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Arson
PRESS RELEASE
OCTOBER, 2009
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SHERIFF’S REWARD FUND FOR
INFORMATION THAT LEADS TO THE ARREST AND CONVICTION OF THE PERPETRATOR(S) OF SEVERAL FIRES AND ACTS OF VANDALISM COMMITTED IN
DELAWARE COUNTY FROM APRIL, 2009 - OCTOBER, 2009
A series of eight suspicious building fires (
many of which the causes were incendiary) and 4 incidents of
vandalism in isolated areas throughout Delaware County during the
last few months has resulted in the assignment of extra patrols to
try to locate the person or persons responsible for causing this
widespread havoc and destruction. Our task is made more difficult by
the size of the area which must be covered and the fact that the
arsonist(s) has targeted buildings in isolated areas and second
homes that stand vacant during much of the year. That all changed
last week when a church in Sidney Center burnt to the ground in a
residential area, putting nearby occupied homes at risk. Now efforts
to locate the arsonist(s) have become our top priority.
A Task Force, led by members of the Delaware
County Sheriff’s Office and Delaware County Department of Emergency
Services, and supported by the New York State Police and State
Office of Fire Prevention and Control, has been established to focus
on this investigation. They are actively following up leads on this
case. But they need your help.
Accordingly, Sheriff Mills has established a
Reward fund which will pay individuals for providing pertinent
information which lead(s) to the apprehension and conviction of the
person or persons responsible for setting the suspicious fires and
acts of vandalism from April through October, 2009 in Delaware
County. Reward funds are available now. The Sheriff’s Office has
committed the first $3,000.00 and is requesting contributions from
the private sector, i.e., businesses, associations, individuals,
etc. Guidelines concerning the distribution of reward funds will be
forthcoming. Although input regarding the relevance of tips will be
submitted to him by members of the Task Force, the final
determination of individual reward amounts will be made by the
Delaware County Sheriff.
The person(s) responsible for these acts poses a
significant threat to our collective safety and security. We are
soliciting your assistance and encouraging your donation to the
Reward Fund. Please make your donations payable to the Delaware
County Sheriff’s Office and mail them to:
Delaware County Sheriff’s Office
280 Phoebe Lane
Suite One
Delhi, NY 13753
Please consult the Sheriff’s web page, located at
http://www.co.delaware.ny.us/departments/shrf/shrf.htm for
further details. It will updated daily to include details concerning
this case as well as listing a posting of donations identifying the
donors, unless they wish to remain anonymous. If the reward money
allocated for this particular investigation is unspent, it will be
returned to the donors, unless specified otherwise.
Please share any leads you would like to submit
on this case with our Office. You may contact us using one of
the following methods.
telephone: 607-746-2336 or
1-888-914-9111
email:
shrf@co.delaware.ny.us
Arson Investigation closed by confession
PRESS RELEASE
OCTOBER 15, 2009
By now you have probably heard
or read that the county-wide arson investigation coordinated by the
Delaware County Sheriff’s Office and Delaware County Department of
Emergency Services, with assistance from members of the New York
State Police and New York State Office of Fire Prevention and
Control Arson Bureau , as well as the Delaware County Probation
Department, has been successfully concluded. Four county youths have
been arrested and charged with multiple charges relating to the
arson and vandalism spree wherein they wrought varying degrees of
wanton destruction throughout our county commencing in April; the
most noteworthy of which being the cowardly torching of the
venerable Methodist Church in Sidney Center.
In recent years we have
experienced a series of critical events that distinguish themselves
in the magnitude of their severity. We count among them, the
county-wide floods and homicides by the fugitive Bucky Philips in
2006, the shoot-out in Margaretville in 2007 and lethal Cat Hollow
Flood of 2008. In 2009, our challenge was finding the perpetrator(s)
of a series of fires and costly acts of vandalism spread throughout
southern
Delaware County. Unlike the
dramas unfolding in previous years, this time we were faced with
culprits who had time to plan their crimes, execute them in isolated
locations, and make a speedy escape to avoid detection. This time we
were faced with having to capture the enemy from within. Our own
homegrown terrorists; totally committed to racking up an impressive
resume of bad deeds and spiteful attacks against their neighbors.
During my lengthy career in
law enforcement one persistent question always astounds me: “Didn’t
they think they would be caught and have to pay the consequences?”
Cleaning up the physical, emotional and mental debris from the
damage these youth have unleashed will take years to accomplish.
Foremost among the ruins are the cherished hopes and dreams for
their future. A family’s self-respect, a grandparent’s pride,
severely damaged! And then there are the victims: the financial and
sentimental loss to the owners of the property damaged and the
financial burden borne by the insurance companies that insured them.
And lastly, we the taxpayers of Delaware County. We must absorb the
cost of the investigation, incarceration and trial. And if
convicted, we will pay for their board and keep for many, many years
to come. The ultimate price tag, if it could be accurately
calculated, is almost unfathomable. In these times of widespread
unemployment, plant closures and wars abroad, we could ill afford
this additional and senseless financial expenditure.
If I could achieve the leap of
space and time, I would reach from beyond this written page and urge
each of you to sit down and discuss this case with the young people
in your purview. Tell them that spending one’s life in prison is as
hateful to their well being as setting another’s property on fire.
There is nothing brave, cool or justifiable about it. Their behavior
was contemptible and mean spirited. And furthermore, it was just
plain stupid. With the advent of technological advancements in the
field of fire detection and the availability of modern law
enforcement tools, one’s chances of success at eluding detection are
very, very slim. Not to mention, good old fashioned investigative
techniques which include the expectation that upon occasion: “Loose
lips sink ships!”
Suffice it to say that out of
every bad deed, some goodness prevails. In this case, it was our
consolation that there are so very many more good, kind and decent
people in our mists. It is they who helped their neighbors, put out
the fires, and worked day and night until the villains were
captured. I want to extend to each and every one of you who rendered
our county in general and our Task Team in particular, assistance in
any form, my sincerest appreciation. Thank you for a job well done.
Were it not for you, the fires might still be burning and our
citizenry still be filled with the dread of more to come.
Delaware County Sheriff's Office
PRESS RELEASE
OCTOBER 27, 2009
On Tuesday morning Delaware County Sheriff's Deputies arrested 22
year old Donald J. “D.J.” Aitken and 17 year old Cody D. Fancher, of
East Meredith, and charged them with nineteen additional felony and
two misdemeanor charges relating to area arsons and vandalisms.
Aitken and Fancher have each been charged with the following:
One count each: Arson in the Second Degree, a class B violent
felony; Arson in the Third Degree, a class C felony; Burglary in the
Third Degree, a class D felony; and Reckless Endangerment in the
First Degree, a class D felony; all relating to the October 1st
arson fire at the Sidney Center United Methodist Church. Aitken and
Fancher are accused of forcibly entering the Church to commit the
crime of arson and of starting fires that damaged the occupied
Church Parsonage / Delaware County Social Services Foster Home and
the Church garage. Aitken and Fancher are additionally accused of
starting a fire that created a grave risk of death to the occupants
of the Delaware County Social Services Foster Home under
circumstances that evinced a depraved indifference to human life.
One count each of Arson in the Third Degree, a class C felony, and
Burglary in the Third Degree, a class D felony, in relation to the
April 16th arson fire at an unoccupied Chambers Hollow Road, Town of
Hamden farmhouse.
One count each of Arson in the Third Degree, a class C felony, and
Burglary in the Second Degree, a class C violent felony, in relation
to the June 19th arson fire at a State Highway 28, Town of Meredith
residence.
One count each of Arson in the Third Degree, a class C felony, and
Burglary in the Second Degree, a class C violent felony, in relation
to the September 11th arson fire at a Scotch Hill Road, Town of
Kortright residence.
One count each of Arson in the Third Degree, a class C felony, and
Burglary in the Second Degree, a class C violent felony, in relation
to the September 11th arson fire at an Elk Creek Road, Town of Delhi
residence.
One count of Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree, a class E
felony, in relation to the September 11th vandalism to a loader in
the Roses Brook Road, Town of Stamford, gravel pit owned by LaFever
Sand & Gravel.
One count each of Arson in the Third Degree, a class C felony, and
Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree, a class E felony, in relation
to the September 11th arson vehicle fire and vandalism in the County
Highway 18, Town of Stamford, Delaware Bulldozing gravel pit.
One count each of Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree, a class E
felony, and Attempted Arson in the Fifth Degree, a class B
misdemeanor, and in relation to the September 11th attempted arson
of a gravel screening plant and vandalism to a loader in the County
Highway 18, Town of Stamford, Clark Companies gravel pit.
One count each of Burglary in the Third Degree, a class D felony,
and Petit Larceny, a class A misdemeanor, in relation to the
September 30th burglary and the theft of gasoline from the Town of
Meredith Highway Department.
One count each of Arson in the Third Degree, a class C felony, and
Burglary in the Third Degree, a class D felony, in relation to the
October 1st arson fire at a Road Thirteen, Town of Sidney barn.
Aitken and Fancher were arraigned in the Town of Delhi Court and
were remanded to the Delaware County Correctional Facility to await
a Felony Hearing scheduled for 10:00 a.m., October 30th.
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