Published: July 15, 2008 07:54 pm            

BLOTTER: Police reports published July 16

NORTH TONAWANDA

Neighbor called “hero” after fire

North Tonawanda firefighters credit the survival of a Ward Road man whose house caught fire early Tuesday morning to quick thinking by his neighbor.

David Dashnaw, who lives next door to the home at 280 Ward Road, made a dramatic rescue about 2:30 a.m., forcing his way into the home in order to wake the sleeping resident, David Hochulski, of 276 Ward Road.

A grease fire had already begun to consume the kitchen and the shriek of smoke alarms failed to roust Hochulski from sleep after he left a gas stove burner ignited early Tuesday morning.

NT Capt. David Schmidt estimated damage at about $5,000, including burned cabinets and drapes in the kitchen and smoke damage. Firefighters used fans to clear the smoke before leaving the scene.

“He had been cooking and fell asleep and was unaware there was a house fire. Myself and the crew were saying another 10 minutes and who knows what would have happened — he probably prevented a tragedy,” Schmidt said.



Niagara Falls

• THEFT: Police are looking for a pair of missing picnic tables. City workers told officers that sometime between 5 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. Monday someone removed the two tables from outside City Hall.

Ransomville

• FIGHT: Deputies responded to the Old Depot on Youngstown-Lockport Road for a report of a fight about 2:35 a.m. Sunday. By the time deputies arrived, the fight had broken up. A 31-year-old Lake Street, Wilson man was on the scene with a large laceration to his left arm. The man told deputies that during the fight, one of his friends fell on him and forced him to the ground, causing his injury. The man said he did not wish to pursue any charges and he was treated by fire crews.

• LARCENY: A New Road woman reported Sunday night that sometime during the day someone stole two or three pieces of a concrete fountain on her property worth about $200. The woman said someone also entered her open attached garage and stole beer, wine coolers, a cat bed and a box of Three Musketeers candy bars, together worth about $60.

Wheatfield

• LARCENY: The president of Fiddler Roofing on Niagara Falls Boulevard reported Tuesday morning that overnight someone stole a business truck from the parking lot. The truck is worth about $25,000. The suspects drove over a bundle of shingles and struck a stack of bricks as they were leaving with the truck. The truck also had an air compressor and a tool box in the bed, together worth about $1,900.

City of Lockport

• VANDALISM: Andrew C. Ventura, 19, 51 Lindhurst Drive, and Mark T. Buonanno, 19, 215 Continental Drive, were each charged Monday with trespass and third-degree criminal mischief. A Roosevelt Drive woman told police the shed behind her house was vandalized sometime during the night Friday. The case may be related to another case involving Ventura and Buonanno, the report said. Each was held without bail

• TRESPASS: Michael W. Maloney, 35, of Main Street, Barker, was charged Monday morning with trespass. Maloney was allegedly found in a backyard on Lock Street, though the property owner has reportedly told him he is not welcome there.

Town of Lockport

• DOG BITE: A Chestnut Drive man reported Monday afternoon that he was walking his dog by a neighbor’s house when his neighbor’s dog, a Jack Russell terrier, ran off the porch and bit his dog. The man said he tried to pull his dog away, and the neighbor’s dog bit him in the wrist. The man sought treatment at Lockport Memorial Hospital. Deputies spoke with the neighbor, who was reportedly heavily intoxicated and said it was the man’s dog who bit her dog.

• LARCENY: An employee at Opportunities Unlimited on Glendale Drive reported Tuesday that overnight, someone tried to pry open two locked filing cabinets inside the business. The cabinets contained medicine and petty cash, the report said. Damage was estimated at $150.

Pendleton

• HARASSMENT: An Oakwood Drive woman reported Tuesday morning that overnight, someone removed four sets of mailboxes and a Hunt Real Estate “For Sale” sign from other people’s property and placed it on her lawn. The woman said this is the third time this has happened.

Gasport

• BURGLARY: A Telegraph Road woman reported Monday night that sometime between 2 p.m. and 11 p.m., someone entered her home through the unlocked front door and stole a Compaq laptop, a Sony digital camera and 56 hydrocodone pills. The items are worth about $1,650, the report said.

• LARCENY: A West Avenue man reported Monday that overnight, someone entered his unlocked car and stole several methadone pills, various coins, two screwdrivers, two flashlights and a pair of wire strippers. The items are worth about $95, the report said.

        

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