OBITUARIES: Becker, Engstrom, Traganza, Groll

By DIANE VALDEN

SARATOGA SPRINGS—On September 11 at about 3 p.m., State Police in Troop K at SP Livingston received a call from concerned family members of James A. Dellea, 48, of Hillsdale, who had made statements that he was going to harm himself.

Troopers located Mr. Dellea in the parking lot of the Albany-Saratoga Speedway on State Route 9 in the Town of Malta, Saratoga County. When troopers attempted to interview Mr. Dellea, he failed to follow lawful commands to exit his vehicle and fled the scene, according to State Police.

A low-speed vehicle pursuit was initiated. Mr. Dellea subsequently stopped his vehicle in the parking lot of Bethel Saratoga, a church, at 3246 State Route 9, in the City of Saratoga Springs. He again, refused to exit his vehicle despite numerous commands to do so, police said.

Mr. Dellea allegedly brandished a firearm, at which time one of the troopers fired his weapon, fatally striking him.

The trooper involved in the shooting is Trooper Brian Rudolph. Trooper Rudolph has been a member of the State Police for more than 23 years and is assigned to Troop G. He is currently on voluntary paid leave. At the time of the incident, Trooper Rudolph had completed his scheduled shift (8 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and was being transported by another trooper operating a marked State Police vehicle. Multiple body cameras worn by troopers recorded the incident.

The body camera footage is not being released at this time because of the ongoing investigation by the State Police and the Attorney General’s Office.

State Route 9 was closed for more than three hours between Cherry Choke Road and Kaydeross Avenue East due to the ongoing investigation. Following the incident there was no threat to the public, and no additional individuals were injured during the shooting, police said.

The New York State Police were provided with assistance on scene by members of the New York State Park Police and Saratoga Springs Police Department.

Kinderhook

A potential threat of violence to occur at the Middle School September 13 was received by the Ichabod Crane Central School District September 12.

A message to families with students in the district from Superintendent of Schools Marie Digirolamo sent out by email the evening of September 12 said:

“This evening, we investigated a report from a Middle School parent of a potential threat of violence to occur at the Middle School on Friday.

After a thorough investigation done in coordination with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, it was determined that the threat was unsubstantiated and not credible.

The investigation included talking to several MS students and their families and revealed that one of our MS students saw information on social media that they perceived as a potential threat of violence.

The threat that our student reported is similar to other spam threats circulating throughout school communities across multiple states and shared on Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram. These spam threats were also determined to not be credible.

We want to assure you that we take each of these reports seriously and work closely with law enforcement to assess. We also know that you may have questions, so please do not hesitate to contact your building principal.

Like always, the safety and security of all of our students and staff is our top priority.”

To contact Diane Valden email dvalden@columbiapaper.com

Labor Day weekend was ticket time

LIVINGSTON—The New York State Police announced that it issued a total of 10,240 tickets statewide during the Labor Day weekend enforcement campaign.

The special enforcement period began Friday, August 30 and ran through Monday, September 2.

During the campaign, which was partially funded by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, State Police utilized sobriety checkpoints, additional DWI patrols, and ticketed impaired and distracted drivers.

In total, troopers arrested 232 people for DWI.

As part of the enforcement, troopers targeted speeding and aggressive drivers across the state. Below is a sampling of the total tickets that were issued: Speeding 3,716; Distracted Driving 278; Seatbelt violations 592; Move Over Law 209.

During last year’s Labor Day weekend enforcement campaign, which ran from Friday, September 1 through Monday, September 4 the State Police issued 8,830 total tickets and arrested 157 people for DWI.