NIAGARA FALLS

Letting the ladies do the dirty work

A 23-year-old South Avenue woman told police Saturday that her ex-boyfriend and two women entered her home, assaulted her and took her laptop computer.

The woman said Mario G. Woods, 22, 189 Stevens Ave., told her he was coming over to pick up a few of his items and arrived about 4:15 p.m. with two women. As Woods pushed past the victim and went through the home, the victim said the two women attacked her, punching her and scratching her face, as well as injuring her leg.

Woods eventually finished looking through the home and handed one of the women the victim’s laptop. He also had the victim’s cell phone which he returned to her after shoving her to the ground and leaving, the report said.

Police found Woods and one of the women, Keiana J. McClain, 1109 South Ave., on the 2200 block of Niagara Avenue. Officers said charges of petit larceny, third-degree assault and first-degree criminal possession of stolen property would be leveled.



Phone “kidnapping” case closed

Officers assisting a man on Hyde Park Boulevard this weekend were told the man’s wife’s cell phone and keys had been taken and were being held for ransom. The man said when he called his wife’s cell phone a man answered and said he wanted $100 or he’d smash the cell phone.

The suspect told the man to meet him at 19th Street and Walnut with the $100.

The man — with police officers waiting in the wings — met up with the man, who was taken into custody by police. The suspect was carrying a bag containing three cell phones, a lighter and a set of keys.

Further information was unavailable Sunday.



Niagara Falls

• ASSAULT: A 38-year-old 27th Street man told police he was in his garage with two other men and his 3-year-old child about 7 p.m. Saturday when two men he knew as “Marlowe” and “Boo” came in and attacked him. The victim said he was punched in the face and the two men attacked him in close proximity to his child. A witness grabbed the child and left the garage, the report said. Eventually, the fight spilled out of the garage at which point the victim said Marlowe J. Smith, 28, 434 23rd St., Apt. 2, pulled out a knife and held it to his face. The two men then left but were found a short time later by police. Smith and Timothy L. Paonessa, 21, 434 23rd St., now face charges of third-degree burglary, endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree assault.

• ASSAULT: Edward A. Cusatis, 47, 19th Street, was charged with third-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal mischief about 9:15 p.m. Saturday. He was charged after police responded to an assault on 19th Street. A woman told officers Cusatis had hit her in the head with an ashtray and was hiding in a back room. He was taken into custody.

• ASSAULT: A 29-year-old city man told police he was attacked by a group of 10 men about 2:50 a.m. Sunday while walking home from a bar on the 200 block of Rainbow Boulevard. The man said the men gathered in front of him and one of them asked, “Do you think you’re tough?” The man said he just wanted to go home but was instead punched and kicked by the men. He said the group scattered after attacking him and some of the men piled into a minivan in a nearby parking lot and drove off.

• ASSAULT: A 19-year-old city man told police he was attacked by a man and punched in the face while at a Halloween party on Armory Place Saturday night. The victim said he had briefly talked to the man’s girlfriend before he was “blindsided” by the boyfriend. The suspect had been thrown out of the party by the time police arrived.

• THEFT: A 36-year-old 20th Street resident told police they had been living away from home because the landlord had turned off the water. On Sunday, the woman told police she went to her home to pick up a few things and found the front door wide open. Inside, a 50-inch TV, home theater system, computer mainframe, a safe from a bedroom and a love seat were gone. The estimated loss is $989. The resident said the home had been burglarized the day before too. Officers said entry was made through a broken window covered with wood.

• THEFT: A 36-year-old 67th Street woman told police a 19-year-old man she knows came by her house looking for her daughter about 9:30 p.m. Friday. The daughter wasn’t there but the man asked if he could borrow any money. The woman said she took $5 from an envelope containing $608 and handed it to the man. As the woman stepped away from the envelope, the man grabbed it and ran off.

• THEFT: Staff at the duty free store at the Rainbow Bridge reported that two men came into the store about 1:30 p.m. Saturday and as one of them distracted staff the other took a $22 bottle of Crown Royal. The pair then left the store.

• THEFT: A 15th Street resident told police that sometime Saturday night someone entered his apartment and took a 31-inch Vizio TV and a Playstation3 game system and game. The estimated loss is $765. The resident told police he wasn’t sure if the door had been locked. There were no signs of forced entry, the report said.

• INCIDENT: A 31-year-old Ferry Avenue man told police he pulled out his driveway about 11 a.m. Sunday and attempted to drive down the road but a silver minivan was blocking traffic at 17th Street and Ferry. The victim said he honked his horn and the driver of the minivan pulled up a bit but not enough that he could get by. The victim honked a second time and man got out of the minivan and hit his car with a club causing about $200 damage. The suspect then got in his minivan and drove off as the victim was calling police.