Latest news with #NorthTonawandaPoliceDepartment
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Man convicted in 2018 stabbing death of ex-girlfriend
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The man charged with the 2018 murder of a Rochester woman was convicted on Wednesday on murder charges. Nearly seven years after the death of his ex-girlfriend, Tracy Henton-Williams, Roger Lee Wiggins was found guilty by a Monroe County jury of second-degree murder. On June 11, 2018, officials reported to a scene on Buffalo Road for calls of a woman who had been stabbed and tumbled from a moving vehicle. The victim, identified as Henton-Williams, was helped by multiple passersby but succumbed to her injuries after being transported to Strong Memorial Hospital by ambulance. The investigation found that she was in the passenger seat of the vehicle driven by Wiggins when the stabbing occurred. While he was driving, Wiggins stabbed her in the neck and chest before she fell out of the moving vehicle and onto the side of the road as he drove away from the scene. On June 12, 2018, Wiggins was arrested at the Canadian border after the North Tonawanda Police Department alerted Gates Police that employees at the Buffalo Recycling Facility had found items belonging to Henton-Williams, as well as two knives and a shirt containing the DNA of both Wiggins and Henton-Williams. Surveillance video showed Wiggins discarding the items. Teen pleads guilty to stolen car crash that killed 14-year-old First Assistant District Attorney Perry Duckles commented on the guilty verdict and the efforts of all involved in the case. 'Tracy was a mother, a daughter, a sister, and an educator,' Duckles said, 'I must thank the Gates Police Department, the Canadian Border Patrol services, and the various agencies who assisted in this investigation, but I want to especially thank the Good Samaritans who assisted Tracy in her final moments and continued to cooperate with police.' 'This was a clear case of domestic violence and tragic loss,' Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley said of the murder, 'After what was a rollercoaster of emotions, I hope that the family of Tracy Henton-Williams feel justice in today's verdict.' Wiggins is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NT Police declined to investigate 2022 complaint over Facebook post
NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) — Following the controversy surrounding the North Tonawanda Police Department's investigation into the mysterious creator of a Facebook page that lampooned the mayor, the police chief said all complaints are handled 'with equal seriousness.' But that was not the case in June 2022 when a city engineer felt threatened by a Facebook post, which stated someone 'oughta drag the city engineer' down a new bike lane built off River Road. Emails obtained by News 4 Investigates through a Freedom of Information law request show the city engineer's husband emailed North Tonawanda Mayor Austin Tylec, Police Chief Keith Glass, and other individuals to report the incident. 'Is this something the elected officials and or police are prepared to follow up on or should I because this is completely unacceptable,' the city engineer's spouse said in the June 28, 2022 email. 'When you repeatedly let residents berate officials under incorrect or false premises, where does it end?' Glass declined to investigate the complaint. Instead, he urged him to inquire with Facebook to remove the post. 'If there was a specified, direct threat towards a person (such as 'I am going to find you and break your nose,') there may be cause for an investigation, though being an online post, even this would be tough to prove in court,' Glass wrote back. Glass's response to the 2022 complaint is strikingly different from how the police department handled the mayor's request to investigate a spoof Facebook page. The police promptly acted on Jan. 21 when Tylec wanted to know the identity of the individual responsible for creating the Facebook page impersonating him in order to shut it down. Tylec said he suspected that city resident Jacob Quinn, whom he referred to as an 'antagonist,' may have been the culprit. That resulted in two armed police officers questioning Quinn at his workplace. Quinn denied any involvement and accused the mayor of abuse of power. Glass told News 4 Investigates last month that police had no intention of arresting anyone. 'If we can figure out who is pretending to be him, he wanted us to talk to (Quinn) and see if we can get the page shut down,' Glass said. Glass said Thursday that the 2022 complaint 'differs greatly' from this past month's investigation at the behest of the mayor. Glass said the Facebook page was 'pretending to be a city official and, according to the Niagara County District Attorney's Office, had the potential to cross the threshold of free speech due to some of the content on the page.' 'Regardless, the page was removed, and any further investigation was unnecessary as the case was quickly closed,' Glass said. Tylec did not respond to a request for comment. The 2022 complaint Glass said Thursday the Facebook post aimed at the city engineer involved the repaving of River Road and the addition of a bike path, which 'upset many people.' 'Though a police report was never filed by anyone on the comment, the comment was quickly removed after it was posted,' Glass said. 'Unfortunately, as I explained to the engineer's spouse, public officials are subjected to several comments from angry residents on a regular basis, some of which may be perceived as threatening in nature, but do not satisfy the elements of a crime.' In response to the 2022 email, Glass told the spouse that 'saying that 'somebody should drag the engineer down the new bike lane' does not qualify as a direct threat.' Council president Frank DiBernardo, who declined to comment for this report, also responded to the 2022 email, telling the city engineer's spouse to contact Facebook to remove the post. 'We all have been called out on FB and had to address ourselves with appropriate enforcement and FB directly,' Dibernardo responded. The spouse wrote back that he was not seeking guidance on 'policing Facebook.' 'Judging by Frank's lone response it appears the stance here is that there is no interest at a city level in addressing threats against city officials,' he responded. But the mayor's complaint got an instant response from police. The mayor's 2025 complaint Tylec said the Facebook page that was the subject of his complaint had fabricated criminal cases, faked events, and posted misleading comments that 'appeared to be from me.' After failed attempts with Facebook to remove the page, Tylec said he filed a complaint with the police on Jan. 21. That same day, two police officers went to Quinn's workplace to question him, but he was not there. When Quinn returned, he said he called the police department to notify officers he was back at work. But he denied inviting them back. Quinn said he showed the officers his Facebook page to prove he had no involvement or administrative control over the spoof page. He also provided a few names of people he thought could be responsible. Tylec defended the police department, but at a recent council meeting he apologized to Quinn for officers questioning him at work. 'North Tonawanda Police Chief Keith Glass, with support from the Niagara County District Attorney's Office, confirmed that the investigation followed standard procedures and would have been handled the same way for any other complaint, regardless of the individual involved,' Tylec said in a Jan. 25 statement. Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman told News 4 that one of his assistant district attorneys instructed a police department representative it would not be improper to investigate whether a crime was committed, which Seaman deemed 'appropriate legal advice.' Specifically, Seaman said that under certain circumstances, damage to reputation can fall under criminal impersonation in the second degree. Legal analyst Barry Covert said it's not illegal for someone to create a parody social media page because, in most cases, it is constitutionally protected speech. 'Unless you cross over the line, unless you start calling for false police reports, causing people inconvenience, making them leave their houses or buildings falsely claiming on the website that there's a fire,' Covert said. A press release from the common council, which consists of Republicans, said the members were 'deeply alarmed by the allegations raised against' the mayor. 'We strongly condemn any actions that infringe upon citizens' constitutionally protected right to free speech,' the common council's statement said. 'Such behavior represents a serious violation of public trust.' The council called on city attorney Edward A. Zebulske to investigate, but the city charter does not afford him that authority. Three days after News 4 Investigates first reported the controversy, Tylec released a statement with the header, 'Response to False Allegations and Political Attacks.' 'While some residents identified the page as fraudulent, many others did not, leading to significant confusion and concern in the community,' Tylec said in a letter he posted on his mayoral Facebook page. 'This goes beyond the realm of free speech — it's a deliberate attempt to mislead the public and create chaos.' First Amendment attorney Joseph Finnerty said the page's satirical content 'expressly contradicts the mayor's assertion.' In addition, Finnerty said the page had a disclaimer that 'posts are from page admins & may or may not reflect views of Austin Tylec.' 'Point number two, even if you grant the Mayor his erroneous characterization solely for the sake of argument, it fails to meet the Constitutional test for censoring speech,' Finnerty said. News 4 Investigates shared the 2022 email chain with Quinn for his response. 'After learning about the email exchanges from Chief Glass and the city concerning this resident and their social media complaint, I am not shocked,' Quinn said. 'Like I said from the beginning, this was a politically motivated investigation with the goal to censor me.' At Tuesday's council meeting, Quinn asked members to adopt a resolution to require a 'thorough assessment of matters proposed by the mayor, ensuring that decisions are made in the best interest of our community.' Quinn told News 4 he retained legal counsel and will file a claim against the city. Dan Telvock is an award-winning investigative producer and reporter who has been part of the News 4 team since 2018. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former North Tonawanda police chief running for mayor
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The former North Tonawanda police chief is running for mayor. Tom Krantz, who spent over 30 years with the North Tonawanda Police Department, the last 21 months of which as chief, announced his candidacy on Wednesday. He joined the department in 1991 and worked his way up through the ranks before being promoted to chief in June 2020. He retired in March 2022 to give way to current chief Keith Glass. He said in his announcement that he is running on safe neighborhoods, clean streets, and creating development opportunities that can make the city an attraction to businesses and families, while keeping taxes down. 'No one side is always right, and no one side is always wrong. We cannot continue with this 'us vs. them' mentality,' Krantz said in a news release. 'I will prioritize collaboration and work to unite our city for the greater good.' Incumbent mayor Austin Tylec announced last week that he will run for re-election. He was first elected as mayor in 2021. Tylec has been under fire as of late for sending two police officers to a business in the city to question an employee about a fake Facebook account critical of the mayor. He later apologized. The general election is on Nov. 4. Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
