COOPERSTOWN – A pair of Otsego County men were sentenced Monday, May 10, for their roles in a series of robberies, attempted robberies and an assault that took place during a one-day crime spree April 24, 2020, in and around the city and town of Oneonta.
Brian Ruple, 42, of Otego, received a sentence of seven years in state prison for a second degree assault with a knife that he committed during one of the robberies, at the Kwik-Fill convenience store at 65 Chestnut St. in Oneonta, where he stabbed a clerk in the hand. Ruple will then serve between two-and-a-half to five years for robbery in the third degree.
Otsego County Judge John Lambert said he was sentencing Ruple as a second-time felony offender because Ruple was convicted in Oneida County in 2013 of a class D felony of possession of a dangerous controlled substance.
Ruple’s accomplice, driver Derrick Gray, 42, of Laurens, received a sentence of between two-and-a-half to five years for robbery in the third degree.
State Police released this surveillance photo of a man wanted for questioning in a series of gas station robberies in Oneonta and Otego early this morning.
ONEONTA – Four gas-station robberies were reported between 1:20 a.m. and 6:20 a.m. today in the city and town of Oneonta, and in Otego, city police and state troopers report.
In one case, the clerk was stabbed in the hand; in at least two of the other cases, the suspect said he was armed, but didn’t show a weapon, police said.
According to a release from the Oneonta Police Department, the spree began at 1:20 a.m., when officers were called to the Kwik Fill convenience store, 66 Chestnut St., for a reported attempted robbery.
“The clerk told us the man purchased a snack, and when the register was open, he tried to grab the money,” said Oneonta Police Chief Doug Brenner.
ONEONTA – Three men who allegedly grabbed an Oneonta woman off the street and threw her into a van before demanding money were indicted on felony charges of kidnapping and robbery in Otsego County court yesterday, according to District Attorney John Muehl.
Erankie Liberata-Garcie, 24, Erick Tavares, 33 and James Semidey, 26, all of the Bronx, were arrested in May after Oneonta Police received a report from neighbors on Watkins Avenue that claim they saw two men grab a woman off the street and thrown into a white cargo van.
Teddy FaisonBrian deVaughn Scott J.Nelson Navar Jr.
ONEONTA – Three men were arrested and returned to Oneonta to be charged in a burglary at a house on Washington Street in April, according to Oneonta Police.
Teddy Faison, 34, Oneonta, was arrested in July by the Village of Monticello Police Department, while Brian deVaughn Scott Jr., 19 and Nelson Navar Jr., 19, both of Utica, were arrested in Utica and were arraigned in Oneonta City Court last week.
ONEONTA – Two Oneonta teens were arrested following an investigation into an armed robbery of a SUNY Oneonta student this past December.
Kobe Kimble, 17 and Gabriel Perez, 17, were arrested by Oneonta Police in connection to the knifepoint robbery of a SUNY student from Brookhaven on Dec. 2, 2016. Police alleged that the suspects, during the commission of the robbery, knocked the victim to the ground, displayed a knife and forced the victim to turn over property. According to police, the suspects may have been accompanied by up to four or five additional juvenile males.
UNADILLA – A Unadilla man was arrested after an elderly woman reported he broke into her house, shoved her and stole her perscription medication, sheriff’s deputies report.
Robert Colvin, 32, was arrested and charged after the victim told a family member that earlier that day, she home alone when she heard loud banging on her door, the report said.
ONEONTA – A Delancey man was arrested today, charged with driving a stolen car into the Oneonta’s Taylor’s Mini-Mart, Main Street, in an apparent attempt to rob the store.
Police alleged he’d done the same earlier in the evening in the Delhi area.
Wade D. Armstrong, 19, was arrested by Oneonta City Police early this morning after police located a red Subaru reported to be involved in a hit and run.
COOPERSTOWN – Police are warning Cooperstown residents to lock their doors after a man walked into a Nelson Avenue home and stole a purse.
Around 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon, a man in drove up to a home on Nelson Avenue in a green Dodge Caravan and walked into the house while the residents were upstairs. He allegedly stole a purse off a table, and the children saw him as he was exiting the home.
ONEONTA – An Otego man charged with attempting to rob Rite Aid was also charged with robbing Walgreens last night, Oneonta police report.
Charles M. Howe, 26, Otego, was arrested after police alleged he entered the Rite Aid at 94 Chestnut St. early this morning, made a purchase and attempted to grab cash out of the drawer.
He fought briefly with the cashier, then fled the scene. A store employee followed Mr. Howe as he exited the store advising responding officers of his direction of flight, police said.
ONEONTA – In the course of investigating last night’s burglary at 73 Center Street, the home’s occupant was arrested for possessing nearly 10 pounds of marijuana.
Alexander Coffran, 27, was arrested and charged with Criminal Possession after 9.6 lbs of marijuana, valued between $55-$60,000, was recovered from his home as police investigated a robbery from a distress call they received at 1:40 a.m.
In addition, $300 worth of concentrated cannabis and $2,377 in cash were secured.
The maxim sentence for a class D felony is seven years incarceration.
ONEONTA – Police are investigating a robbery that occurred early today at a home on Center Street in Oneonta.
Police responded to a distress call at 1:40 a.m. from 73 Center Street. Though there were no significant injuries to the residents, an investigation determined that a robbery had occurred.
The State Police are assisting the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call (607) 432-1113
ONEONTA – A woman, 36-year-old Corinne Simmons of Deposit, is under arrest, accused of robbing NBT Bank’s main local branch on Wall Street, Chief Dennis Nayor reported a few minutes ago.
Events leading to the arrest began at 12:15 p.m., when OPD officers and detectives responded to a report the bank had been robbed.
“It was learned that an unidentified subject demanded money and then left the bank on foot with approximately $1,500 cash,” the OPD press release said. “A threat of a gun was made, but no weapon was displayed and no persons were injured during the incident.”
The suspect was described as a white women, 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-6, and between 30 and 40 years old, of medium build and with shoulder-length hair.
After a canvas, police arrested Simmons at a Fonda Avenue location. She “was arrested and taken into custody without incident,” the report said. The money was recovered at the time of the arrest, and she was arraigned in Oneonta City Court.
Simmons has been charged with robbery, first degree, a Class B felony that could result in up to 25 years in prison; and larceny, fourth degree, that can bring up to four years.
City police were assisted by the state police’s BCI Major Crimes Unit and the Forensic Investigation Unit.
ONEONTA – City police are preparing a press release at this hour on a robbery at about noon today at NBT Bank’s main Otsego County branch on Wall Street. Details will be forthcoming.
HARTWICK – A Hartwick father, mother and son were brought back from Florida Wednesday to face charges in the armed robbery of the Pit Stop convenience store in Hartwick Seminary two days before Christmas.
The three, Timothy S. Lord, 45., Christine J. Lord, 43, and their son, Kaine W. Lord, 21, who allegedly fled New York State to Deltona, Fla., had been arrested in a pre-dawn raid May 8 conducted by a SWAT team of the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department.
They had been held in the Daytona County Correctional Facility as fugitives from justice. Back in Otsego County, they were arraigned Wednesday evening by Hartwick Town Justic Orrin D. Higgins and remanded to county jail on $100,000 bail. If convicted, the Lords face up to 25 years in jail.
