Marc A. LitchkoThe State Police out of the Catskill barracks have released a detailed statement about the events that led to Wednesday's terrifying late-night standoff in downtown Windham. The release reports that six people, five men and one woman, were arrested and charged in connection with the incident, which ended peacefully.
The incident began when three men, 22-year-old Marc A. Litchko of Cairo, 18-year-old Jordan J. Smith of Acra, and 18-year-old Adolfo Lopez of East Durham, allegedly committed a home invasion in a house in Cairo at 5am on Wednesday morning, according to press release:
[T]wo masked perpetrators entered the residence, threatened the occupants with a firearm, bound the adult occupants, and fled the scene with numerous rifles, shotguns, and a safe.
Later that afternoon, several different police forces converged on an apartment above the Windham Hardware Store in downtown Windham, where they suspected the suspects were hiding, according to the press release. When the people in the apartment refused to talk to the cops, the situation escalated, the press release reports:
Jordan J. Smith
The occupants of the residence refused to exit the residence or talk with Police. The immediate area around the apartment was evacuated and traffic on State Route 23 was diverted from the area. State Police personnel, including the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) responded to the scene along with the New York State Parole, Town of Windham Police, The Greene County Sheriff’s Department, NYS Environmental Police and State Police Crisis Negotiators talked to the occupants of the residence.
The hostage negotiators were able to end the crisis without incident around 10:30pm:
After several hours of negotiation the occupants of the apartment, 3 males and 1 female exited the residence and surrendered without incident at approximately 10:30PM.
The press release states that Litchko, Smith, and Lopez were charged with "Burglary in the 1st Degree, a Class B Felony, Robbery in the 1st Degree, a Class B Felony, Criminal Use of a Firearm in the 1st Degree, a Class B Felony, Conspiracy in the 4th Degree, a Class E Felony, and 4 counts of Endangering the welfare of child, a Class A Misdemeanor."
Adolfo Lopez
The release states that three other people were also arrested on various charges: 22-year-old Jeffrey A. Field of Cairo, 19-year-old Dominic Leo of Windham, and 20-year-old Katlyn Post of Windham.
In a story in today's edition, the Daily Mail fills in a few more details, namely that there was a child in the Cairo residence during the burglary (which is why the alleged burglars are being charged with endangering the welfare of a child), and that the apartment in Windham was being rented by Katlyn Post.
But there are still some unanswered questions, the Daily Mail points out, like where, exactly, all those stolen rifles and shotguns ended up:
It is unknown if any of the cache of rifles and shotguns stolen from the Cairo residence found their way to Windham, but heavily armed law enforcement officials from several agencies, including a State Police Special Operations Response Team, shut down Main Street in Windham in preparation for the worst.
To see the full press release from the State Police, see below:
State Police at Catskill arrest seven local residents, following home invasion style burglary.
On Wednesday 11/17/2010, at approximately 5:00AM, the New York State Police in Catskill responded to a reported home invasion style burglary of a single family residence on Cherokee Lane, in the Town of Cairo, NY. During the burglary two masked perpetrators entered the residence, threatened the occupants with a firearm, bound the adult occupants, and fled the scene with numerous rifles, shotguns, and a safe.
At approximately 3:00PM State Police, NYS Parole Officers and Town of Windham Police Officers responded to 5390 State Route 23 in the Town of Windham to an apartment over the Windham Hardware Store to locate suspects in the burglary. The occupants of the residence refused to exit the residence or talk with Police. The immediate area around the apartment was evacuated and traffic on State Route 23 was diverted from the area. State Police personnel, including the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) responded to the scene along with the New York State Parole, Town of Windham Police, The Greene County Sheriff’s Department, NYS Environmental Police and State Police Crisis Negotiators talked to the occupants of the residence. After several hours of negotiation the occupants of the apartment, 3 males and 1 female exited the residence and surrendered without incident at approximately 10:30PM.
As a result of the investigation on 11/18/2010 the following persons were arrested and charged for committing the home invasion burglary to the residence on Cherokee Lane:
MARC A. LITCHKO, age 22, of Cairo, NY
JORDAN J. SMITH, age 18, of Acra, NY
ADOLFO LOPEZ, age 18, East Durham, NY
These individuals were each charged with: Burglary in the 1st Degree, a Class B Felony, Robbery in the 1st Degree, a Class B Felony, Criminal Use of a Firearm in the 1st Degree, a Class B Felony, Conspiracy in the 4th Degree, a Class E Felony, and 4 counts of Endangering the welfare of child, a Class A Misdemeanor.
In addition to the above persons the following subjects were arrested and charged for their involvement in this investigation:
JEFFREY A. FIELD, age 22, of Cairo, NY was charged with: Conspiracy in the 4th Degree, a Class E Felony, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 5th, a class A Misdemeanor, 2 counts Criminal Possession of a Weapon 4th, a Class A Misdemeanor, and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7th, a Class A Misdemeanor
DOMINIC LEO, age 19, St-23 Windham, NY was charged with: Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 4th, a Class E Felony, and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 5th, a Class A Misdemeanor
KATLYN POST, age 20, of Windham, NY was charged with: Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 5th, a Class A Misdemeanor, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7th, a Class A Misdemeanor, Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia 2nd, a Class A Misdemeanor, and Criminal Nuisance 2nd Degree, a Class B Misdmeanor
The arrestees were all arraigned before Town of Cairo Justice Tanja Sirago and were each remanded to the Greene County Jail.
Throughout this investigation the State Police were assisted by New York State Parole Officers, the Town of Windham Police Department, Greene County District Attorney Terry Wilhelm, the Greene Sheriff’s Department, NYS EnCon Police, Windham Fire Dept., and Windham Ambulance.
