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General News: Local Concern About Suspect in Drug Case
November 16, 2009
Updated
Four of the suspects arrested in a major drug case in Orange county last Thursday are current and former residents of Cornwall and one of them, Paul Crawford, had been accused of criminal activity by his former neighbors on Cherry Hill Road, who brought their suspicions to the attention of town authorities in 2008.
Chief among Crawford’s accusers was Gerry Wagner, who told the town board that his life had been turned into a living hell by his loud neighbors who were coming and going at all hours. He also pushed the building inspector to enforce the code on the property, which had an open septic tank. Crawford eventually moved out of the rental house next to Wagner, who bought the property to avoid a similar situation in the future.
Wagner Says His Concerns Were Trivialized
With the arrest of Crawford, who was charged with three felonies related to marijuana trafficking, Wagner says he believes that the police did not take his allegations seriously and that he and his wife “were trivialized and our concerns discounted by town police.”
On Saturday, Wagner and his wife took their concerns about how their case was handled to Cornwall town supervisor Kevin Quigley and town councilman Al Mazzocca. After the meeting, supervisor Quigley said that he didn’t have an answer for Wagner about how the police handled his complaints because public officials are not kept informed about any police investigation of criminal activity.
State Investigation Targeted Smuggling Networks
He said he would have no way of knowing if Crawford had been the subject of the investigation, which state police superintendent Harry Corbitt said was aimed at fully investigating the drug smuggling networks that brought cocaine, prescription drugs and marijuana into Orange County as opposed to making a one-time seizure. Quigley said he would be discussing the matter with Cornwall police chief Todd Hazard, who is out-of-town on a three month FBI training program.
The arrest of Crawford was a painful reminder for Wagner of the anxiety and frustration he faced for months and he now feels that the revelations “show we were, (and may still be), in harms way and make me concerned for the safety of my family, our property and myself.”
Wagner Sought Tougher Laws for Dealing with Situation
During the course of trying to get the town to take action against his former neighbor, Wagner attempted to get the town council interested in adopting a so-called “good neighbor law.” When that fell flat, he pushed for a noise ordinance that is now in front of the town council.
At a public hearing last Monday, many people spoke against the noise ordinance and Wagner told them that without the new law, a new neighbor moving in can be life changing. “My campaign for a noise ordinance was for one simple emotion, “ Wagner told the 35 people at the hearing, “for no one in this town have to go through what I and my wife had to.”
Other Suspects From Cornwall & COH
The other three local men charged with drug trafficking in last week’s operation, which netted 44 suspects, were Dean Acevedo, of Cornwall-on-Hudson, and Richard Stantial and Donald Gordon of Cornwall. Village police chief Paul Weber says that when he was first appointed to his position in September that several residents had shared with him their suspicions about Acevedo, who several charges filed against him in the village for minor offenses. Weber says that officers began keeping an eye on the Homeland Avenue resident until he learned that Acevedo was being investigated for possible involvement in the drug trafficking ring. Weber adds that when Acevedo was picked up by state police last week he was in possession of three ounces of marijuana.
Eight of the suspects were from New Windsor and 22 were from the city or town of Newburgh.
Comments:
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You would think a drug dealer could come up with a little cash to keep his house up to code. Recession must have hit hard.
posted by B Holiday on 11/16/09 at 3:03 PM
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A nice "See, I told you so!", for Mr. Wagner's critics.
I hope the board sees fit to pass the ordinance with the modified effective times.
posted by J Klein on 11/16/09 at 3:26 PM
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Went through all 74 pics and was just glad I didn't recognize any of them. Now we'll get to pay about 100 grand a year housing these miscreants in jail. That's after we pay to try them though they will be offered pleas as that is the way the justice system operates.I really feel bad for Mr Wagner that he had to put up with those dirtbags and to protect himself ended up buying the property in question. Just not fair.
posted by P W on 11/17/09 at 8:27 PM
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