Woman who attempted to cash stolen check charged

A Dunkirk woman who attempted to cash a check reported stolen more than a year ago was remanded to jail after being picked up on an arrest warrant.

The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office in March 2020 received a grand larceny complaint in Sheridan in which a man had cash and checks stolen from a pickup truck.

On June 28 of this year, a woman attempted to cash one of the stolen checks at Lakeshore Savings Bank in Fredonia. A bank teller noted that the check had been altered and also knew that the man had reported several checks as stolen.

The owner of the checks was called and he advised that he had never signed check over to the individual, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The woman was later identified as Leah M. Nickerson, 33, of Dunkirk, who had the check in her possession and attempted to cash it at the bank.

A warrant was obtained, and Nickerson was picked up on charges that included second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. She was remanded to the Chautauqua County Jail for centralized arraignment.

Sinking boat pulled from Chautauqua Lake

No injuries were reported after a boat on Chautauqua Lake began rapidly taking on water Tuesday.

Navigation patrol with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office responded, along with a vessel from the Lakewood Fire Department, to an area near Burtis Bay for a boat in distress. The incident occurred around 10 a.m.

“Some event caused the victim’s vessel to begin taking on water rapidly and begin to sink,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The boat was pulled near the shore but continued to sink. Firefighters helped to pump water from the vessel, but “was not able to keep up with the flow into the boat,” the Sheriff Office said.

Smith Boys assisted in a salvage operation, towing it to a safe location under navigation’s escort and while being continuously pumped of water. The boat was eventually pulled from the water and onto the shore.

Once ashore it was determined that a lower unit bellows failed, causing rapid intake of water, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Dunkirk Police

¯ Angelytte Barreto, 27, of Dunkirk, was charged June 21 with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

¯ Zeldy Hernandez, 41, of Dunkirk, was charged June 22 with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

¯ Kelsie Briggs, 29, of Brocton, faces two sets of charges. She was charged June 22 with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, then charged July 1 with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation and two counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

¯ Alexis Marrero, 39, of Dunkirk, was charged June 25 with criminal obstruction of breathing and second-degree harassment.

¯ Nathan Skubis, no age listed, of Dunkirk, was charged June 26 with third-degree unlawful fleeing police, driving while intoxicated, refusal of breath test, leaving the scene of an accident, speed not reasonable, three counts of failure to stop at stop sign, two counts of moving from lane unsafe, no seat belt and passing a red signal.

¯ Angelica Arroyo, 39, of Dunkirk, was charged June 26 with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia, unlicensed driver, inadequate mirrors and failure to dim lights.

¯ Nylix Thomas, 20, of Dunkirk, was charged June 29 with second-degree menacing.

¯ Juan Rivera, 45, of Dunkirk, was charged June 29 with four counts of unreasonable noise.

¯ James Rairden, 26, of Ashville, was charged June 29 with second-degree burglary.

¯ Jose Velez, no age or address listed, was charged June 30 with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, second-degree obstruction of government administration and inadequate bike lights.

¯ Frank Oliveras Jr., 22, of Dunkirk, was charged Thursday with second-degree criminal sexual act.

¯ William Tolbert, no age or address listed, was charged Thursday with two counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

¯ Leah Mosier, 39, of Dunkirk, was charged Friday with aggravated driving while intoxicated (blood alcohol content .18 of 1 percent or higher), driving while intoxicated, inadequate lights and no signal.

¯ Jeffrey Minier, 28, of Dunkirk, was charged Sunday with criminal obstruction of breathing and second-degree harassment.

¯ Ashley Gnadzinski, 32, of Dunkirk, was charged Monday with petit larceny.