Published: January 12, 2009 08:02 pm      

BLOTTER: Police reports published Jan. 13

NIAGARA FALLS

Firefighters battle blaze at Red Baron

Falls firefighters say a blaze in a McKoon Avenue home, notorious for out-of-control university student parties, has left $30,000 in damage.

Fire officials said they respond to a call of a blaze at the “Red Baron,” 2846 McKoon Ave., around 10 p.m. Sunday and discovered a fire on the second floor of the three-story wood-frame structure.

“The fire started on the second floor and spread through the walls into the attic,” Falls Fire Chief William MacKay said.

The home had been condemned for occupancy in October 2008. City building inspectors found numerous code violations there after they were called to the home by police who had broken up a large party there.

MacKay said the home had recently been recertified for occupancy and new tenants had begun moving in on Sunday afternoon. The fire chief said the home is now, once again, uninhabitable.



Niagara Falls

• THEFT: Police are investigating an SUV break-in in the 300 block of Third Street. A 25-year-old man told officers that sometime between 4 p.m. Sunday and 12:45 p.m. Monday someone broke into his 2005 GMC Sierra by smashing a passenger-side window. The victim said a GPS system and a cell phone were taken.

Wilson

• DRUGS: Caleb John Staley, 18, 4937 East Lake Road, Burt, was charged Sunday evening with unlawful possession of marijuana. Deputies said they spotted a suspicious vehicle with its windows fogged up in the parking lot at the Wilson pier. Deputies knocked on the window, and when the windows were rolled down they could smell marijuana inside, the report said. Staley was in the car with three other teens, the report said. Staley had marijuana and three smoking bowls. He also possessed a prescription bottle full of Seroquel pills and another unidentified pill. More charges may be pending. Staley was released on an appearance ticket for Wilson Town Court.

Wheatfield

• VANDALISM: Deputies on patrol early Monday reportedly found an Air-Serv coin-operated air pump outside the Kwik Fill on Niagara Falls Boulevard had been pried open. The coin box inside the machine was missing, the report said. The manager of the Kwik Fill said the coin box had been emptied Friday, and it is unknown how many coins were in the box. The damage to the pump was estimated at $350.

Town of Lockport

• LARCENY: A Glendale Drive man reported Thursday that sometime since Nov. 17, someone stole a Gateway laptop computer, worth about $753, from the office area of the home.