Bust in Berne Found pot leads to cop getting shot
Bust in Berne
Found pot leads to cop getting shot
BERNE If police hadnt come across Kevin OReilly last Thursday afternoon, they wouldnt have pursued him, they say.
No one would have known who had been growing pot and an Albany City cop would still have his thumb intact.
Last Thursday, two investigators from the sheriffs department and an Albany City Police officer went to clear a crop of 108 marijuana plants in Berne, said John Burke, head of the Albany County Sheriffs drug interdiction unit. Police had been there at least twice before, he said, and they had seen nobody; the property is at the end of a long muddy driveway in a labyrinth of gravel roads through a state wildlife management area.
"That’s what they do all the time, so it can’t come back to them," said Burke of growing marijuana on other people’s land. The property that O’Reilly was using, at 74 Beaver Road, belongs to an out-of-state owner.
"They’ll either grow it on state property or someone else’s property because, if they grew it on their own property, they could be charged and arrested," he said.
OReilly, 37, of 9374 Route 81 in Oak Hill, Greene County, was inside the only building on the Beaver Road land, a worn cabin with no water or electricity, when officers arrived at about 2:30 p.m.
"When he realized he was under arrest, he bolted about 10 or 15 feet," said Burke. "He was tackled by two of the officers, then his dog came out."
A roughly 100-pound, mixed-breed dog latched onto the arm of Albany City Police Officer Jeffrey Connery, said Police Chief James Tuffey. Within seconds, Carman Frangella, of the sheriffs department, took another officers 40-caliber handgun and shot twice at the dog, Burke said. One of the bullets passed through the dog and into Connerys right hand, according to officials.
Connery was flown to Westchester Medical Center to see a hand specialist following the accident, said Tuffey.
"We’re still waiting to see if the surgery takes and the circulation goes back into his thumb," Burke said on Tuesday.
Frangella, a 17-year veteran of the department, was doing most of the grunt work, removing the plants from the ground, Burke said. "If you’re chopping and you’re going through with two machetes, you really don’t want a gun on your hip side," he said of why Frangella wasn’t carrying his own gun.
The officers also werent expecting to meet anybody, Burke said. From the time police got a tip from the property owner about a year ago, nobody had been seen at the location, he said. It was for that reason, too, that the officers didnt bring plastic restraining cuffs with them; they ended up tying OReilly with his own shoelaces.
"You have to improvise in the field," said Burke, and they had to act quickly to keep O’Reilly from fleeing.
Albany County Sheriff James Campbell doesnt foresee any changes to the standard operating procedures for police following this incident.
"It was a justifiable shooting and a tragic ending," said Burke. "But it could have been worse."
Frangella is on leave for the week, Burke said, and hell be back next week.
The dog died from the wounds, officials said, and State Wildlife Pathologist Ward Stone was set to do an autopsy; Stone didnt return calls on Wednesday.
The animal wasn’t ordered to attack, Tuffey said, but, rather, "reacted."
Inside the cabin was anti-itch pet shampoo, kibbles, and a $1 coupon for dog treats.
Although police arent sure how long OReilly had been there, canned soups and Cup Noodles were stacked in a makeshift kitchen and a mattress with a crumpled-up comforter lay on the floor.
OReilly was charged with three felonies: Assault with intent to cause physical injury to an officer, third-degree burglary, and first-degree criminal possession of marijuana. He was also charged with two misdemeanors: resisting arrest and unlawfully growing cannabis. He is currently being held in Albany Countys jail without bail.
"He wasn’t given the opportunity for bail because he had a parole hold," said Heather Orth of the District Attorney’s office. If someone has been convicted of a felony and served time in state prison, he will often be on parole, explained Mark Harris, an assistant district attorney. If that person violates his parole, a parole hold will keep him in jail without bail, Harris said.
OReilly is on parole until 2008, said Burke; hes had eight to 10 previous arrests, three to four of which were drug related, Burke said.
"Not only was he on parole for it," Burke said of O’Reilly’s earlier drug charges. "But he had arrests previous to that for growing marijuana and possession of marijuana."
Because of the nature of his prior arrests, Burke thinks OReilly was probably acting alone, not as part of a larger scheme. Crops of this nature arent uncommon in the Hilltowns, he said; his unit usually clears two or three between the spring and fall every year and a couple of indoor growing operations during the winter.
For raids of outdoor crops on vacant land, like the one last Thursday, police often dont find the grower. For the 108 plants just cut, with an estimated value between $50,000 and $100,000, Burke said that police wouldnt have tracked down OReilly if he hadnt been there. Its considered a medium-sized crop, Burke said, and his unit was clearing it to keep the marijuana off the streets.
"We wouldn’t have time to do it," Burke said of tracking down O’Reilly. "Absolutely not."
