BLOTTER: Police reports published Nov. 1

Staff Reports

Traffic blocked after poles come down

Several city streets were closed to traffic Saturday morning after strong winds caused numerous power poles to be knocked down.

Police responded to reports at 1:45 a.m. of power lines in the street near Packard Road and Niagara Falls Boulevard. Barricades were later put up to block traffic at 39th Street at Ferry Avenue and Packard Road, Packard at Niagara Falls Boulevard and Royal Avenue at 39th and 47th streets.

A technician on the scene for National Grid said strong winds knocked down a high tension metal power tower, causing a domino effect that knocked down six other towers along Packard Road and six along Royal Avenue.

Damage was unknown Saturday morning.

Niagara Falls

• FIRE: Investigators are looking into a fire early Saturday that destroyed a vacant building at 441 1/2 Sixth St. Firefighters witnessed flames shooting out of the structure upon arriving on scene at 2:17 a.m. Trucks 1 and 2, Engines 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9 and Rescue 1, along with three police cars responded. Traffic was restricted at Sixth Street and Ferry Avenue while firefighters battled the blaze. The cause was still unknown as of Saturday afternoon and damage was not listed. The property is owned by a Limited Liability Company out of New York City.

• ARREST: Nicholas A. Ricotta, 18, 798 Van Rensselaer Ave., was charged with third-degree assault at 3:35 a.m. Saturday. Police responded to Colosso Taco, 2440 Pine Ave., for a report of a fight. Upon arrival, the victim told officers he was attacked while inside the business by a man wearing a doctor’s costume and was repeatedly punched and kicked. Ricotta was found by police trying to leave the scene and was identified by the victim.

• ARREST: Yvonne M. Carr, 42, 1305 15th St., was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, obstruction of governmental administration and disorderly conduct at 5:43 a.m. Saturday. Police were responding to a domestic call and found Carr running in the street screaming obscenities and chasing a white car. While placing her under arrest for disorderly conduct, officers noticed a bulge in her sweatshirt pocket. Carr told them “it’s my (expletive) weed.” Police found 20.3 grams of marijuana on her. During the booking process, Carr kicked off one of her shoes and it hit a police officer which resulted in the obstruction charge.

• BURGLARY: A Buffalo Avenue man reported someone broke into his apartment between 3 and 7:30 a.m. Saturday by breaking a side window and stole $2,670 worth of property, including a 55-inch television, an X-Box 360 and a Dell Computer. The man told police it was the second time in the past few weeks his home has been burglarized.

• ARREST: Paul L. Barnes, 38, 5720 Stephenson Ave., was charged with reckless driving at 10:05 p.m. Friday after being pulled over near Walnut Avenue and Hyde Park Boulevard for driving the wrong way down the street. Police said Barnes also was not wearing a seat belt.

• ROBBERY: A man reported to police he was robbed of his MP3 Player and a pack of cigarettes by two unknown men after following them into a yard near the 300 block of Rainbow Boulevard. The victim said he was walking home from the library when the two men approached him and started asking him questions about his MP3 Player. He claims he then followed them into a nearby yard and one of the suspects hit him in the back with a wooden stick. The suspects then took the MP3 Player and a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

• BURGLARY: A 94th Street man reported someone broke into his home between 1:45 to 2:20 a.m. Saturday by kicking in the side door and stole a 42-inch television and a 12-inch subwoofer. Estimated loss was $1,675.