<"- SpOYliGitT NEWSPAPERS ;.:/.~~~ >' .f'" ,_' presents' . " ~ .' d~,~ ';:""; «:,.;, ;<,.:.;; i::5 <"''::' HOME IMPROVEMENT '~'::'~ ~,,,,,+ " ..tt February 27 I 1991 B'l'-Y(1 1.,,:/(!~.~/Cj'1 :~.:;t~1 l:E~T! (LE· H::!"! f'dfH Ie ! ! l~t\l:)r(y I, VoL XXXV, No. 10 • DLI 1"I •• h , 1 :?U:';4 , .. .-.1 The weekly newspaper I serving the' towns of I'ln Bethlehem and New Scotland Chief denies brutality charge By Mike Larabee . was "near conclusion" last week. Ringler department's police dog after Gauthier and two passengers reportedly fled on MJf~ff!!; said Currie would report to the town Bethlehem Po­ board "in the very near future" on the foot into a Coeymans wooded area. ·.~~iJ.~g#.~.·,·.;.}> lice Chief Paul '.:.'Jj;;.'; •..' ........ ;> .•....';J .•' ......• '.'....,.' .•....... ......•........•........ 2:1.< Currie and Town matter. Gauthier was charged witli two counts ,,,eau'ugenUa,: Supervisor Ken But Ringler said he has seen no evi­ of first degree attempted murder, two :',><:>'<-·:.-·"\~t<:,:;- ,:/: :,,::::·:t,,):::;;:,. __ ~ ,~:: __ i_ :':., :.--_:',::,::':::>{'.:::::.,~.:;;::....•. :':'.•... :':... :: dence of "wrongdoing" by the police. "The counts of third degree criminal posses­ Ringler each issued •..•.••...•..• > ............ : . formal statements facts presented to me at this point in time, sion of a weapon and one count ofinjuring ~y~e~~» last week in re­ regarding the recent dismissal in Albany a police dog. Unable to raise $500,000 in .::.~l1l(:t~yiII ~fl3etliJllhei!i.~.'~~••• sponse to allega- County Court have not diminished my bail, he had \:een held in Albany County ·.ltsfO~riialrevje",of;:;O\ltljgate§~e; a570,000 ~9uare footFe~sljopplng tions tge depart- Chief Currie confidence: he said. "There appears to Jail for 18 me-nths until he was released ment with held have been an error in certain paper work Feb. IS. •• centerJlr?p~for'Ri)u!il~·i\l records in the recently-ended attempted causing this dismissal, which is regret­ Greenberg said his office is investigat· ·•• ·Glenm?llt;."'~en·.Ill'~P?\leIlts.Qf.tIi¢) faCIlity ap~.befo~ethetown bOard' murder trial of a Massachusetts man. table, and 'have asked the police chief to ing the incident. He would not comment While Ringler issued a lengthy state­ investigate this matter and take appropri­ specifically or: Ricken's assertion that the :~~llesp.~/~to~~t)':.i:::i> ment affirming his "confidence" in the ate action." missing report, which was allegedly J;Arin~UncedinNoi>emb~r:plansfor department, Currie categorically denied signed and dated by LaChappelle, con­ tliecellte:illcliid~iiilleWht!Ci~efua. assertions of police brutality in the tained a "substantially different" account HOytsJ'hciJt~rs··compl~~i$h0l>'\l . department'sfirstcommentsinceCounty ,"There appears to have of the incidentthan others written both by ~e~~~m~~e~ard~~.~t.~~e, CourtJudge Thomas Keegan dismissed been an error in certain LaChappelle and Markel. But Greenberg :.:..Jne'pr())ect.",~s ... ~l!editled}tObe· all charges against 27-year-old James said in 17 years with the attorney general's ·presen~~;to .. tlj~i.boilr~;foU~Y1"g·. a Gauthier of North Adams. Keegan ended paper work causing this office he has come to expect that "there 7:30 for~~on ~ plan'toend tlietOWjJ's Gauthier's trial in its third day after his dismissal. " are reports made, and if a police officer I ,"table.scraps~ residehtl:ir,g3r~age attorney, Robert Ricken of Kingston, forgets something or decides to add collectl0Il ·'· s~rV1~~,~cc~rdlDgJ<ia broughtforward a copy of a police report Ken Ringler something, he'd putit into another report. ~Iltativ~~g!'l\lda rtlJ~s€d' b~ ~~~r:. not previously submitted into evidence. "There's ne-thingwrongwith that: he ~1S()r ~eII•.. ~1~so~I:ri1~'i . Ricken has since alleged Bethlehem said. Buthe added thatlheproblem in this' Soutljgate Square is pf<,nned fora police hid the report in an attempt to While neither Currie nor Ringlerwould instance was that his office never received .133;acre l>3!:c~lIm,!,ediatEilY'.'10rtli0f cover up an incidence of police brutality 'discuss the .nature of the department's a copy of the LaChappelle report. Benderl.$e on tl)e~stside~fR()ute and has initiated a state Supreme Court "procedural error: Albany County Attor· "A guy was arrested, he's been sitting .9Wi/fheproposalis.a.·:proiect·of,a .. civil suit against the police seeking more ney General Sol Greenberg said it involved in jail a long time. BaiLwas set high: said Guildedand~l>ased fir,icalledealled . than $1 million ill damages. a report that had been filed in a police K- Greenberg. "We've spent a lot of time and Cente~ ~oint D~elopmenf}nc;.;of 9 file and was not included with the money on this case, as you do with any which· .. SI!ngerland~ ·te~idel1t .. Gary "Charges in brutality are totally un­ department's formal records. true. A procedural error may have oc­ major case, and then all of a sudden you're . Martin ..1jnd Albanybusiljessmalj curred in report writing: Currie said. Gauthierwasarrested on Aug. 21,1989, into the trial and Wow! you're hit with this Ja,s~,n¥i~iSk ~ principal.f:..••• ·.·. '.: "Beyond this we have no further com­ after he allegedly lunged at Bethlehem bombshell." ··<fhe.t~!lIlcost·9f .ih¢i>r~jllCt~a$' officers Robert Markel and Wayne ment because of pending litigation." Gr~enberg said Gauthier's bail was put ;ilet;!l ~st!D,l~tedat$3QIllillio,n·'i;·i> LaChappelle with a hunting knife follow­ Currie said the department was in the at $500,000 because of his out-of·state .. '.' ::JnNoy¢m~er,Maftin~d1t~dld .• ing a high-speed chase that began in residency, the seriousness ofthe charges, process of conducting an internal investi­ Glenmont. LaChappelle, the Bethlehem's gation into the incident, which he said .0;\~i;:~';~1;i\·'f;};R~~~£~~~~~~:i K·9 handler, was brought in with the the SUIT/page 18 Planners lean toward Glenmont Plaza exit By Mike Larabee has changed: he said. "If we felt back The Bethlehem Planning Board ape then that this wasa'potentially dangerous pears close to "biting the bullet: as stretch of road, then I have a problem for Chairman Martin Barr put it, allowing whatever reason deciding that it is no newly-built Glenmont Plaza to open its longer a problem." .___-.,.-.. rrRoute 9Wentranceway_ Other board members, however, said they favor opening the 9W entrance, cit· . But member Gary Swan, dissenting ing the state Department of against a straw poll vote majority, said he Transportation's belief that the entrance would be "compelled to vote no" on any would be safe without it. motion to open the entrance without first seeing an independent analysis of its . "' don't share Gary's indictment of safety, DOT," said John LaForte. "They're not infallible, but 111 bet you dollars to donuts Speaking at the board's meeting on that they'll predict the occurrence of Tuesday, Feb_19, Swan referred to previ­ accidents better than any consultant." ous discussions in which, he said, "al­ most to a person" town offlcials and plaza Swan had said beforehand he "wished developers said a left turn lane should be he had more confidence in the judgment installed at Glenmont Plaza from the south of DOT," and proposf~ that the town on Route 9W The lane was deemed nec­ hire, atthe plaza's expense, an independ· essary to prevent accidents that might ent traffic consultant to study the en· occur iftraffic.were to back up on the two­ tranceway. lane state highway while motorists wait One reason the question was back on to turn into the plaza. Swan said. the board's agenda was. because First Widening Route 9W to allow the construction of a left turn lane into Glenmont Plaza would force Calvary Cemetery to move its fence close to "What strikes me now is that nothing EXIT/page 18 the above graves. Elaine McLain D Agenda (From Page 1) Martin said the proposed lay· In other business, the board will not relish the idea of "doing battle out of the center has not changed discuss lead agency coordination with the town: and said his fIrm since November. under state Environmental Qual· would not pursue the project iiit is The garbage forum stems from ity Review provisions for a Unocal not wanted. But Saturday he said a promise the board made when it truckstop proposed for Route 144 feedback he's gotten on the pro­ fIrst considered cutting the serv­ in Selkirk. posal thus far has been encourag· ice last November, at which time it ing. agreed to hold an informal hear­ Networks plans ing on the topic before making any fund-raiser "From what I have been able to final decision. gather from talkirig to residents in The Bethlehem Networks the town and homeowners asso­ Ringler has proposed eliminat· Project's dance and auction fund· ciations, there seems to be a fairly ing the service as part of a package raiser, "Bethlehem's Night on the strong willingness to look at the of cuts to cover $428,000 in funds Town: will be held March 22. project,' Martin said. "From what the town stands to lose if Gov. Mario Admission will be $5. I've gathered, there's a lot of resi· Cuomo's preliminary budget The Youth Network Group at dents that really would like to see passes. Endingthe 36-year-Qld food the Bethlehem Middle School is a Ilice shopping center builtthere.· and wet garbage collection, which , working on two puppet shows that Ringler has said he feels the the town estimates serves roughly will be presented at the Elemen­ project has many positive aspects, 2,000 households, would save tary schools. Astage and costumes but that he is concerned about its about $100,000, Ringler said.