Open Season on Herkimer Elders As District Attorney Carpenter Waves His Magic Wand

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Stephen Ames Berry

In March, with a wave of his magic plea bargaining wand, Herkimer District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter signaled open season on Herkimer elders. 

Ignoring a tough new law written to protect the elderly from violence, Carpenter offered a sweetheart plea deal to a 21-year-old thug who violently attacked a 74-year-old retired Special Needs teacher. The thug was fined $100 and went home on probation. The vicious assault, captured on two cameras, left the victim unconscious and bleeding on the sidewalk with a traumatic brain injury, from which he still suffers. 

The message to Herkimer’s criminals? It’s ok to beat up the old folks–Jeff Carpenter’s got your back.  No jail, no bail, a chump-change fine. Enjoy!

Herkimer DA Jeffrey Carpenter, the People's Attorney.
Herkimer DA Jeffrey Carpenter, the People’s Attorney.

Here’s how Carpenter flouted a tough New York law written to protect elders, putting a vicious criminal back on the street. It’s the same technique he’s long used to make Herkimer unsafe.

On 9/30/22, I was assaulted by Jordan Bormann, the 21-year-old son of our neighboring drug thug family. I was videoing harassment of my wife. The hefty young Bormann left me out cold and bleeding on the sidewalk with a deep brain bleed. Then kicked me as I lay unconscious. Medevaced to Albany Medical, I was treated for a subdural hematoma. If he’d shoved me a little harder or kicked me in the head, he could have killed me.

Here’s one of two videos of the attack given to Herkimer PD, as captured on two of our 22 security cameras: 

The Herkimer Police first tried to ignore the incident, aided by the bogus report of the responding officer, Jason Crippen, who wrote Bormann’s attack up as harassment–by me. (I’d previously reported Crippen for a rich history of alleged malfeasance.)

Alas for the coverup! I made it home alive and filed a video-based complaint. Which the Herkimer PD was compelled to act on–the clips from our security cameras left them no wiggle room.  Jordan Bormann was arrested and properly charged under New York Penal Law 120.05(12), Assault in the Second Degree, a Class D Violent Felony: 

…when with intent to cause physical injury to a person who is sixty-five years of age or older, he or she causes such injury to such person, and the actor is more than ten years younger than such person…

Effective in 2019 and cosponsored by Herkimer State Senator James Seward, the law recognizes the “uniquely depraved and heinous nature of attacks on the vulnerable elderly.” It carries a sentence of up to 7 years in prison, with a minimum required sentence of 2 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

Two brief court appearances later, Bormann was back on the street and home free. For this we have our District Attorney, Jeffrey Carpenter to thank.

People v. Jordan Bormann– Illustrated

 Herkimer's 21 year old Jordan Borman stars as Nasty Green Dragon Cited With Felony Assault of 74 year old neighbor gets 0 jail time in a Herkimer County court. Thanks Jeffery Carpenter DA!Jordan Bormann savagely attacks his elderly neighbor…DA Carpenter waves his magic wand

…transforming Bormann into a free man.

Legal Process Just As Brief and Cartoonish

Jordan Bormann’s Arraignment 10/19/22

Absent was my advocate, the People’s Attorney, District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter. Or anyone from his office, 7 miles away.

Based on my complaint and accompanying video of the attack, Bormann was arrested on 10/19/22 and arraigned that day for felony assault before Judge Joshua P. Bannister in Little Falls City Court. Banister is a practicing attorney and a fairly new part-time jurist. Present in the court were Judge Bannister, the court clerk, and Jordan Bormann. Bormann was represented by his court-appointed attorney, Joesph Macri, Esq., of Herkimer, appearing online.

Absent was my advocate, the People’s Attorney, District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter. Or anyone from his office, 7 miles away.

Judge Bannister several times expressed his opinion that the bail request of $2,500  was “a little light”(p.10) for a violent felony assault on an elder.

But DA Carpenter did send in a bail request. Even with bail reform, New York law still permits bail or jail in violent felony cases. Judge Bannister several times expressed his opinion that Carpenter’s bail request of $2,500 was “a little light” for a violent felony assault on an elder. (arraignment transcript, p.10, below) Had DA Carpenter been there, he might have argued in support of his bail request. But he wasn’t.

Bormann’s attorney argued for his client’s release pending trial. Bormann, obviously well-prepped, offered a litany of lies in reply to Judge Bannister’s questions:

Bormann’s only relationship to teaching  is attacking a 74-year-old retired Special Needs teacher, sending him to the hospital with a traumatic brain injury.

Jordan Bormann’s Well-Rehearsed Litany of Lies
1. Bormann told the Court that he wanted to be a teacher and was an online education student in early childhood development at Utica College. (transcript, p.5). He said that it was his third year at that school. 
Utica College became Utica University 8 months previously, in February of 2022. It doesn’t offer an online early childhood development program or any degree in education. 

Bormann’s only relationship to teaching is attacking a 74-year-old retired Special Needs teacher, sending him to the hospital with a traumatic brain injury.

2. Bormann said he lives with his parents and three siblings, ages 20, 16 and 13. (p.6)
We lived next door to Bormann for three long years. Other than Bormann, the only child of the family there was his younger brother, about 13. Bormann’s parents are long separated; his father hasn’t lived there for several years. His mother’s Facebook page lists her marital status as “separated.”)

3. Bormann said his mother, Kimberly Bormann Vargas, is looking for work. She appears to work as a drug dealer, operating out of the long-time officially ignored retail drug trafficking property they lived in.

4. Bormann said he works at Lowes, about 20 hours a week. He may since he and his family moved on 1/8/23, but in the years he lived next door, he appeared to be a leisurely part of his mother’s alleged drug business. This is him in my drug house post photo.  Mostly he hung out on the porch with his friends, rarely rising before early afternoon. 

Herkimer's Jordan Bormann, the day he violently assaulted his 74 year-old neighbor.
Herkimer’s camera-shy Jordan Bormann, the day he violently assaulted his 74-year-old neighbor.

DA Carpenter’s Nonappearance Assures Bormann’s Release

With DA Carpenter a no-show, Judge Bannister released Bormann without bail, setting him free with only a monitoring bracelet from the Probation Department and a Protection Order directing him to stay clear of me. (p.11)

Carpenter’s absence gave Bormann and his attorney free rein to argue unopposed for the dangerous and volatile Bormann’s release, and without cost to him:
Bormann had never been arrested before. (Not unusual, given Herkimer’s habitual tolorance of crimes situated at entrenched trafficking properties.) (p.10):

Bormann’s family was poor–bail would be a financial hardship. (p.8)
Bormann was both working and working toward a degree. (p.5)
Bormann has ties to the community. (p.7)

Jordan Bormann Felony Assault Arraignment Transcript 10/19/22

A trial date of 4/19/23 in county court was assigned. Felonies are tried only in the county court.

Bormann told the judge he was concerned that I’d use the Protection Order to try to entrap him into a probation violation, falsely stating that my wife and I were always hanging in front of his house (which happens to abut his porch and is impossible to avoid if we walk from our driveway to the public sidewalk). Bormann’s attorney told him to call the District Attorney or the Herkimer Police if I “maliciously used” the protection order. (p.12-13)

 Jordan Bormann was given first-class treatment, his bail-free release eased by the absence of District Attorney Carpenter. The Herkimer PD gave him a ride home from the Probation Department, a 1/2 mile away.

Later that same morning, Officer Jason Crippen appeared at our door and handed me a copy of the Protection Order, shook my hand, and left. An hour later, Bormann and his mother were enjoying takeout on their front porch, across the driveway from our living room window.

Herkimer Monster Mom Kim Vargas

Jordan Bormann’s mother, Kimberly Bormann Vargas. (No, not a caricature.) Jordan Bormann, left rear.

Only later did I discover Crippen’s malicious role in support of my attacker, intentionally not requesting videos of the attack and blaming me for instigating it. Through DA Carpenter, this bogus report would later further deprive me of the protection of law.

Bormann’s 10/22/22 Protection Order–Note the Charge is Class D Violent Felony, Assault on Elder

I settled down to slowly heal, buffeted by headaches, dizziness, and hypersomnia from the attack. All of which I put in my victim statement for the court, and submitted to DA Carpenter’s office, along with photos of my injury and the pool of my blood I was left lying unconscious in. 

Bormann;s unconscious victim bled profusely.

Jordan Bormann’s unconscious victim bled profusely.

Herkimer's Jordan Bormann's handwork.

Bormann’s handiwork required much stapling.

While awaiting Bormann’s April felony hearing in county court, I had the pleasure of watching him over the next five months, 15 yards away on his front porch, smoking smelly stuff, enjoying more takeout and hanging with his friends. 

New Protection Order Reveals DA Carpenter’s Magic Wand At Work

On 3/17/22, I was stunned to receive a fresh one-year-only protection order from the Little Falls City Court. There would be no felony trial.  District Attorney Carpenter had waved his magic wand, downgrading Bormann’s felony charge to a misdemeanor. It was over.

Rather than being tried under law for felony assault on an elder with serious injury, which carries a mandatory prison sentence, basher Bormann copped to a 3rd-degree misdemeanor assault charge. It’s an appropriate charge for a barroom brawl with minor injury.

Bormann’s 3/16/23 Protection Order–for Misdemeanor Assault

Slam, Bam, Thank You, Ma’am: Jordan Bormann’s Sentencing

Here’s the transcript from Bormann’s 3/16/23 sentencing hearing before Little Falls City Court Judge Sarah M. Brinski. Brinski is a part-time judge with a full-time law practice. District Attorney Carpenter was present. I wasn’t–his office had said they’d let me know if the original trial date and place changed. They didn’t.

Although a misdemeanor assault can carry a one-year prison sentence and a $1,000 fine, Carpenter had proposed a sentence of two years probation and a $100.00 fine, which Judge Brinski approved.

Did the Court ever see my victim impact statement, forwarded to DA Carpenter at his request? A judge can reject a plea bargain agreement and send it for trial on the original charge. 

Bravo Zulu! High-Five All Around for District Attorney Carpenter’s Office

The ever-surly Bormann seemed to feel he’d suffered enough.

At their request, I gave copies of my unreimbursed medical expenses to Carpenter’s staff. I was told the DA would seek a money judgment for restitution. Not true: the sentencing transcript revealed that I am responsible for requesting a separate hearing seeking reimbursement from my attacker, at which Bormann would be present. Neither he nor I liked that. The ever-surly Bormann seemed to feel he’d suffered enough.

I was also told by the DA Carpenter’s victims services coordinator that she’d forward a copy of my medical statements to New York’s Victim Services for payment. That never happened. Nor did it for my wife and co-blogger Linda, when she was beaten in the street by a different drug gang member.  (Herkimer’s drug and child traffickers hate us and our tell-all blog.) 

A few months after his sentencing, Bormann’s mother secured a mortgage and the family moved to a new home. (Perhaps the Cartel has a credit union for its franchisees?)

The federal surveillance drones that hovered over their part of Pleasant Avenue are gone, hopefully taking up station above the new Bormann-Vargas home, God help their neighbors. After decades of gang occupation, quiet has returned to Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue.

Carpenter never intended to prosecute the case. He was always going to plea bargain it, no matter how heinous the assault. Young thug Jordan Bormann was always destined to fly free.

The Outrage Continues: DA Carpenter and Dodgy Herkimer Cop Jason Crippen

Jason Crippen, Herkimer's Dog Enticement Officer
Jason Crippen, Herkimer’s Dog Enticement Officer

A few weeks before Bormann received his get-out-of-jail-free card from DA Carpenter, New York’s Office of Victim’s Services (OVS) advised me that Carpenter had told them I was partially responsible for Bormann’s attacking me.  I would be penalized 25% of any medical expense reimbursement:

Here’s Cirppen’s incident report, lovingly annotated by me:

Carpenter’s mindless parroting of Crippen’s disproven report was an example of the unconcern and indifference Carpenter displayed throughout this case. Surely his initial felony charge against Bormann was based on my irrefutable video evidence showing Bormann’s unprovoked attack on me?  Why then did he just regurgitate Crippen’s bogus report? Or did he never even look at the evidence?

The only plausible explanation? I believe Carpenter never intended to prosecute the case. He had no need to look at the evidence. He always intended to plea bargain it. If I’d been killed, would he have looked at it, or just accepted Crippen’s report and moved on, just another oldster dead by misadventure? Not prosecuting felonies is what Carpenter does, says his old boss. As a Herkimer criminal, young thug Jordan Bormann was always destined to fly free.

Carpenter’s Old Boss, Judge Michael Daley, Calls Him Out

Carpenter’s old boss, former Herkimer County District Attorney and retired Supreme Court Judge Michael Daley, says sweetheart deals are the norm for Carpenter: 

“Every felony is plea bargained and violent criminals put back in our community. There is a statute in place and that must be followed. When you plea bargain every single case, what that tells me is that the offers are so low that the defendant has to take them.  When you’re offering such sweetheart deals that the defendants can’t turn them down, you end up with no trials.”

Judge Michael Daily

Daley ran for District Attorney against Carpenter in 2016, campaigning under the slogan “Make Herkimer Safe Again.” Carpenter, as he does, toadholed throughout the election. The Republican Party ole boy network had his back, refusing to set up a debate between the two candidates, according to Daley, leaving Carpetner’s assertions of his history of felony convictions unchallenged.

Carpenter had more lawn signs than Daley. Carpenter won. It wasn’t even close. Carpenter ran unopposed in 2020. As folks here say with a shrug, “It’s Herkimer.”

Que Bono? Who Profits from Jeffrey Carpenter’s Sweetheart Deals with Criminals? Herkimer’s Gangs

Plea bargaining’s a hidden process. Only the outcome is public. We’re forced to rely upon the presumed integrity of the negotiators, as attorneys and officers of the court.  If money changes hands to sweeten the deal, we’d never know.

Carpenter’s freewheeling use of prosecutorial discretion to flout New York law, aided by bail reform, helped make Herkimer a welcoming criminal haven. Well-staffed trafficking gangs, operated with impunity out of police-safe properties, terrorizing the law-abiding and dominating streets. Herkimer police, whose chiefs report to Carpenter, were and still are reluctant to register complaints. Bloggers, the last bastion of genuine journalism in Herkimer, justly fear for their lives. In our 9 years in Herkimer, we’ve been harassed, vandalized, beaten in the street, and much poisoned. 

Thanks to climate change, Herkimer is an area in transition. Whatever recent improvements we’re seeing as the swamp drains of criminals aren’t due to DA Carpetner’s kindnesses to the worst among us, but to increased Federal and state law enforcement–those aren’t Jeff Carpenter’s drones up there. The gangs and their useful idiots in Herkimer government never saw how profoundly climate change would impact the region. 

As chip fabs build out in the Mohawk Valley and climate emigres continue to arrive here, waving their checkbooks, authentic law enforcement is ramping up. Carpenter and his magic misdemeanor wand won’t survive the increased scrutiny. Like the gangs, the welfare of the community requires that Jeffrey Carpenter be sent packing. Election 2024 is the next best chance.

Betray the public trust? Always expect that knock on the door.

New York’s New Commission On Prosecutorial Misconduct 

Plea bargaining takes place in the dark. Jeffrey Carpetner’s alleged extensive use of plea bargaining should be investigated for a pattern of misconduct.  For that, we need the State of New York.

After much opposition from New York State’s prosecutors, New York’s new Commission on Prosecutorial Misconduct is about to open for business, the first in the nation.  I’ll post when that happens and how to file a complaint. I can’t be the only one with just a grievance against District Attorney Carpenter.  I’ll be first in line with my complaint. There’s no statute of limitations on administrative punishment for attorney misconduct. 

Criminal Lawyers and The Hardcore Gang Unit

When we lived in Los Angeles, I worked with some of the prosecutors from the LA District Attorney’s Hardcore Gang Unit. (For the record, then-gang unit prosecutor Lance Ito is one of the world’s funniest comedians.)

The gang prosecutors were brought in by the California State Bar’s discipline branch to investigate years of backlogged complaints against California attorneys. We went back, and back and back through years of attorney misconduct complaints from people who’d lost their homes, their savings, their freedom, their sanity.  Attorneys found guilty were publically censured. Some were disbarred. Some went to prison. Shock, amazement, consternation, whining, when that knock on the door finally came: “But it was a long time ago! What about forgiveness?”

Betray the public trust? Always expect that knock on the door.

Ban the Fat Fairy!
Oust Jeffrey Carpenter!
Herkimer DA Election November 2024

Jeffrey Carpenter has been Herkimer County District Attorney since 2013. He’s up for reelection again in 2024. This is July of 2023–not too early for viable candidates for Herkimer District Attorney to consider running for office. They might begin by researching Carpetner’s history of plea bargains. See if Judge Dailey’s charges of all those sweetheart deals are valid. If so, highlight them on social media, in the press and in public debates at election time. Don’t let Carpenter hide and stonewall as he did with Judge Daley in 2016. 

A great campaign platform is one of reform. Here’s Bill Daley’s from 2016:

“I will stand up to our crime problem by seeking lengthy sentences for child molesters, rapists, murderers, robbers and other violent felons. I will review and present cases left dormant by my opponent to the grand jury, including infant deaths, serial forgeries, police misconduct, and domestic violence cases, and end the ‘good-ole-boy’ system in Herkimer County.”

And so say we all.

============================

About the Art

A special thank you to my wife, computer software developer and artist Linda Kaidan, and her colleague, OpenAI’s DALL·E 2.  From a draft of this post and guidance from Linda, DALL·E 2 created the cartoon characters lampooning People v. Jordan Bormman.

herkimerpost.com crime editor Stephen Ames Berry is a four-times published author, a former officer of Harvard University and a magna cum laude graduate of Boston University. A veteran of US Army Intelligence, Berry was a Special Needs teacher for behaviorally challenged teens in Florida. 

 

Herkimer Child Trafficking Series Draws 230,000 Views

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Dead Kids Waking Herkimer's child trafficked kids 341 Eureka Avenue
Photo from our video “Dead Kids Walking.” Trafficked kids at Herkimer landlord Jay Smith’s 341 Eureka Avenue property, 8/14/16 Since uploaded in 9/18, it and its companion video, “Adieu Herkimer’s Trafficked Kids,” have had 27,900 views. Smith still owns the property.

Stephen Ames Berry

It’s been over a year since we published a series of articles and videos reporting our lengthy observation of Herkimer’s multi million-dollar role in the child sex trafficking industry. To date, our Herkimer child trafficking  series has brought our posts and videos approximately 230,000 worldwide views.

Most visitors arrived at herkmerpost.com via social media links to our  post “Dead Kids Walking – Herkimer’s $100 Million Child Trafficking Hub.” Many went on to view our related YouTube videos and to look at our other posts of Herkimer crime, including the extrajudicial kidnapping of our grandson.

In 28 days over September through October 2018, our Herkimer crime content had over 114,000 combined view combined views on herkimerpost.com and Herkimer Post’s YouTube channel. In the past 12 months, they had another 116,000, for a total of 230,000 views.  Almost all were of Herkimer crime, with child trafficking with child trafficking hugely predominating. 

Herkimerpost.com 365 Days’ Views As of 2/4/2020
Herkimer child trafficking views hit 230,000

Herkimer Post Child Trafficking Series Takes On Life of Its Own

Our Herkimer child trafficking series has taken on a life of its own: in the last 12 months herkimerpost.com had over 81,000 views. Our YouTube channel had over 35,000 views with 72,000 impressions and 1,220 hours of watch time worldwide. (An impression is counted every time a video thumbnail is viewed on YouTube. People may not view the video, but its thumbnail leaves an impression.) 

In the 12 month period just ended, 31,809 visitors read an average of two or more posts. Our most read post was “Dead Kids Walking – Herkimer’s $100 Million Trafficking Hub,” viewed 65,000 times. In the same period, that post’s two associated YouTube videos, “Trafficked Kids 341 Eureka” and “Adieu Herkimer’s Trafficked Kids” were watched a total of 20,844 times. 

Herkimer Post Top Posts 1/31/19-1/31/20

Herkimer Post Top Posts 2019-20

Over that period, our YouTube videos of Herkimer crime, again notably child trafficking, had 35,000 views with 72,000 impressions and 1,220 hours of watch time worldwide. 

Herkimer Post YouTube Channel – Most Watched Videos – 1/31/19 1/31/20

Herkimer Post YouTube

Views of related crime articles and videos chronicling other activity by the Stanley Sykes’ gang in Herkimer landlord Jay Smith’s historic child trafficking lot were also well viewed. Herkimer’s Joyce Barton gang’s Shianne Hill’s beating of Herkimer Post’s Linda Kaidan had over 1,000 combined views, with the image of Kaidan’s battered face drawing 3,885 YouTube impressions.

A Cordial Welcome to Our Chinese Viewers and Subscribers

Visitors to the Herkimer Post came from over 60 countries, with the US and China predominating. US visitors came largely from Facebook and Chinese visitors from China’s social media, mostly from WeChat. China has its own well-publicized child trafficking issues. Perhaps our showing the faces of American child trafficking found a sympathetic Chinese audience. Human trafficking’s a worldwide horror. (Our thoughts and concerns are with the Chinese people during this very difficult time.)

herkimerpost.com -Top Countries by Viewer – 1/30/19-1/30/20

Is Herkimer Child Trafficking Ongoing?

Albany sent the New York State Police to interview us, and they asked us that too.  We don’t know. Certainly wholesale child trafficking’s gone from within range of our cameras. It vanished after we published our child trafficking posts and videos. Following our first child trafficking post, kids were deleted so quickly from Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue it was like a light going out. Even kids we didn’t think were trafficked vanished. What few kids were left were gone after poison gas attacks on us picked up again.

Herkimer Child Trafficking Long Entrenched and Tolerated

It appears to us that child trafficking was well-entrenched and long-tolerated in Herkimer, with a robust infrastructure built up over the years. Drug and child trafficking gangs became an occupying power, virtually controlling south Herkimer Village, co opting police, cowing residents and corrupting governance.  Many Herkimer hands surely profited from it, given the number of trafficked children we estimate passed through Herkimer and the huge money made off of their foreshortened lives. 

“But as folks here say with a shrug, ‘It’s Herkimer.’ “

Moral Indignation Sweeps Herkimer – Not

We moved to  Herkimer six years ago from Sarasota,  Florida. Say what you will of Florida, had a child trafficking series such as ours appeared in a Florida community, torches would have been lit, pitchforks passed out and outraged people would have descended on the traffickers and their houses and they would be gone. Poison gassing would have had the same outraged response. But as folks here say with a shrug, “It’s  Herkimer.” When we came house hunting, we were told people in Herkimer prided themselves on minding their own business. Indeed they do. And we’ve chronicled the result. 

Herkimer community spirit inaction
The 3 Wise Monkeys of Herkimer. “It’s Herkimer, folks here say with a shrug.” There should be a 4th monkey, eyes wide and palm up.

The child trafficking Sykes gang’s still keeping a presence here, barracked as always in Herkimer landlord Jay Smith’s houses on the village’s historic child trafficking hub. 

“All these [child traffickers] care about is money. If they weren’t making money in Herkimer, they’d be gone.

Camera-avoidant Smith’s has apparently passed the word via village public safety personnel that he no longer owns the properties comprising Herkimer’s child trafficking hub.  If so, he might want to get his name off of the property deeds. Here are the current deeds

Jay Smith’s Property Deeds: 341 Eureka Avenue, 332 and 334 Pleasant Avenue

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Herkimer Drug and Child Trafficking Gang Management Still Here

Many of the Sykes gang’s foot soldiers are gone, but their management’s still around—I saw both Stanley Sykes and Carrie Ann Bass the other day, going into the child trafficking lot’s 341 Eureka Avenue. (Stanley’s apparently traded in his old child-safe red Honda SUV for a new blue compact, NY license JKW 5265.) 341 Eureka’s the house handed over to the Sykes gang by Smith’s previous tenants, national child trafficking cartel’s Little Mama and Pretty Boy.  And of course, the Joyce Barton gang continues on across the street from us,  nested in their 333 Pleasant Avenue rental, subdued but hatin’.

Herkimer's showers neighbors with love
“The Joyce Barton gang continues on.” Neighboring Herkimer drug thug Joyce Barton, wearing a strikingly appropriate shirt, sending a little love our way.

All these people care about is money. If they weren’t making money in Herkimer, they’d be gone. Certainly, there are still law enforcement drones in the skies over Herkimer and New York State Police have upped their presence.. Stuff must still be happening in our pastoral village.

Happily, the Herkimer Village police under Chief Michael J. Jory have been amazingly revitalized and are proactive in community policing.

Will Prosperity Banish Herkimer Child Trafficking?

Child trafficking flourishes amid poverty and despair. Prosperity banishes it. Herkimer and the Mohawk Valley are among the US’ top climate change relocation areas. Housing prices are going up as many retirees have decided not to drown in Florida or the Carolinas and telecommuting jobs become more available. Such remote jobs will become the norm once Elon Musk’s Starlink bands the globe with internet for all. Industry is relocating here, notably Cree, which is building the world’s largest semiconductor plant an easy commute away in Marcy.  

No matter how booming a prosperity Herkimer eventually enjoys, our blog stats show it will never escape the stigma of turning a blind eye to the misery of all those trafficked kids. We have no monopoly on situation awareness. Herkimer is a small village. If we could see it, many of you could. You just chose not to. Minding your own business was the easiest and safest thing to do. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PD and FD Fail to Enforce Herkimer Fire Law

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6 hour+ Bonfire 326 Pleasant Ave

Last night (8/21/17) both the Herkimer police and fire departments failed to adequately enforce the Herkimer ordinance regarding open fires. The long-term scofflaws residing at Jay Smith’s 326 Pleasant Avenue enjoyed a large open campfire from 8 PM until 2:00 AM. Both Herkimer FD and police responded promptly, a total of three times. One police officer saw to the fire’s being extinguished. The FD, though, gave the lads a pass. When I called the FD later to ask why, I was told that the large open campfire was a small cook fire. Had it been for cooking, it would have cooked an entire deer very well.

Herkimer Polluters Continue Sprees Unimpeded

The tenants at 326 Pleasant Ave have a history known to the Herkimer FD of burning formaldehyde contaminated shipping pallets; thus causing harmful pollutants to endanger those nearby. Indeed, one of these miscreants asked just this morning “Did you like the gas?” Was he talking about the recent poison gas attacks on us which originated his backyard?

Unchecked Irresponsible Behavior Ends Badly

Perhaps we should all join in this dangerous and destructive activity? Then the entire village might burn down and no one will complain about fires anymore.

Herkimer Fire Law – Read It Yourself

The ignored Herkimer fire law ordinance is below, courtesy of Herkimer Fire Chief John Spanfelner:

Herkimer Village Local Law No. 3 of 2003, Section 2, defines prohibited burning in the village:

1-12 Definitions

(a)    Open Fire:  Shall mean any fire or smoke producing process wherein the combustion products are directly emitted into the atmosphere.

(b)   Stack:   Shall mean any lawful conduit, chimney, duct, vent, or flue arranged to conduct gases or gas borne products to the other air.

 Prohibited Burning

 1-13  No person shall  burn any garbage, rubbish, or solid waste in any open fire except as permitted by provisions set forth herein.

 Permissible Burning

 1-14  When not prohibited by law, regulation, ordinance, or State officials having jurisdiction, such as the State Commission of Conservation or the State Commissioner of Health, the following types of open  burning are permissible:

 (A)   Outdoor grills and fireplaces for the purpose of preparing food.

(B)   Camp fires and fires used solely for recreation purposes when such fires are located at least one hundred (100) feet from any dwelling, structure, or vehicle and are properly controlled and supervised by the Herkimer Fire Department.

(C)   Burning of solid or liquid fuels, or structures when under the direct control and supervision of a qualified instructor at a fireman’s training exercise or when done for the instruction and training of firemen.

(D)   Properly operated industrial flares for combustion of flammable gases.

(E)    Burning specifically authorized by permit by officials acting within their authority and jurisdiction so authorize, such as the State Commissioner of Conservation or the State Commissioner of Health or by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Herkimer.

Of course, none can hold a candle to our former neighbor, Herkimer fire fiend Curtis Cool.

Herkimer Gang’s Poison Gas Attacks Halt Development

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by Stephen Ames Berry

On 8/13, the ongoing poison gas attacks by our depraved neighbors on Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue forced a halt to renovation of 328 Pleasant Avenue as workers downed tools and headed out. Pleasant Avenue has recently enjoyed an upswing in real estate sales and development as the Herkimer housing market continues to boom. People are, however, reluctant to continue working if they’re being gassed. Which is what happened at Harriett Tangorra’s 328 Pleasant Avenue property on August 13th – twice!

Double Feature – Two Herkimer Poison Gas Attacks in 8 Hours

There were two gas attacks intended for us and our yard on 8/13. Both were from 328 Pleasant Avenue, which is currently vacant and under renovation. They poisoned both areas.

Like the gas attack on us of 7/28, the first attack on 8/13 was delivered by an organophosphate pesticide. It streamed in an arch entering our yard from the rear of 328 Pleasant Avenue. It was likely from the same agricultural crop dispenser used in the 7/28 attack.  The perpetrator of this crime may have been close by – possibly a night owl neighbor. Note the fire in the adjacent yard at 326 Pleasant Avenue burning brightly during the attack. (Upper left of video.)

Organophospahtes such as diazinon are neurotoxins and used in making of Sarin nerve gas. They’ve been banned, but are still around, as they kill well.

The second attack of the morning 8/13–watch carefully, end of video–was the toxic mist seen creeping in from 328’s driveway. It inevitably spread further but invisibly into 328’s yard and our own. And in through our kitchen window. (We know the symptoms.)

The mist was odorless and probably the pesticide Deltamethrin, given its effects, and dispensed from a small handheld fogger. The intent is to poison our yard,and ourselves through any open windows. And also to sicken the workmen currently renovating 328 Pleasant Avenue. Herkimer’s criminals know the ongoing renovations and booming home sales will force them out, and are trying to stop developers from continuing to improve Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue, which until recently they long controlled. For now they’ve succeeded: the owner’s carpenters retreated from 328 Pleasant Avenue after they and the owner were warned. Haven’t seen them again as of this posting. Both yards have lingering toxicity.

A Typical Herkimer Drive-by Gas Attack

Here’s a drive-by poison gas attack on us  on at our Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue home. We’ve been subjected to these drive-by poison gas attacks since mid-July. They occur numerous times a day, usually triggered when we open any window or enter our yard. During the brazen daytime attacks, side door swung wide for spraying convenience.

When you watch the video you can see a trace of the poison mist being dispensed from the open side door of the passing van. (In front of driveway). There are two vehicles involved. The 2nd one passes through the toxic fog, causing a ripple affect. Occupants of both vehicles stop at the end of Pleasant Avenue for a chat.

Use of Hand Foggers in Herkimer Poison Gas Attacks

Typically in these heinous attacks a handheld fogger is used to dispense a concentrated, odorless pesticide whose toxic symptoms are consistent with Deltamethrin. Previously the scum were using an orange-scented pesticide of the pyrethrin family, until one evening they used so much they gassed a lot of people mid-Pleasant Avenue.

334 Pleasant Avenue and Flashers of Gas Attack Victory

Whenever  drive-by poison gas attacks occur, day or night, the attacking vehicle often stops afterward a few doors down, in front of the Carrie Bass – Sykes gang commerce hub at 334 Pleasant Avenue, and flashes its lights in victory. (Natural selection in action.) I can see 334 from from where I usually sit. When I see the flashers, I shut the window. Otherwise I’d be poisoned, as my unsuspecting law-abiding neighbors at 335 Pleasant Ave have been. The Stanley Sykes’ gang members, forewarned, either leave or seal themselves in the parking lot houses they rent from Jay Smith.
Herkimer authorities are aware of the use of poison mist, but remain mystified.

Herkimer Poison Gas Attacks – Aftermath

Here’s a video of the aftermath of one of many Herkimer poison gas attacks that have affected not just us but also our Pleasant Avenue neighbors. This street cam footage is from a few moments after I smelled the unmistakable sicky-sweet orange odor of Pyrethrin insecticide mist through my front windows. Dizziness, facial numbness and respiratory distress followed.

The immediate effects of Pyrethrin poisoning are difficulty breathing, coughing, nausea, allergic reactions, stinging in the eyes, itching and swollen lymph glands. Prolonged exposure can cause paralysis and death. Anyone with ongoing immune system and allergy issues often needs immediate medical attention. Which is what appears to have happened to the woman here across the street at 335 Pleasant Avenue, a large multi-family dwelling.

Help Herkimer Police Find a Poisoner

How was the toxin delivered? Play detective-someone should. There are some clues in the video: a moving car and a man walking from across the street. Immediately after the attack, the man goes through the parking lot to Stanley Sykes’ house at 341 Eureka, and quickly returns. Stanley, king of the Pleasant Avenue parking lot, is an experienced businessman and knows you get only half up front, the rest upon delivery.

Herkimer Real Estate Boom Stalled by Drug Gang? Really?

Since July, we and our Pleasant Avenue neighbors  been under ongoing poison gas attack by a local drug trafficking gang trying to  keep a toehold on our street.  People have been sickened. Pets have been killed. These thugs have the morality and tenacity of head lice. They’re not hard to find. They operate out of two rental houses on a parking lot mid-block, as well as secondary location not far away. When not avoiding their own gassing attacks, they traffic brazenly.

Herkimer Village authorities, as is traditional, appear unconcerned with the fate of Pleasant Avenue. (“Oh. It’s Pleasant Avenue.”) These heinous attacks occur multiple times a day, using small, easily concealed insecticide foggers. Poison is misted about,  sprayed from passing vehicles, adjacent yards and by pedestrians. The foggers have a range of 30+ feet and are hard to spot. Attackers? The gang members and area’s low-criminal types who mule meth, crack and heroin. They’re all known to the Herkimer police.

Herkimer home sale prices have doubled in the last year. The village is on the brink of resurgence as retirees move north rather than south. Herkimer’s small, ideally located and with limited property. Pleasant Avenue has some of the biggest, well-built 19th century homes in the area. Local developers are eager to renovate them.  For the moment, though, they’ve faded. It’s time Herkimer to clear the air along Pleasant Avenue.

Ongoing Herkimer Pesticide Attacks

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Herkimer Pesticide Poisoning

Ongoing Herkimer Pesticide Attacks: Sad Remains

By Linda Kaidan

Pesticides dissolve biological tissue

At first glance what you see is a lovely close-up of hollyhock blossom. But just zoom in and you’ll see the corroded carcasses of insects. Whichever variety of pesticides our attackers are using, these insects were killed “real good”. They’re partially dissolved and fused to the plants they were unfortunate enough to lite upon.

Destruction of lipid layer leads to nerve paralysis

What chemical process has dissolved them? What do you think this substance is doing to your throat and lungs when you breath it? Such toxic substances can destroy the lipid layer of human skin tissue and paralyze human nerves (Advances in Physical Ergonomics and Human Factors: Part 223). A major characteristic of ongoing Herkimer pesticide poisoning attacks can be observed by taking a close look at vegetation here on Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue. In the closeup of the hollyhock below – you can see the mangled bodies of 2 insects.

Herkimer pesticide attacks

Urban terror causes widespread side effects

This is a urban terrorism. Our attackers are somewhat stealthy and are spraying an array of lethal toxins onto the plants, animals and ground surfaces. Effects may be felt immediately or may take some time. A sad result is the lingering illness and deaths they’re causing in humans and a multitude of animals. Cats for example, formerly numerous here have become nearly extinct in the past few days.

By planting many wild flowers in my garden, I’ve attracted a healthy and varied bee population, now sadly decimated by Herkimer’s pesticide terrorists who threaten human, plant and animal existence by creating a venomous and toxic environment.

Herkimer pesticide poisoning terrorism should be easy to stop

These poisoning attacks are taking place multiple times throughout the day, every day here on Pleasant Avenue in Herkimer, NY. Terrorists are tough to capture because they operate in stealth. But I fail to see why a well-placed drone can’t help identify the likely suspects. Let’s catch these terrorist poisoners!

Herkimer Gang Thug Kiera Stone Snared

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by Stephen Ames Berry

Old age and skill will overcome youth and treachery Night Court

Update 6/22/17.  Kiera Stone’s father, gang leader Stanley Sykes, yesterday morning followed me down Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue, harassing me with bellowed obscenities. (“You m-fer, you got ma baby girl locked up!”)  If she was arrested, this is two of his kids now in jail . (The son for alleged heroin trafficking, daughter Kiera Stone  for at least criminal harassment), even as dad flirts with a criminal harassment charge of his own.  Maybe the new Herkimer County jail will  have a wing named after them.

I videoed these two fresh Black Dahlias because they kept harassing me from their car when Dog Bear and I walked past 334 Pleasant Avenue. We live two doors down. Thought they wanted attention. Guess not. (For purposes of photography and audio, New York is a one-party consent state.)

As with these lovelies, Herkimer’s drug and child traffickers self-identify by calling photographers pedophiles. Our former neighbor, Herkimer’s Curtis Cool, aka Curtis Doolen, is Herkimer’s best know pedophile-caller, with his best performance viewed for over 154 hours by 2,356 people on 6 continents. Drug traffickers especially hate street surveillance cameras, as they reveal traffickers and trafficking patterns.

“I don’t want my kids on the internet” is clue that all or some of the “parent’s” kids aren’t their kids; they’re trafficked and/or sexually exploited kids. 25% of all trafficked kids are trafficked by family members.

Stanley Sykes Gangs' Herkimer Headquarters
334 Pleasant Avenue, Herkimer. It guards the parking lot behind it. That’s Joyce Barton of 333 Pleasant Ave’s daughter on the porch. Carrie Ann Bass of 334 and Joyce are business associates.

334 Pleasant Avenue – Herkimer’s Harassing Harpies Headquarters

Stanley Sykes Gangs' Herkimer Headquarters
334 Pleasant Avenue, Herkimer. It guards the parking lot behind it. That’s Joyce Barton of 333 Pleasant Ave’s daughter on the porch. Jabba of 334 and Joyce are friends.

The driveway of 341 Eureka Avenue (white house, rear) is blocked. The only way into and out of the parking lot is via the driveway of 334 Pleasant Avenue.  It sees a lot of visitors and vehicles. The porch serves as a lookout post. Good luck getting past Sykes gang’s Carrie Ann Bass, aka Carrie Ann Collins-Bass. (Next video.)

The Attack of the Witless Witches

I’d been assaulted before on Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue for videoing. So I set up a camera snare before returning to capture the Black Dahlias’ license plate for posterity. The three witless witches had no clue.

I tottered by them on my way home from the grocery store. Turning, I filmed their license plate. It went better than I’d hoped–gang thug Kiera Stone, the ballsiest of Herkimer’s harassing harpies, (see below video), ripped my cellphone from my hand and called 911 to report I’d hit her with it. Her friend tried but failed in her role as Kiera Stone’\’s keeper, while her sister-in-law, Herkimer’s Carrie Bass, aka Carrie Ann Colins-Bass, lied through her venomous lips.

Here’s the combined cellphone and minicam footage:

Carrie Ann Bass, Sykes gang’s 334 Pleasant Avenue’s resident guardian-toad.

Perhaps they thought the minicam on my label was a pacemaker. (I’m old.) It faithfully recorded the new harassment, the assault and the theft of my phone. (Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree;  Harassment in the First Degree.) None of them were aware of the surveillance camera on their activities. This footage gave the lie to Kiera Stone and her drug and child trafficking relatives’ accusation:

The Herkimer Police Respond

The Herkimer Police arrived, Officers Bowman and Hill. They confirmed that Kiera Stone had called 911, saying I’d hit her in the face with my cellphone and repeated the allegation to them. (Falsely Reporting an Incident in the Third Degree.) No one was arrested. The officers didn’t see the surveillance or minicam footage–those required downloading. They did see the cellphone clips of the two harassment incidents. I was invited to file a complaint. 

(If I lay gut shot and dying on Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue, the last voice I’d probably ever hear would be that of a Herkimer police officer asking, “Do you want to file a complaint?”)

I said we’d never been allowed to file a complaint with the Herkimer PD–I’d put it on our blog again. Seems to work–the bad guys often just disappear. (Herkimer has 3 major water courses.) Last year Herkimer’s failed governance and rampant crime brought The Herkimer Post over 20,000+ worldwide views. We’d barely had time to celebrate before we were hit by the first of two murderous poisoning attacks. Writing about those has brought The Herkimer Post new readers.  As will “Herkimer’s Harassing Harpies.” 

Herkimer’s Brazen New Gang – The Stanley Sykes Gang

Herkimer’s harassing harpies were the first sign that the village had a brazen new gang with city roots, come north to stake claim to a large chunk of Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue. And that they were aggressively camera shy–probably for good reason. (They were later revealed to be the Stanley Sykes gang out of Utica.)

Herkimer’s homegrown gangs of late have tried to stay off the radar, preferring stealth to confrontation and darkness to light. Not these guys: They’re in-your-face aggressive, trying to intimidate through harassment. When that fails, they immediately escalate to assault or mobbing. It’s urban street gang tactics. It’s a brave new world for Herkimer crime. Stay tuned: The Herkimer Post is watching. 

Herkimer’s Harassing Harpies – The Director’s Cut

Here’s the four videos rolled into one:

 

East Herkimer Fire Department Sold

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by Stephen Ames Berry

8/19/19 – This post amused many of our murderous neighbors when it first appeared. (“There they go! Get the ladder!” the Sykes gang’s Carrie Ann Bass would holler as we walked by.) There was no ladder, as we later learned after  toxic clouds were wreathed our home; they were using handfoggers to dispense organophosphate pesticides into our open office window whenever we went for a walk. 

Herkimer's Douglas Barton now Chief of the East Herkimer Fire Dept
East Herkimer Fire Dept Roster April 2017. Douglas Barton is now Chief

Well, as I live and breathe. After being gassed in February and poisoned in March, we took a bit of a vacation. When we left, our neighbors, Herkimer’s Douglas Barton and Joyce Barton, appeared to be going through tough times: home rarely, woebegone looks, no more convenience foods, house dark, kids sad and angry.

Returning ten days later, we found the Bartons’ lives seemingly touched by gold. There was Joyce Barton on her 333 Pleasant Avenue command porch,

Joyce and Douglas Barton's rental residence 333 Pleasant Ave Herkimer
Joyce Barton and Douglas Barton’s 333 Pleasant Avenue Herkimer NY rental residence.

passing out favors to her throng of fair weather friends, as when she was the undisputed queen of Herkimer’s bustling drug trafficking row.  And  a welcoming friend to new neighbors.

herkimer's Joyce and Douglas Barton (2014)
Joyce and Douglas Barton (2014)

Since our return, Joyce Barton’s been busy networking again with like-minded neighbors, partially in response to our unexpected return. (So many crestfallen faces when we pulled into driveway and emerged, relaxed and tanned. )

I suppose to the watching hopeful along Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue, it seemed we’d abandoned our poisoned Herkimer home, packed up our pets, a few things and fled. Had I been hired to dispose of such nosy neighbors as we, dead or alive, I’d have then demand my money, reporting mission accomplished. But would have had the brains to not spend like a sailor.

And what did Douglas Barton do with his share of the Barton’s sudden golden shower? Douglas Barton bought the East Herkimer Fire Department. (Volunteer company–one engine.) How else to explain his meteoric return from the ranks, following his…suspicious…garage fire and

Dopuglas Barton - 333 Pleasant Avenue Herkimer suspicious garage fire
Extract of forensic video analysis of Fire Chief Barton’s fire. Note wisp of vapor to left and wafting of garage to the left. Barton is about to enter the truck, seeing nothing.

subsequent demotion from Deputy Chief? And those threats of arson coming from his porch one turbulent evening, directed at us and heard by many? If these are the attributes of a good fire chief, then we’re all doomed if catastrophe strikes.

Lac Megantic train explosion
Lac Megantic Quebec burns following DOT-111 tanker car train explosion. The train was hauling 50,000 barrels of crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken crude oil. About 1,000 DOT-111 tank cars daily cross Herkimer’s CSX railway bridge.

East Herkimer Fire Department’s Empty Boots

Looking at the fire company’s roster (top), all their other top ranks are suddenly empty. They weren’t when Douglas Barton was returned to the ranks. Perhaps there was vehement opposition to Barton’s election as Chief, with old hands quitting in disgust? Or maybe they just ate some bad food and passed away.

Empty firefighter boots – 9/11

Of Firemen and Ladders and Poison

When I think firemen, I think ladders.

The long-term salting of our furnace with a powdered insecticide required little finesse. The dosing of our home did with a spray-gun dispensed pesticide did. It was skillfully and stealthily carried out via a ladder, over a period of months in broad daylight. And done several times weekly with the aid of some of our depraved neighbors, who served as lookouts, calling the ladder man when we went for our morning walks and as we returned. Here’s one suspected lookout: 334 Pleasant Avenue Herkimer’s “The Blessing.”

poisoners' lookout 326 Pleasant Avenue Herkimer NY
“The Blessing” 334 Pleasant Ave. Herkimer. Street harasser and suspected poisoners’ lookout.  if you point a camera her way she calls you a pedophile. We’ve found in Herkimer that those who, like Curtis Cool, shriek “Pedophile!”, are usually trafficking drugs and/or kids.

The objective, as with the furnace salting, was to continuously poison us so we’d slowly sicken and die, never suspecting we’d been  murdered. We’d just pass away, as have probably many other Herkimer murder victims here over the years. Well, the word is now out, and jig is up. Spring is here and the ground may soon give up its dead to autopsy.

For reasons which will later sound not at all paranoid, our systematic poisoning probably began even before we moved into our house, three years ago. That cold diabolical plan was destroyed by the enraged nighttime pesticide attack of February 22nd. (See Herkimer Jewish Blogger Gassed) The attack was apparently sparked by our sharing The Herkimer Post’s annual blog statistics a two days earlier: 20,000+ worldwide view of Herkimer crime. The Barton’s and Curtis Cool, aka Curtis Dolan, rocketed our blog to success. Neither does well in sunlight. Nor does Herkimer.

Curtis Cool, aka Curtis Dolan – The Bartons’ Silent Backer?

Had I to guess who was bankrolling the Bartons, I’d say Curtis Cool, aka Curtis Dolan. Curtis has long been chums with the Bartons. He seemed a cash-heavy entity when he lived next door at 328 Pleasant Avenue, renting Herkimer Clerk of Courts’ Harriett Tangorra’s house. Curtis, who waged a lengthy campaign of harassment against us, is rumored to be the scion of Herkimer’s most respected drug manufacturing family. In Herkimer County, New York, this would grant him the status of untouchable nobility; Curtis Cool could only be tried before the Herkimer Drug Lord Himself.

the herkimer ny drug lord
The Herkimer Drug Lord – Only Known Photo (Courtesy The Boys in The Bunker.)

Certainly Herkimer Police and fire officials refused to take complaints against him, possibly fearing they or their families might be poisoned. Because of us and our widely-viewed blog, Curtis had to give up his comfy digs next door and beat an ignominious retreat. He may harbor a grudge.

A Heartfelt “Thank You” to the Herkimer Community

Lastly, we’d like to thank the Herkimer community and authorities for their outpouring of support and sympathy following two well-publicized,  heinous attempts on our lives within the last two months. Their names and organizations are below:

[THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]

Oh well. As folks in Herkimer say with a shrug, “It’s Herkimer.”

herkimer ny government
The 3 Wise Monkeys of Herkimer

Herkimer’s community ethos is one which historically has left a lot empty shoes behind.

Herkimer NY Community Ethos - End Result
Holocaust Victims’ Shoes (US Holocaust Museum.)

Perhaps a viewing of Schinlder’s List might help restore Herkimer’s atrophied social conscience?

Oh. Hail to the Chief:

East Herkimer Fire Dept sold to Douglas Barton
Douglas Barton, Chief. East Herkimer Fire Department

 

Herkimer Poisoners Struck Again

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Herkimer's stealth poisoners hard at work

by Stephen Ames Berry

Big snow storm here in Central New York. Gotta be 36 inches on the ground. And still it comes down.  In Herkimer, only the local police and the criminals are out.  But I repeat myself.

My last post, Herkimer Jewish Blogger Gassed, told of how we and our home were massively dosed by an industrial-grade pesticide as we lay sleeping, and the health consequences. A few days ago, I was finishing the draft of the follow-up post when Herkimer poisoners struck again.  We must have looked disappointingly healthy.

A neighbor apparently slipped into our kitchen and put an almost-deadly amount of digitalis into our milk. Id foolishly left the backyard door open a crack for the dog and gone upstairs for about 30 minutes.

Digitalis is a must-have for any Herkimer poisoner’s shelf. Lord know, Miss Marple’s villagers are always killing each other with it. Diabolically used, digitalis can cause stroke and heart attack. And after a few weeks,  thoughtfully vanishes from the body–like the pesticides used against us. Victims merely pass away, their resting heart rate just prior to death looking much like mine that night:

Herkimer poisoners struck again; digitalis poisoning victim's resting heart rate
Berry’s resting heart rate after digitalis poisoning. Could have passed away unnoticed, in the Herkimer tradition of stealth death.

Some of Herkimer’s multi-generation criminal families have members who appear to be skilled herbalists. We’ve seen zombish group behavior in the children here on Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue, only explainable by scopolamine dosing.

Given the time of day we were vulnerable–before school buses–it was probably one of our neighboring weaponized children. I had a glass of milk before bedtime and experienced the symptoms of atrial fibrillation, familiar from the last known time our food was tampered with, during a break-in in April 2015.

Taking my usual secret countermeasures,  I survived. And reported the incident to the Herkimer Desk of the New York State Police. Which has every word and pixel of data we have on everything, given that something untoward may happen to us at any moment. But then, as folks here shrug, “It’s Herkimer.”

herkimer ny government
The 3 Wise Monkeys of Herkimer

Still, it snows. Off to see if my cognac’s been poisoned.

 

 

Herkimer NY Jewish Blogger Gassed

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by Stephen Ames Berry

We must be doing something right: Herkimer Post Crime Editor Stephen Ames Berry in front of sealed, lethally gassed Herkimer Post office in Herkimer NY

When you defiantly live among a band of murderers, as we do on Herkimer New York’s hopefully-named Pleasant Avenue, you Herkimer New York Blogger gassed by local band of murderersshouldn’t be surprised when they try to murder you. Perhaps the irony of their gassing a Jew in an historic German-American community escaped them. Or not.

“Go back to some Arab country!”

The Herkimer Jewish blogger gassed? The Herkimer Post’s Linda Kaidan. In fairness, she’d been warned by frightened but good-hearted people, that if she kept writing about Herkimer crime, “They’ll kill you.” And Herkimer anti-Semitic thug Curtis Cool and his alt-right chums, catching her out along one dark night, harassed her with “go back to some Arab country!”

Our attackers botched it, and by botching it revealed much. (More of that in the next posting.)

The gas attack followed our post Herkimer Crime 2016 – 20,421 Worldwide Views. It celebrated the Herkimer Post’s growing readership, an audience drawn by Herkimer’s  brazen criminality, and by the antics of  cop-coddled criminals like Curtis Cool.  Several of our depraved Herkimer neighbors participated in the attack, as they have in previous such attempts.

Herkimer – The Gassing of the Jew – 2/22/17

Somewhere between 0200 and 0400 on 2/22/17, assailants using a ladder breached Linda Kaidan’s 2nd floor office-bedroom at 330 Pleasant Avenue.  Her office is well-known to our creepily-watching criminal neighbors as home to her writing nook and to The Herkimer Post, which I co-write.

We awoke sickened, tasting and smelling the faint but distinct metallic residue of pesticide. Our symptoms were immediate, debilitating and familiar from previous poisoning attacks on us.

Those symptoms are typical of organophosphate and carbamate-based insecticide poisoning: Between the two of us we experienced dizziness, nausea, heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, burning sensations in throat and eyes minor muscle spams, fatigue, joint and muscle pain. We’re still suffering discomfort, but are up and running.

Herkimer Jewish Blogger Gassed
The first gas mask I used wasn’t up to the job. I lasted 3 minutes amid the fumes in our office.

Our attackers avoided alarm sensors and motion detectors by perching on a ladder outside our house, silently dispensing with practiced ease a massive quantity of an aerosol-delivered, heavy-duty pesticide through the office-bedroom the window. They apparently poked a nozzle between the a/c’s insulation and the side of the window. A backpack sprayer was probably used. 

The Herkimer Post has transferred it’s flag. Linda’s office is sealed for later attention. That room has what’s probably a lethal level of pesticide in it, evident when you try to work there protected by anything other than  PT-100 certified respirator, of the sort used by hazmat teams and the military.

This murderous attack may be the first on an American activist blogger-a first for Herkimer New York. Given the US’ toxic political climate and its blossoming anti-Semitisim, there’ll probably be more.

We’ve reported this attack to the New York State Police. They now have everything we have on all things Herkimer. Future posts have all been written, which is why the delay in posting this one. They’re on a cloud server in Bulgaria and set for timed release, a virtual dead man’s trigger. We haven’t troubled Herkimer authorities with this matter.

 

 

Herkimer Crime 2016 – 20,421 Worldwide Views

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by Stephen Ames Berry

“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” Albert Einstein

Forget Herkimer diamonds. Crime-ridden Herkimer New York’s greatest attraction is the village’s anarchic three-ring circus of brazen criminals, trafficker-coddling cops and willfully failed governance. In 2016, Herkimer’s unchecked, in-your-face lawlessness brought The Herkimer Post and its YouTube videos over 20,000 worldwide views. The human fascination with the grotesque drove our annualized viewing audience up 33% from our last statistics posting in March of 2016.

The Herkimer Post enjoyed 8,432 page views from 2,379 readers across 6 continents in 57 countries, with an average of 1.95 minutes per view. Our YouTube videos–Herkimer crime, all the time–brought 11,989 worldwide views averaging 3.32 minutes apiece. Top Herkimer Twitter tweets sparked at least 13,674 impressions, engagements and retweets, which aren’t counted in the 20,421 tally.

Living in Herkimer Village is convenient: except for our Herkimer Meth Bridge series, we’ve rarely had to travel more than 20 meters from our home on Herkimer’s wistfully-named Pleasant Avenue to acquire source material: Herkimer criminals trying to drive us from our home and Herkimer cops trying to intimidate us into silence just kept coming into our cameras or onto our microphones.

Herkimer Post 2016 – WordPress Page Views, Users, Sessions

 

Herkimer Post 2016 WordPress Sessions – Top 10 Countries

Notes on Google Analytics’ Metrics

  • One session can have multiple page views. Herkimer Post visitors viewed an average of two posts per session.
  • 2,777 blog visitors landed on the  Herkimer Post’s home page rather than a specific posting. They could have then selected one or more more categories and scrolled through the posts. Their views of individual posts wouldn’t have been recorded.
  • Country = “Not Set”: Origin may be a hidden ISP.
  • Best reporting option is 365 days. Calendar year selection not offered.

Herkimer Post 2016 Top Page Views

Herkimer Crime 2016 Top Blog Post

Our top recorded blog post for 2016 was of our neighbor and first Herkimer visitor, young mom Melodie Shulze, who dropped by with her mom Melissa Shulze to cuss us out for photographing our street and accuse us therefore of being pedophiles. Although the incident occurred in 2015, Melodie Shulze’s elder abuse has proven an object of repugnant fascination both on our blog and YouTube. (Melodie recently vanished from our street following an unusual flurry of Child Protection Services’ activity.)

Joyce Barton and Douglas Barton Win Herkimer Crime 2016 Top Posts Tally

Otherwise it was a postings slugfest in lawlessness and depravity between 333 Pleasant Avenue’s Bartons and 328 Pleasant Avenue’s Curtis Cool. It was won by the Bartons with 4 top posts: Herkimer Man Sexually Abusing Car was our 2nd top post, harassment dished straight from the Barton’s as they gleefully helped harass our very pregnant daughter. (Captured on a highly visible surveillance camera. )

Three other top 2016 posts featuring appearances by Joyce Barton and or Douglas Barton were Drug Trafficking On Herkimer’s Slumlord Row, [VIDEOS]Herkimer Crime – Drunks Along the Mohawk [VIDEOS], and Mission Accomplished! Fire Chief Barton’s Fire Revisited. This last highlighted a forensic video analysis of then-Deputy Fire Chief Douglas Barton’s garage fire, coincident with what appeared to be a large state and federal crackdown on Herkimer’s abundant meth makers. (The Bartons have apparently since abandoned their home-based enterprises and seem to be scrambling to make ends meet.) The drug trafficking post and related videos are from 2015; they’ve taken on a life of their own, drawing viewers month after month. (IP addresses hint law enforcement may be using them for surveillance analysis training.)

Curtis Cool Takes Close 2nd In Herkimer Crime 2016 Top Postings Tally

Herkimer Court Clerk Harriett Tangorra’s long-time tenant Curtis Cool (aka Curtis Dolan) did well in three Herkimer Crime 2016 posts: Herkimer Thug Curtis Cool Again Fails to Burn Out Neighbors, in which his unchecked pyromania was on full display, and an associated post, Herkimer Fire Chief John Spanfelner Sees Nothing. But Curtis truly shined, along with Herkimer Police Officer Jason Crippin, in Herkimer Police & The Nanny Nanny Boo Boo. Accompanied by Curtis’ videoed zaniness, it relates how Officer Crippin gave us to understand that in Herkimer New York, the nanny nanny boo boo is exculpatory for criminal harassment. (As folks here sigh with a shrug, “It’s Herkimer.”)

Herkimer Crime 2016 – 11,989  YouTube Views

In 2016, Herkimer crime drew over 11,989 YouTube views in 51 countries with a total viewing time of 23,409 minutes, or 390 hours. (16.25 days.)

Our YouTube audience wasn’t the same as that of the The Herkimer Post: most YouTube viewers didn’t come from our blog posts, but from other YouTube viewers and referrers. Many of our videos contain links to our other Herkimer crime videos, making it possible to build viewership through a chain of referrals embedded in video descriptions, and also build blog readership through links to our blog. Curtis Cool’s 13 videos and the Barton’s 14 videos provided the virtual framework for widening our follower base.

In 2016, videos of Joyce and Douglas Bartons’ Pleasant Avenue activities had 6,815 views, with a watch time of 6,698 minutes, or 4.65 days. Their top video was 2015’s enduring Herkimer Crime on Parade – 333 Pleasant Avenue (5088 views). But Curtis Cool (aka Curtis Dolan) blew the Bartons’ Crime on Parade out of the water with his bravura performance in Curtis Cool Street Harassment of 6/11/16: 154 hours (9,224) minutes, or 6.40 days. Herkimer’s untouchable Golden Child’s criminal harassment of his elderly neighbors was watched by 2,385 people on 6 continents, just one of Curtis’ series of street harassment videos. (Curtis abruptly moved after we hinted in a post that he might be involved in darker things than drug dealing. “The guilty flee where no man pursues.”)

Honorable Herkimer Crime Mention: Herkimer’s Historic Crack House Keeper. 926 minutes, 611 views. Not an elder abuser street harasser on a par with Curtis Cool, but the only one to have physically assaulted me. (He appears to have been deleted from the ‘hood.)

Herkimer Crime 2016 On YouTube – Top 10 Videos

Top 25 YouTube Herkimer Crime 2016 Videos

Herkimer Crime 2016 YouTube Viewers By Country

Herkimer Crime Watching COUNTRIES Page 1

 

HERKIMER CRIME WATCHiNG COUNTRIES Page 2

 

Herkimer Crime 2016 On Twitter

I didn’t go through Twitter to extract the analytics of views of our Herkimer crime tweets, which are automatically tweeted by our blog upon posting. They’d have to have been ferreted out of Twitter tweet by tweet, and the analytics for each manually copied and totaled. No. Life is short, death is long.

I have 72,000 Twitter followers. All of my posts make an impression. The more colorful, such as those of our Apricot Emperor or Herkimer crime, often create a thousand or more impressions. I’ve no idea what an impression is, and, reading Twitter’s definition, neither does Twitter. But those tweets do leave a large and consistent impression of Herkimer, and it’s not pretty.

Here’s a typical Tweeter analytics summary of some Herkimer crime tweets:

 

Acknowledgments

We thank all who’ve read our blog or viewed our videos. We hope they’ve given you some insight into what failure of governance looks like, and the stark reality of life when crime rules the streets of a once pastoral village.

We’d like to also thank Herkimer’s Curtis Cool (aka Curtis Dolan), his landlady Harriett Tangorra, our neighbors Joyce Barton and Douglas Barton, Herkimer Police officers Patrolman Haight, Patrolman Jason Crippin and Sgt John Scholl II, and Herkimer Fire Chief John Spanfelner, for helping make 2016 a very successful year for The Herkimer Post. Forward together into the New Year.

A sincere and especially heartfelt thanks to the New York State Police, Night Court, Trapper Ron, the New York State Intelligence Center, the US Drug Enforcement Agency and other US Department of Homeland Security entities, without whose officers’ vigilance and dedication to duty this post wouldn’t have been written.

And a big tip of the hat to Herkimer’s resident drones and their watchful wizards.

Quadcopter in dronebox
Quadcopter drone nested in a remote solar-powered recharging drone box. H3 Corp photo.

 

Herkimer Mobbing – Joyce Barton, Sgt. Tall, Officer Short

Hits: 361

by Stephen Ames Berry

 

It’s been quiet along Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue. We’re keeping busy remodeling and writing posts that we hadn’t gotten around to, besieged as we were the last several years by neighborly attacks on ourselves, our pets and our home. As Herkimer has a new police chief, we’ll be having posts about past incidents involving some of his officers. We’re beginning with the Herkimer mobbing incident of June 15, 2015.

Herkimer criminals lend new meaning to homesteading
Outpost 330 – Herkimer Criminal Neighbors Give Fresh Meaning To Homesteading

It’s obvious that deprived of work hustling product from now-absent meth cookeries and crack makers, many of South Herkimer’s once abundant scrotes  have moved on. Pleasant Avenue is down to two homes owned by career criminal families, either in their own names or through proxies, and one homeowner who consistently rents her property to various members of a well-protected regional crime family.

State and federal law enforcement, augmented by surveillance drones, have swept the streets of Herkimer Village clear of its traditional  in-your-face wholesale drug trafficking. Attempts to move narcotics trafficking into the woods near the village were reported and crushed. 

Herkimer Police Stand Fast

Yet one Herkimer institution that’s endured unchanged through all the tumult of our three years on Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue is the Herkimer Police. In our experience, they’ve never heard a complaint worth taking, though some of its officers have proven quick to respond to the needs of well-monied criminals. (We do like several of the Herkimer cops, who do the best they can, boats against the stream.  My naming them probably wouldn’t help their careers.)

333 Pleasant Avenue Herkimer mobbing – June 15, 2015

One of our first experiences with a Herkimer police response was on June 15, 2015. The below is from my email of 6/22/15 to Herkimer Mayor Anthony Brindisi, supplemented by later information. (Mayor Brindisi is reportedly a former Herkimer police officer.)

My entire touchingly naive email to Mayor Brindisi follows at the end of this post. It was written before we realized that Herkimer enjoyed a wide reputation as pirate haven, it’s booming cash economy driven by well-protected, interlaced networks of criminals, protected by a co-opted local government. The orchestrated mobbing incident below is a typical ploy used by drug gangs to maintain turf control. (I’ve added the bracket information.)

Herkimer's Joyce Barton and Douglas Barton
Herkimer’s Joyce Barton and Douglas Barton in happier days

From my letter to Mayor Brindisi:

This past Wednesday evening,  we were the focal point of an obviously preplanned and terrifying outpouring of mob hatred triggered when my wife asked ball playing children in front of our home to please stop throwing objects at our house, notably a ball at the side, and rocks at the security camera covering our driveway. About 40 people stood watching from the opposite sidewalk and the porch of 333 Pleasant Ave.

Joyce Barton's 333 Pleasant Ave Herkimer NY
Barton Residence 333 Pleasant Avenue Herkimer

Within less than 30 seconds of her polite request of the ballplayer children, who were quite polite, the adults poured off the opposite sidewalk and the porch of 333 Pleasant Ave. and into the street, screaming at my wife, with one of them (Joyce Barton of 333) coming  within inches of my wife’s face and screaming that my wife was “crazy” “all cracked out” and “stupid.” The invective continued, with others, notably the red-faced male in his twenties (see below) repeatedly coming up to within inches of my wife’s face, showering her with similar invective.

Hearing the din, I rushed outside. People came up to our faces, taunting us.  Out of the raw chaos and tumult of the mob, we recall such distinctive phrases as: “Go back to Florida!” “Stay on your side of the street! “Don’t yell at my daughter!”(Joyce Barton again—very much a ringleader. We never raised our voices.) “Punch me! Punch me!” (This last screamed said by several as they thrust their faces into ours, notably again Joyce Barton, of 333.)

Former Herkimer Deputy Fire Chief Douglas Barton's Former Helmet
Following his garage fire, Douglas Barton is no longer a deputy chief

And, most frightening of all twice,
“We’re going to burn you out!” (This from a man in front of Deputy Fire Chief Douglas Barton’s 333 Pleasant Ave, whom my wife believes she can identify.)

I called 911.  [911 was utterly disbelieving.] Before the police arrived, I was assailed by a red-faced male in his twenties who told me inches from my face to “get off our fucking street!” and when asked who he was, said “None of your motherfucking business.” He appeared to be either drunk or high. Our exchange continued for a moment. (A former behavior teacher, I never raise my voice in a volatile situation.) He concluded by spitting at my feet and storming back to the porch 333 Pleasant Avenue. The moment before, he’d subjected my wife to the same treatment, complete with spit.

Herkimer Police Response – Sgt Tall and Officer Short

Herkimer Police
Herkimer Police Sgt Tall & Officer Short

Two Herkimer police officers  responded. In the chaos we didn’t capture their names, but have since referred to them as Officer Short and Sergeant Tall.  As they appeared, about ten people scuttled from the street, leaving about 25-30 people there, notably those from 333, headed by Joyce [Barton] and reinforced by the red-faced chap, who were the most vocal and aggressive. The sergeant went to [amiably] question the people congregating across from us on and around the porch of 333 Pleasant Ave, leaving us in front of our house with Officer Short. [later revealed to be  Officer John Scholl.]

Officer Short-Scholl took our names and asked my wife if we could have precipitated events by crossing “to their side of the street,” seemingly affirming our assailants in their belief that they owned a public area.  She said no. My wife asked [Officer Scholl] if he was familiar with what’s been happening on this street to us over the past year [see letter below], given the numerous police responses. He said no. She attempted to brief him, but after about three sentences his eyes and his attention wandered and he appeared overcome by boredom. He told her to contact the landlords of our assailants and perhaps, after multiple complaints, they’d evict them. “You never know.” She then asked him how many people are allowed to congregate in a public street and if there’s any statute governing this? He said there was no limitation or statute, adding that “Herkimer’s very casual about it.”

New York Penal Code – Article 240 – § 240.10, Unlawful Assembly, clearly defines what was happening on Pleasant Avenue as “an unlawful and tumultuous activity likely to cause alarm,” a Class B misdemeanor. [The mob members were also committing First and Second Degree Harassment.]

Things having quieted down somewhat in front of 333 Pleasant Ave, Sergeant Tall then rejoined [Officer Scholl] and us.  My wife…told him twice of the man from 333 threatening us with arson, which the sergeant twice ignored. [As with much else in Herkimer, it’s wise to hear nothing.]

herkimer ny government
The 3 Wise Monkeys of Herkimer

Then, shockingly, the officers departed without dispersing the remaining 20-30 still hostile belligerents once again lining the sidewalk across from our home.

herkimer-ny-pleasant-avenue-visual-motif-june-2015
What the Herkimer Police Left When They Skedaddled-Visual Motif-Herkimer Pleasant Avenue Mob 6/17/15

Aftermath

Later that evening, my wife was taking the trash out to our tote in the driveway, when hecklers on the porch of 333 Pleasant Ave began taunting her. To demonstrate that they were mistaken that they owned the street, she crossed over to their porch and attempted to humorously engage them in conversation. It didn’t go well. Insults were exchanged. (“Go inside and take a nap, granny.”) The same man as before threatened [from the Bartons’ porch] “We’re going to burn you out.”

The rest of the evening, the occupants of 333’s porch shined several large halogen lights at our bedroom window. Two cars of teenagers the age of those resident in 333 pulled up in front of our house several times, rap music blaring, screaming, “We’re gonna make you call the police!” (They sounded high or drunk.) Feeling we’d already trouble our police enough for one day, we didn’t bother calling them again…

Mayor Anthony Brindisi Responds to Herkimer Mobbing Incident

Mayor Brindisi called me the day after receiving my email. He seemed quite upset and said he’d look into it.

Two months later, Mayor Brindisi responded to his officers’ dereliction of duty by promoting Officer Scholl to sergeant–sending a clear message to his police, the community and its cash-heavy criminal enterprises.

Following a later Herkimer Police incident, Mayor Brindisi encouraged me to “play offense,” which we’ve done, though not in the way he meant.

Where Are They Now?

Sergeant Tall we never saw again. The Herkimer Police have some part-time officers; he may have been one of them.

Sgt. Scholl and I meet occasionally, most recently when I was attacked by a young meth tweaker on Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue. (The lad’s since disappeared, leaving open the position of Keeper of Herkimer’s historic crack house.)

Herkimer Police officers and district attorney
Herkimer police officers and District Attorney: Left to right: Officer J. Crippin, Herkimer District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter, Sgt. John Scholl II, Capt. Jeffrey Crim

Joyce Barton and Douglas Barton appear to be having lean times–this following their cameo appearances in our posting and videos of drug trafficking on Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue. This was followed by our forensic video analysis of Fire Chief Barton’s garage fire, and videos of the Bartons’ harassment of our pregnant daughter. 

Both Bartons seem to be employing their vocations elsewhere, notably Douglas Barton, who leaves early, comes home very late and is sometimes gone overnight. Also absent are the fast food wrappers laughingly gifted our lawn by the some of the Bartons’ kids and their chums.

The Bartons threatened us with a lawsuit last year, alleging that our widely-viewed videos of their activities had caused them to “suffer[ed]damages to their reputation”  and “exposed the Bartons and their family members to contempt and ridicule.”  We were heartened. Apparently we aren’t the only ones who believed their conduct depraved and despicable.

The Bartons appear to have dropped the matter, perhaps after being told the amount of the required retainer and their chances of success.

More Herkimer crime and police postings to come. It’s a snowy day here in Upstate NY. Great day to edit videos and write.

Toodles.