2010 Senator selected
The Class of 2010 has selected Sara Brown ’10 as its new representative to serve on the Senate. After Lin Yang ’10 transferred at the end of last semester, the class was left without a senator for the remainder of her term.
After sending out an e-mail to the Class of 2010 to solicit interest, the class council gained responses from Brown and Zack Petit ’10. The candidates were then called into the meeting individually with the council and were asked to give a short speech on their leadership experience and why they would be a good senator. The council discussed the options and elected via secret ballot.
Brown began her term this week at Tuesday’s Senate meeting.
Troy teens arrested
Two Troy teenagers were taken into custody early Tuesday morning for allegedly punching multiple Pine Hills residents in their faces and stealing their cell phones. Mark Cannon, 17, of Sixth Avenue, and Olajuwon Canty, 19, of Fifth Avenue, were charged with four counts of robbery and one count of harassment after the alleged mugging spree.
The first incident occurred around 2:20 am when the duo asked a 21-year-old man if they could use his cell phone near 174 Western Ave., according to police. The man refused, and the pair chased him down the street before throwing a beer can at him. The two men later approached a 23-year-old on the corner of Hudson Avenue and Ontario Street, punched him in the face, and stole his cell phone. Fifteen minutes later, they did the same to a 20-year-old man. The last incident occurred around 3:20 am, according to police, when the duo approached two 18-year-old men on Madison Avenue, allegedly assaulted both men, and took cash in addition to their cell phones.
Cannon and Canty were taken into custody after police pulled over a Dodge Charger described by witnesses as belonging to the robbers. The men jumped from the vehicle while driving down Ontario Street and were caught after a brief foot pursuit. They were arraigned in Albany City Court and sent to Albany County Jail without bail.
Cop wounded in melee
A friendly-fire incident that left a city detective wounded took place after a suspected marijuana grower was tied up with his own shoelaces by three camouflaged officers who went to an isolated location Thursday without handcuffs.
The investigators were surprised when Jeffrey Connery spotted movement inside an old shack on the property. They ordered suspect Kevin O’Reilly to come outside and tied his hands with his shoelaces when he did. O’Reilly, a parolee from Greene County, allegedly told investigators he wasn’t sure the three men were police officers and feared for his life.
Initially, one of the investigators was attacked by the suspect’s dog as the officers grappled with O’Reilly. The dog then attacked Connery—a trained SWAT officer and former forensics detective—and, in response, Carmen J. Frangella, a long-time narcotics investigator who was not armed, hastily used the third investigator’s gun to shoot the large dog as it bit Connery, shooting the officer in his right thumb.
O’Reilly is being held in Albany County jail without bail on multiple felony counts. O’Reilly has past convictions for marijuana possession, burglary, and possession of stolen property, authorities said. Investigators recovered 108 marijuana plants that Burke said have an estimated street value of $100,000. The wounded officer underwent surgery Monday for the injury to his right thumb.
