Answering a call about an armed robbery on Sherwood Avenue, Rochester Police Officer William J. Danno and his K-9 partner, Aro, cornered suspect Terrance J. Jones as Jones tried to jump a fence.
After the dog grabbed Jones by the seat of his pants, Jones got hung up halfway over the fence, raised his arm in an apparent attempt to shoot the dog with a pistol he was carrying, but dropped the gun. He then punched Danno in the face and fell out of his pants to the ground, but was captured a block away when the dog pursued him.
When police booked Jones, they discovered that he was out on bail on charges that he had pulled three other armed robberies six months earlier.
Danno, a 15-year veteran of the police department, watched with indignation Monday as Jones, 17, was ordered to prison for 3 ½ years — the minimum penalty allowed — for assault.
Acting Monroe County Court Judge John R. Schwartz, who offered that sentence in exchange for a guilty plea over the objection of the District Attorney's Office, maintained that Jones was getting no bargain because the sentence will be added to a 12-year prison term Jones is already serving for the unrelated robberies.
"No one should forget the fact that this young man is leaving the courtroom today sentenced to 15 ½ years," Schwartz said.
But Danno said the sentence was an insult to him, his colleagues in the police department, and law-abiding citizens.
"I feel bad for the people of the city," Danno said. "They live every day with violent crime while the people who commit it are being handled with kid gloves."
District Attorney Michael C. Green, who attended the sentencing, said he also disagrees with Schwartz's assessment.
"The judge seemed to say that he's imposed a 15 ½-year sentence," Green said. "That's absolutely not what happened. He (Jones) is getting the minimum for assault."
I'm assuming that since the judge says this is really a 15 1/2 year sentence that the 3 1/2 year sentence for assaulting the officer will be served consecutively to the 12 year sentence for the robberies. Otherwise, this is really just a 12 year sentence.
And while I'm here... a plea of my own. I'm pleading with the local press to include some detailed reporting. Here's a potential Deal of the Day, but we need more specifics!
A suspect who was at least partially responsible for delaying his case for more than a year has pled guilty to second-degree murder in a Jasper County courtroom.
With the plea, Tony A. Jackson of Carthage was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday for stabbing Christopher Rodriguez (Sergio Orihuela Rojas), formerly of 711 Orner St.
Jackson sported an extensive criminal background even before stabbing Rodriguez 12 times in April of 2005 after an extended struggle. Jackson's criminal history included robbery, stealing and burglary. He served time in prison on three separate occasions.
The reporter obviously had access to his criminal history and sentences... put that information in the story!
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