Herkimer drug thug Kim Vargas goes from success to success: after several years of harassment and drug trafficking along Pleasant Avenue, she wrapped up her stint next door by helping her son Jordan Bormann on his way to prison, charged with a class D violent felony. Jordan Bormann, 21, assaulted an elderly neighbor, sending the old veteran to Albany Medical center with a traumatic brain injury.
Vargas, the subject of many herkimerpost.com articles, enjoyed a two-and-a-half-year reign of unchecked criminality next door to us at 328 Pleasant Avenue, long a gang sanctuary and retail drug thug front.
This March makes our ninth year in Herkimer. For seven of those years, 328 Pleasant Avenue has been tenanted by a succession of low criminal types trafficking drugs and occasionally kids, and doing their inept best to force the “weak old people” from “their” street. As with all else in their wretched lives, they failed. Here’s a 328 Pleasant Avenue rogues gallery:
The Froth On the Scum Of The Earth: 328 Pleasant Avenue Rogues Gallery
Herkimer Monster Mom Kim VargasHerkimer elder-basher Jordan Bormann, unfortunate son of Kimberly (Bormann) Vargas, with vile friends on the porch of 328 Pleasant Avenue.Kim Vargas’ son Jordan Bormann assaults elderly neighbor in front of 328 Pleasant Avenue, causing traumatic brain injury. Officer Jason Crippen’s investigation found elderly neighbor guilty of the assault. Reinvestigation based on victim’s surveillance cam footage saw Bormann charged with Class D Violent Felony.Curtis Cool. Cop-coddled Herkimer drug thug and probable child trafficker ally, menacing his neighbors from driveway of 328 Pleasant Avenue.328 Pleasant Avenue’s wacky Amanda West harassing old folks on their neighboring porch.328 Pleasant Avenue’s Xavier Rowe harassing neighboring old folks.
Herkimer police officer Jason Crippen responding to Kim Vargas’ call. from 328 Pleasant Avenue. Crippen threatened one of us with arrest for using foul language in our driveway.
I’ve speculated at length as to who controls 328 Pleasant Avenue, using it as a retail drug trafficking front. The demographics of the Herkimer area are rapidly going upscale. We’ll see if they sell the place or move another set of gang scum in there. Whatever happens, there are a lot of surveillance drones around and our cameras stand ready.
Herkimer Post views surge driven by YouTube and Facebook
In 2017, a sudden surge in new readers caused Herkimer Post views to soar. Those stats follow below. First we’d like to celebrate our most successful article ever, with a big tip of the hat to Facebook News Feed, which picked up our 12/11/17 article Herkimer Poison Gas Attacks Fade – Good News, Bad News . The posting itself on that day alone triggered 591 views of our articles, featuring some of Herkimer’s core of coddled criminals.
Herkimer Crime Captivates YouTube – 3,922 Views in 36 Hours
YouTube viewers watched agog as 7,119 minutes of Herkimer street assaults, elder abuse, poison gas attacks and a street gang rampage rolled across their screens. Our videos received one Like, and 35 Dislikes. (The latter are about the number of estimated drug dealers and child traffickers and exploiters within a two-block area of our Pleasant Avenue home. )
4,513 Social Media Engagements from 1
Herkimer Poison Gas Attacks Post From 12/11-12/13/17, almost 4,000 viewers watched Herkimer’s traditional lawlessness parade past on footage we captured within with 40 feet of our home, here on Herkimer’s unfortunately-named Pleasant Avenue. Not counting my 75k Twitter followers, we had 4,532 Herkimer Post social media engagements from that one Herkimer poison gassing post.
Our Herkimer crime YouTube channel is now self-sustaining, with the majority of viewers coming via referral from YouTube affiliated sites or from previews embedded in our videos. If the Herkimer Post vanished today, our viewership would continue to soar, so great is the human fascination with the grotesque.
Herkimer Crime 2017 YouTube Analytics
Herkimer Crime 2017
Top 10 Popular YouTubes
Curtis Cool Continues to Rule
9,100 Views, 27,000 Minutes Watchtime
Herkimer’s iconic Curtis Cool’s antics are responsible for about 50% of all our Herkimer crime video views. Assaults and trafficking by the Stanley Sykes gang, Joyce Barton and Herkimer’s Historic Crack House Keeper account for most of the rest. (The Sykes’ gang is trending nicely. ) With Facebook News now taking an interest in our blog, we hope the influx of new readers and viewers will continue to send the Herkimer Post soaring as we offer fresh, newsworthy Herkimer crime insights.
There’s been a concerted effort by the Herkimer Police and Herkimer’s -legacy criminals to avoid creating arrest-worthy, video-worthy incidents. But only when the Sykes’s and the Bartons and their trafficking are gone from Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue will the street become fully habitable again and real estate salable.
The waves of poison gas attacks of last year have settled into a war of attrition, with snipers surrounding us; executing pesticide attacks from hand foggers whenever we venture out. The gas of course rolls on down the street over law abiding people and pets.
Note to prospective Pleasant Avenue real estate sellers and their agents:
Taking a property off of the market and then renting it to criminals who spray poisons is not a winning sales strategy.
A ‘Speak no evil’ philosophy empowered this criminal stronghold. While Justice Brandeis has given effective advice – “Sunlight is the best disinfectant”. As Herkimer Post views surge, we provide this sunlight.
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.
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
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?”)
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.
12/17/16 Curtis Cool aka Curtis Doolen, has put Herkimer on the map: 6,100+ views of his videos and growing, as referring sites offer them for free download. One comment on a British site: “The Herkimer Police–the strong arm of the law.”
“I’ve got a strong law enforcement community which is actively conducting … investigations.” Herkimer County District Attorney Jeffrey S. Carpenter (9/8/16)Herkimer Police wouldn’t take criminal harassment complaint.
Linda Kaidan unwittingly making the Nanny Nanny Boo Boo, ignorant that it was exculpatory for harassment in Herkimer New York
Despite a change of command and increased patrols, Herkimer Police wouldn’t take criminal harassment complaint, even for this outrageous and well-documented incident. (We have more.) This one is fresh, others occurred under Herkimer’s previous police chief, Joseph Malone, who abruptly retired in the teeth of an ethics investigation. It demonstrates an alarming ongoing pattern of failure to protect by the Herkimer Police.
Typically the Herkimer Police say they’ll only take a complaint following a second incident of harassment because Herkimer District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter won’t prosecute. Harassment must be repeated to qualify as a criminal offense, they assert.
Not true. Your tormentor must either “engage in conduct or repeatedly commit acts which alarm or seriously annoy the victim and serve no legitimate purpose,” according to New York state law. We endured 7 threats of grave bodily harm in 10 minutes, following a previous incident of public harassment. Our assailant called the police to protect him.
Herkimer Aggravated Harassment Incident of 8/23/16
Curtis Cool. Cop-coddled Herkimer drug thug and child trafficker
On Tuesday August 23, 2016, we were again verbally harassed and then threatened with multiple acts of physical violence by 328 Pleasant Avenue tenant, Curtis Cool, aka Curtis Dolan, first in our driveway and then on the public sidewalk. The previous night we’d again reported Cool for yet another of his multiple illegal late-night fires.)
The Herkimer Police and the New York State Police responded promptly and again defused Curtis Cool. The responding officers were very supportive and encouraged us to file a harassment complaint at the Herkimer Police station. Cool’s actions seemed to us to be obviously either 2nd or 1st Degree Aggravated Harassment. With Cool charged, we could obtain a Temporary Order of Protection, which would force him to move from his rented base at Harriett Tangorra’s 328 Pleasant Avenue house.
On Wednesday 8/24 we gathered our evidence–two cellphone videos, a surveillance cam video and a detailed narrative. At approximately 2:30 p.m, we went to the Herkimer Police station after first calling to see if it would be convenient to do so. The officer on duty, Officer Jason Crippen, said to come down.
Herkimer Police Say Nanny-Nanny-Nanny-Boo Excuses Aggravated Harassment
Officer Crippen asked us to wait while he looked at abundant evidence. He briefly reviewed a short portion of our first cellphone video, seen below, then stopped and refused to write up a complaint. “It would just be a waste of time,” he said.
Boy-next-door: Criminal-coddling Herkimer cop Jason Crippen, Herkimer Police.
His reason? Officer Crippen said one of us (Kaidan) had triggered Cool’s menacing and threats of grave bodily harm by making a nanny nanny nanny boo gesture from our driveway at Cool as he peppered us with taunts and obscenities. Officer Crippien’s implication? That Herkimer County District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter would not prosecute Cool, as Kaidan’s nanny-nanny-boo-boo would exonerate Cool, holding him harmless for his threats and menacing.
Here’s the portion of the cellphone clip reviewed by Officer Crippen before dismissing us. It has been closed-captioned for the selectively hearing impaired. (Full Screen/click on the CC icon.): [Yo! It’s Curtis Cool: Parents strongly cautioned.]
The incident continued a moment later as Kaidan, refusing to be driven inside her home by Cool, asserted her right to walk along the public sidewalk in front of Cool’s house. Here’s an extract from that clip. (Officer Crippen didn’t review it, so we didn’t close caption it):
Both full-length videos from 8/23 (7 threats of grave bodily harm), and our surveillance camera footage confirming the events, place, date and time are on our flash drive, gathering dust at the Herkimer Police station. Included with them is our narrative of the incident and our video of Cool’s previous public harassment of us on 8/11/16. (During this last he cited his landlord, Harriett Tangorra in demanding our arrest. For having surveillance cameras. ) Officer Crippen used our narrative to review the first clip. Seeing the nanny-nanny-boo-boo, he gave Cool a pass and sent us packing.
“It’s obvious that over time Herkimer has ceded its streets to drugs and thugs. Gonna be hard taking them back.
Officer Crippen’s Advice: Hide In Your Home
The 3 Wise Monkeys of Herkimer
Officer Crippen’s advice was the same as that of Herkimer’s drug thugs when we first unwittingly moved to Pleasant Avenue: Hide: “Keep away from him and just stay in your apartment, ” Crippen advised.
It’s our house. We own it. It’s next door to the thug. A sidewalk is a public place. We asserted our right to use it. We’ll continue to do so. It’s obvious that over time Herkimer has ceded its streets to drugs and thugs. Gonna be hard taking them back.
Officer Crippen then belatedly added this was just this opinion. And that we might try our luck with one of the responding officers–maybe they’d take the complaint. Crippen seemed miffed that we’d distracted him from his law enforcement duties.
If the Police won’t take A criminal harassment complaint, WHo wins?
This is the 4th time in two years we’ve had the Herkimer Police ooze out of taking some flavor of a harassment complaint against cash-heavy criminals. We’ve heard the same from others. This isn’t policing, it’s depraved indifference. It throws Herkimer’s people to the wolves for the sake of politicians cynically running for office as crime fighters. And it emboldens criminals like Cool, who recently moved away unscathed despite many police and fire department visits. (To our knowledge, Cool was never cited for his illegal bonfires nor charged with harassment.) When Herkimer Police refused again to take a criminal harassment complaint, they made it clear that law and order is not their priority.
And so it goes on, with Herkimer’s reputation as a lawless jurisdiction attracting more criminals and endangering even more people.
“A matter of public safety”
Herkimer’s good cops seem to leave if they can, the few bad ones content to stay, cozied up to criminals and even sometimes running interference for them. Crime goes unreported and soars, with entire streets abandoned to drug traffickers. Herkimer’s reputation as a lawless jurisdiction attracts more drug and child traffickers. It becomes an even more dangerous place to live. There’s a strong smell of rotten fish in the air.
What does it matter that Herkimer Police wouldn’t take criminal harassment complaint?
Who stands to win if we all lose? Criminals, greedy landlords, criminal defense attorneys. And some politicians: Incumbent Herkimer County District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter is trumpeting a lowered violent crime rate in support of his reelection. It’s easy to lower the crime rate if your police don’t take criminal complaints. To take them and act on them, though, is “A matter of public safety.”
When we first saw the interior of our new old house on Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue, the soft winter light streamed in from numerous well-placed windows, gently illuminating the warm pastel colors on the walls. It felt so good, so homey–I decided to buy it in only 10 minutes.
I still love my house and the abundance of breathtaking natural places that surround it here along the Mohawk, but the brutal warfare of the last two years has been a trial. When we purchased our home at 330 Pleasant Ave in Herkimer, New York, we were unaware that a vicious war would shortly ensue, one between us and the entrenched gang of criminals who’ve occupied Pleasant Avenue and much of South Herkimer Village since at least 2011.
I’ve lived in many places including two war zones, but never before encountered the level of depravity that exists on Pleasant Avenue. I believe that the numerous techniques used by at least one organized criminal gang are their proven tool set, quite effective in ridding them of unwanted attention for years, if not decades.
However, Herkimer’s criminals have been slow on the uptake and ignorant of the changes in the world around them. Two forces have been acting against them. One is climate change. As our planet grows increasingly stressed by hostile weather conditions and the resulting fires, droughts and famines, more and more eyes are turning towards the vast abundance of natural resources we possess here in the Mohawk, Adirondack and Great Lakes region.
Most people are blind to the incredible wealth of our region. But many aren’t. If you look you’ll see how much renovation there’s has been in the past few years, not just in Herkimer and Herkimer County, but also in Albany and Syracuse. State and federal government and corporations recognize this as a strategic climate survival area. If you’re perceptive, you’ll see the result of some of the heavy hammers quietly obliterating the criminal enterprises that long flourished unchallenged in Herkimer.
The Internet is another major force opposing these soulless purveyors of drugs, kids, willful harm and death. Inexpensive technology offers each and every one of us the ability to observe, record and comment on what we see. And our rights as Americans grant us the freedom to do so. The Internet is a force for communication and a weapon for good in the ongoing war between criminals and their prey.
In March of 2014, we bought 330 Pleasant Avenue from Harriett Tangorra, Senior Clerk of the Herkimer County Supreme Court, for $32,000 in cash. She never mentioned the level of danger present on this street. (We were told it could be noisy in the summer.) However, when we were harassed and assaulted by her tenant Curtis Cool (aka Curtis Dolan), who lives right next door at 328 Pleasant Ave., she was indifferent to our plight, recommending that we purchase the property if we wish to control who lives there.
In the last two years we have spent $5,000 on cloud data storage, security services, surveillance cameras, web hosting and internet service not to mention thousands of hours of our time. We have suffered personal property losses due to vandalism by our neighbors and have experienced outrageous harassment. My children have vowed never to enter Herkimer again.
330 Pleasant Avenue Herkimer Vandalism of 4/5/16
Recently we have seen encouraging changes in this community. Fire Chief Spanfelner has taken over code enforcement and is patrolling the streets taking effective action. Our street has been quieter and the former haunted house across the way has undergone significant renovation by Paul and Don.
Herkimer Village is an outstanding place to create a sustainable community that will help us live in these trying times of climate change. All it takes to succeed is a community commitment to fortify our resources of services, infrastructure, people and education. Each person in this community can take a role and assume a responsibility for our continued and successful survival.
) With Facebook News now taking an interest in our blog, we hope the influx of new readers and viewers will continue to send the Herkimer Post soaring as we offer fresh, newsworthy Herkimer crime insights. 
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.
Herkimer Police wouldn’t take criminal harassment complaint.
