislator. This time it was state Assemblyman Eric Stevenson, a Democrat from the Bronx. From US Attorney Preet Bharara's statement:
As alleged, Assemblyman Eric Stevenson was bribed to enact a statutory moratorium to give his co-defendants a local monopoly - a fairly neat trick that offends core principles of both democracy and capitalism, simultaneously, and it is exactly what the defendants managed to do. The allegations illustrate the corruption of an elected representative's core function - a legislator selling legislation.
OK, so how much do you think local monopoly-creating state legislation goes for these days? Here's some help: One of the businessmen allegedly involved in this scheme said the moratorium on the opening of new adult day care centers would cause the value of their own day care centers to "skyrocket." That's gotta be worth a lot. So Stevenson must have really raked in some serious coin for this alleged deal, especially when you consider the risks, right?
The alleged bribe: $10,000.
Yep, that's all it allegedly cost to buy a piece of state legislation that would effectively block competition for what is probably a multi-million dollar business. Just 10 grand. That's not even enough to buy a new sub-compact car.
Which leads us to wonder: Why haven't we been buying state legislation all along?! Who knew it was so cheap?! It's practically a steal! Do you get a discount if you buy in bulk? If we order it via Amazon Prime, can we have it delivered the next day (in session only)?
The fact that there is corruption in state government is already frustrating, irksome, and sad -- it's even more so when we find we're all being sold out at such a discount.
A spot in the mayoral primary
Earlier this week, state Senator Malcolm Smith, a Democrat, was charged with being part of scheme to bribe three Republican city officials to let him on their party's primary ballot for mayor of New York City. The alleged price (bribe) for that: about $100,000 paid by an intermediary -- and help getting $500k from the state for a road project.
Post-St. Patrick's Day parade fight in West Capitol Park
Albany police say they arrested two people following a fight near Washington Ave and Swan Street Saturday after the St. Patrick's Day parade. APD says it believes it's the same fight in the video that surfaced online this weekend of a brawl on the steps of West Capitol Park. Based on a rough guess from the video, it appears the fight included maybe 10-20 people with a bunch of onlookers. The video is embedded above. (Turn the sound down -- it's super annoying. Also, the camera guy probably isn't saying turnip.)
From the APD press release:
As officers were dispersing the crowd, Clint Junco, 18, Delmar, did lunge at and strike an on-duty police officer in the face with a closed fist. Junco was arrested and charged with Disorderly Conduct, Resisting Arrest, and Assaulting an Officer.
Additionally, officers arrested Najee Bennett, 17, Bethlehem, for Disorderly Conduct for engaging in tumultuous behavior.
The fight occurred after the parade had concluded and the crowd was quickly dispersed.
Full press release post jump.
Of course, this kind of thing is on everyone's radar because of the kegs 'n eggs free-for-all a few years ago. This doesn't appear to rise to that level. At all. It's not even the entirely-new-cast-except-one-minor-character, low-budget, direct-to-video sequel to kegs 'n eggs.
But -- and not to make too much out of this -- it is notable that the two people arrested for allegedly being part of this incident are both not from the city. If you talk with residents of areas such as the Lark Street/Washington Park neighborhood following a large event, you'll often hear them lament the rather jerkish behavior of people attending the parade/festival/whatever -- many of whom then head back home somewhere else, either out of the neighborhood or out of the city.
By the way: Here are a few videos from the parade itself.
Bad pancakes
The Troy Police Department says it executed search warrants at two sites Tuesday night as part of an investigation into what it describes as "a major drug production and distribution operation."
Among the items the TPD says it found at an apartment on 16th Street: "pancakes" of crack (photo above). From the press release:
Also subject to the execution of a search warrant was the basement apartment at 2209 16th Street. Troy Police ERT was deployed to insure safe entry based upon concerns of possible weapons present. After the location was secured, Investigators located a large cache of US currency ($9300), approximately 100 grams of marihuana and a copious amount of crack cocaine, in both bulk form and packaged for sale. Within the apartment were scales, cutting agents, "cooking" utensils and drug packaging materials. Of note was the discovery of one and one-half pounds of crack cocaine in pancake form; the drug was in its bulk state, not yet cut or packaged. Live ammunition was also discovered within the apartment.
That is a lot of crack. Troy police captain John Cooney tells us the pancakes would be worth $30,000 broken up for sale. TPD says the apartment resident wasn't home at the time, and there's been no arrest, yet. (Full press release post jump.)
Cocaine trend
Crack devastated many communities during the 80s and 90s. And obviously it's still a problem.
But recently there's been not-as-bad news: cocaine use appears to be declining. The number of people who reported using cocaine in the past month declined from 2.4 million in 2006 to 1.4 million in 2011 (the most recent year available), according to the federal National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The number of people who reported using cocaine for the first time was 1 million in 2002 -- in 2011, it was 670,000. And the difference in first-time users was even more stark for crack: 337,000 vs. 76,000.
Cocaine still ranked #1 among illicit drugs for emergency department visits for misuse or abuse of drugs in 2011, according to data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network compiled by the feds. (By the way: the number of such visits for pharmaceuticals -- that is, prescription drugs -- topped those of all illicit drugs in 2011, with 458.3 visits per 100k population vs. 402 for illicit drugs. The rate of visits for pharmaceuticals was up 114 percent between 2004 and 2011.)
One guess why cocaine use is down (and prescription drug abuse is up): the economy. [Time]
State Police identify man they'd like to question following trooper stabbing at Empire State Plaza
State Police have released a name and photos of a person they'd like to question following the stabbing of a state trooper Sunday afternoon at the Empire State Plaza. From the press release:
State Police and Albany Police officials are currently searching for Eric L. Green, 18, date of birth February 7, 1995, for questioning in conjunction with the assault and stabbing which occurred on March 3, 2013 on the concourse of the Empire State Plaza on Trooper Rodney L. Smith.
Green's current address is unknown but he does have ties to the Grand Street area in the City of Albany. Officials are asking anyone who might have seen him or know of his whereabouts to contact 518-474-5330 with any information.
Full press release post jump.
State Police say Smith was stabbed in the neck with steak knife around 3:15 pm. NYSP says the attacker had struck up a conversation with Smith, and while Smith was looking at the man's ID, the man stabbed him. Smith was taken to Albany Med and is expected to recover.
The incident prompted an intensive search in the area surrounding the ESP. And of this afternoon, NYSP say they haven't found the man. [TU]
photo via New York State Police
APD says hazing incident involved water, wooden paddles, rubber hoses
Not the typical broken-up house party: Albany police say they responded to a call for "a loud disturbance" early Friday morning in Pine Hills (map). The APD press release continues:
While investigating the incident, officers located a total of 14 individuals in the basement being subjected to what appeared to be an initiation for membership in an unsanctioned group or fraternity.
Officers observed several individuals lying face down on the basement floor with their faces submerged in water. They were being struck with wooden paddles and rubber hoses while being told to "beg for mercy" and having cold water from a garden hose poured on their heads.
APD says nine people in total were arrested on a variety of charges -- seven of them were charged with hazing in the second degree. APD spokesman Steven Smith says eight of the nine charged are UAlbany students.
Full press release post jump.
Here's an Albany Student Press article from 2009 about underground frats and hazing. [via @JonCampbellGAN]
Serving on a grand jury
One day a week here for eight weeks. It's better than being on trial.
Earlier this year I served on an Albany County grand jury. I had been dreading the experience -- one day a week for eight weeks was going to be a huge pain because of the work disruption. After it was over, though, I was glad to have served. In fact, I think everyone should serve on a jury at least once. It will make you see the world a bit differently.
You might have seen Kristi's post about serving on a grand jury. I can't say my experience was as dramatic -- no annoying fellow jurors, no exploding assistant district attorneys -- but it did leave an impression.
Here are a handful of things have stuck with me from the experience...
Keeping up with crime data
A screengrab of alerts from Albany police.
Last week during the discussion over the safety of downtown Albany's Pearl Street area we heard from the Albany Police Department that it's been working on new ways of keeping the public updated with advisories and crime info.
The APD is using an online system called Nixle, which offers law enforcement agencies the capability to issue notifications sorted by geographic zone to signed-up users. The department has been trying it out in the Pine Hills and Washington Park areas, and it says it's now ready to introduce it to other neighborhoods in the city.
Closing the "reassurance gap" in downtown Albany
Yesterday Jerry Jennings and a group of downtown Albany business people stood in Albany City Hall to reassure everyone that the Pearl Street area is on the edge of a major change that will turn the city's downtown into a 24/7 community.
You probably know the reason for this affirmation session: the comment from Ralph Spillenger -- the owner of the Bayou Cafe and the soon-to-be-closed Jillian's -- that his business had failed, in part, because people are afraid to go downtown because of crime.
So, who's right? This situation is complicated because so much of it depends on perception.
But there are ways to make it clearer.
When the world points toward being fearful, how do you teach your kids to be brave?
Sometimes it's a matter of knowing when to leap.
So, I'm watching the Olympics with my daughters. And we're talking about how strong the women on the screen are, how brave the 15-year-old girl is as she twists and turns at 35 miles per hour off the high diving platform and into the water.
"Mom, I want to do that. But she should be wearing a life-jacket. How can she swim without a life-jacket?"
"Well, she practiced and practiced. And she learned how to hold air in her lungs and use her hands and feet, just like you do when you're wearing your life-jacket."
"But that's far to jump. She shouldn't go by herself."
I want to throw caution to the wind and tell my 5-year-old little girl that someday she'll be able to go places by herself, too. That she'll be jumping without a life jacket, and that I will hold my breath until she comes back up from under the water. But, truth be told, I am grateful for being the mother of a cautious child some days. Apparently, it's a scary world out there.
There was recently a report of an attempted abduction just across the bridge in Scotia. A 10-year-old girl told her mother and police about an older man in a rusted, light-green, 4-door sedan who had tried to lure her into the car with candy.
But she made it up. The girl later admitted to Scotia police that she wanted to get attention from her parents. There is a new baby at her home.
There was about a week between that first report and the news that it was false. And despite the statistics that very few kids -- only about a hundred, out of tens of thousands of reports -- are taken in this sort of stereotypical situation, I had a day or two when my girls only played in the back yard.
These sorts of stories generate a lot of fear -- they're our worst nightmare. And we'd like to think that the world wasn't always like this, that there were times that qualify as 'back in the day' when things like creeps in light green sedans didn't threaten the way we look at the world. But this just doesn't hold up. There have always been creeps in rusted, light green 4 door sedans.
What's missing at the downtown office
Insecure.
The important thing is that nobody got hurt.
That's the important thing. Right?
No injuries, no fatalities and nothing was taken that can't be replaced.
Well, almost nothing.
One early morning about a week ago, while I allowed myself an extra hour to sleep off some jet lag, and my husband got ready for work, a neighbor knocked on our door. He'd noticed a teenage girl wearing ripped pants and a backpack slip out of our back alley.
Now there's only one way into the alley, and he didn't see her enter. He asked her some questions but he wasn't comfortable with the answers, so he knocked on a few doors to see if everything was alright.
It wasn't.
What to do about the guns
Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start to summer. It's when many of us first open our pools, go camping, or host a backyard BBQ. But with the warmer weather comes an increase in violence and crime, and many of us are concerned with the number of shootings we have already seen this spring.
This past Tuesday night in Troy a 15-year-old girl was shot in the leg while waiting for a bus. It was 7:40pm. 7:40pm! On River Street!
I am angry.
Another Lark Street shop owner busted for drugs -- at the same address
Another drug bust at Lark News
Albany police say the owner and an employee of Lark News and Grocery Saturday evening for drug possession. The APD says officer Michael Geraci -- the beat officer for the Lark Street area -- stopped into the store and saw the owner -- Zahid Gilani -- "sitting with several bags of marijuana and a scale at the stores counter." A store employee was also allegedly found with crystal meth, according to the APD.
This is the second drugs-related arrest/incident at 252 Lark Street (Lark and Hudson, streetview) in the last month. A man police say is the owner of Jay's Place, upstairs, was arrested (again by officer Geraci) for alleged cocaine and heroin possession at the end of March (note this comment by Mk).
APD spokesman Steven Smith says Gilani owns the whole building, but it's currently unknown if the two situations are connected.
Full press release after the jump.
Arrest in Albany Med mercury case
Albany police say they've arrested the suspect in the Albany Med cafeteria mercury case -- and he's from Ulster County. They say Martin Kimber (right) is a 59-year-old retired (but still licensed) pharmacist from Ruby, New York.
The APD says it got a tip from someone who recognized Kimber's face from the security cam screengrabs shown on the news (the hospital posted a $25,000 reward for info directly leading to an arrest this week). It says detectives searched Kimber's residence in Ulster County and found "evidence linking him to the incident."
Still not clear: why someone would spread mercury around a hospital cafeteria. Or drive 50 miles to do it.
Full release after the jump.
AG: large drug network centered in Albany busted
The state Attorney General's office announced today that a team of law enforcement agencies busted 52 people allegedly involved in a drug operation that's centered in Albany's South End neighborhood and associated with the notorious Albany gang Original Gangsta Killas (OGK).
"This investigation has shut down a major network of gang members responsible for the sale of illegal drugs and possession of dangerous weapons in our neighborhoods," said AG Eric Schneiderman in a statement. The AG's office says the operation was trafficking "massive quantities" of cocaine, heroin, and prescription painkillers.
The AG's office says the investigation helped, at least temporarily, short circuit the cycle of violent retaliation between the city's gangs:
Richard Gibbs (aka "50 Cent"), was one of the main subjects of this investigation. Back in February, he was murdered in the South End of Albany by a rival gang. Following that incident, [Organized Crime Task Force] investigators were informed about additional retaliation over authorized wiretaps. This allowed investigators to intercept the gun that was intended to be used in the retaliation attempt. The increasing violence on the streets made it necessary for OCTF to move quickly on this case before there was any more bloodshed. [That link is to a TU story about the shooting. Contrary to the AG's press release, Gibbs was killed this past November. The APD press release about the November shooting is after the jump.]
$25k reward in Albany Med mercury case
Originally tagged as a "person of interest," the APD said today this man is now a suspect.
Albany Med announced today that it's put up a $25,000 reward for info leading directly to arrest and conviction of the person responsible for spreading mercury around the medical center's cafeteria on March 2. Albany police have released surveillance video screengrabs of the man they say is a suspect (above, and after the jump).
The images are from 4:19 and 4:23 pm on March 2.
The APD is asking people with info to call its criminal investigations unit: 462-8039.
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?