Latest news with #Umbrino
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Woman charged in deadly head-on crash in Rochester
A Rochester woman accused of driving drunk and causing a fatal crash on Clifford Avenue in April was arraigned Wednesday morning in Monroe County Court. Tashara Willis, 34, was driving west on Clifford Avenue early on April 4, when she drove into the eastbound lane and struck an oncoming car head-on, said Capt. Frank Umbrino of the Rochester Police Department. Otis Johnson, 58, of Rochester died as a result of the two-vehicle crash at Clifford Avenue and Sixth Street. He was alone in his vehicle. Both Johnson and Willis were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. Johnson died shortly after he arrived, according to police. Willis was hospitalized for several weeks. Johnson's death marked Rochester's 12th homicide of 2025, Umbrino said. Willis was charged with two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree manslaughter, both felonies, among other driving while intoxicated charges, Umbrino said. Just before the fatal crash, Willis is accused of leaving a bar and speeding in excess of 80 mph alongside another car on Clifford Avenue, Umbrino said. She is accused of driving under the influence of both alcohol and drugs, with a revoked driver's license due to two previous felony DWI convictions. On the night of the crash, police also alleged that Willis had more than 20 bags of cocaine in her possession, Umbrino said. Willis surrendered with her lawyer Wednesday morning and was arraigned in Monroe County Court, where the indictment was unsealed. She was granted a non-monetary release due to her extensive medical condition, and is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 5, according to Rochester police. This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Tashara Willis charged in deadly head-on crash in Rochester NY
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Yahoo
‘We're going backward:' Rochester police link social media to violent crime trends
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) – The Rochester Police Department's Major Crimes Unit is sharing more information about the role social media is playing in connection to violent crime across the city. RPD Captain Frank Umbrino spoke with News 8's Natalie Kucko for a broader conversation on the trends the department is seeing in their investigations today compared to previous years. 'I think social media is the cause of many of our investigations today,' said Capt. Umbrino. So far in 2025, the city of Rochester has recorded seven homicides. Four of those cases are now closed, according to the Rochester Police Department's Open Data Portal. While overall violent crime is trending down in recent years, Capt. Umbrino says the influence of social media in connection to specifically shootings and stolen property crimes is not improving. 'We're going backwards and we're destroying an entire generation of children. Your 14-year-old of today is not like your 14-year-old of 15 to 20 years ago. I'll go back to what I have said about as recently as a few weeks ago – the parents up here in tears are begging for help and because of the reforms put into place over the last couple of years, we can't provide them with the help they need and it's frustrating,' he said. As social media, in my cases, has become the foundation of the Major Crimes Unit's work, Capt. Umbrino says suspects are utilizing features like location sharing where feuds can escalate. 'We have young people out there that are sharing their locations and looking for a gun fight. They're sharing it with people they're feuding with and saying, 'We're here. Come and get us.' That's a cause for a lot of the gun fights we might have. Something needs to happen. Anyone can get on social media and see fights all the time. Do the kids need to be seeing that? No,' said Capt. Umbrino. Umbrino adds the only immediate change he's seeing city-wide is the growing frustration among community members. 'There needs to be ramifications for actions. When you have kids who are stealing cars for example, and they get caught doing it and absolutely nothing happens to them, they're going to go out and do it again because it's fun. It's fun for them to drive around at 100 miles per hour because they think they're playing a video game. They don't understand the ramifications their actions may have, potentially for the rest of their lives. Or, God forbid, the rest of somebody else's life because they've killed them, which we have seen here in our community,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
